Body image is a burnout issue part two: how to change your body image

Body image is a burnout issue.

And it’s so. much. more. than. that.

Body image is social conditioning that keeps us spinning.

Keeps us waiting.

Keeps us stuck.

Body image is the lie that if our body looked differently, our life would be better.

We’d be better.

We’d finally be happy.

But. 

It’s BS, y’all.

The only reason any of us wants our body to look different is because we think it would somehow make our life better.

But that’s not how it works.

First of all, there are tons of conventionally attractive womxn who are super miserable.

Second of all, this is life as a human.

We’re not supposed to be happy all the time.

Which is to say, we don’t need to fix our bodies so that we can be happy.

In fact, trying to fix our bodies, and believing they need to be fixed, is what’s creating so much of our suffering.

Your body is not a problem to be solved.

But how do we actually change our body image?

How do we learn to let go of all the patriarchal BS programming that we’ve been steeped in for literal decades?

The answer is simple but not easy.

Body image is a collection of thoughts you have about your body.

The way to change your body image is to change the thoughts you think about your body.

But first, you need to stop seeing them as YOUR thoughts, because they’re not.

No one is born hating their body.

You were taught to judge and shame and criticize your body.

And in order to stop, you need to first see that this is a learned behavior.

It’s not you. It’s not your natural reaction to your body.

It’s a pattern you learned and now you can unlearn it.

Here’s how you do that: you teach yourself to think new thoughts about your body.

At first, this will feel completely f*cking bananas. That’s ok.

Start small. 

If your current thoughts about your body are negative, go for neutral.

Go from, “ugh” to “this is a leg.”

Your brain will want to go back to “ugh.”

Don’t get mad at your brain. Just redirect it.

Ask it to just observe the neutral facts.

Keep bringing it back to this task.

Keep swiping left on BS judgments.

If your current thoughts about your body are neutral, go for positive.

What can you praise?

What can you enjoy?

Instead of looking for what culture says is good or worthy, ask yourself what YOU actually like?

Imagine a world outside our current culture.

A world that loves and celebrates bodies that look like yours.

What would they say?

Your brain might try to return to our culture’s ideals, but remember - our culture’s ideals are not here to help womxn love themselves and create amazing things.

Our culture’s ideals keep womxn stuck and distracted and obsessing about how we look.

That’s not how I want to live my life.

And I’ll bet it’s not how you want to live yours.

Here’s something else to consider: all you want from a different body is the ability to love yourself.

There’s a shortcut: you can love yourself now.

You don’t need anyone’s permission.

You don’t need anyone’s approval.

It can be a gift you give yourself. It can be a WILD rebellion. It can be a revolution.

What would change if you got off the hamster wheel of trying to change yourself so that you could finally feel worthy of happiness?

What would happen if you chose to be happy now, on purpose, to love yourself and your body, now, on purpose, just because you can?

Two things.

1. You would get the joy of loving yourself.
2. You would get so much time and energy back to do all the other shit you want to do.

Let’s make it happen.

Let’s start now.

What small shift can you make today?

And if you don't want to start small, let's talk. Because I can help you with that. Schedule time to talk here: http://www.korilinn.com/mini-session.