body positivity. What is it? And is it a mind screw? I don't know. We're going to talk about that today. You're listening to the stop, the mind screw podcast. I'm your host, Kathy Owen certified fitness trainer and mindset coach since 2002 transforming lives and magic fashion, teaching staff, their mind group process.
And today we're talking about body.
What is body positivity? Well, it refers to the assertion that all people deserve to have a positive body image, regardless of how society and pop culture views, ideal shape, size, and appearance. Some of the goals of body positivity movement include challenging how society views the body, promoting the acceptance of all those.
Helping people build confidence and acceptance in their own bodies. Addressing unrealistic body standards. Body positivity is not just about challenging how society views people based upon their physical size and shape. However, it also recognizes that judgments are often made based on race, gender, sexuality, and disability.
The history of body positivity, the body positivity movement in its current form began to emerge around 2012. Initially focused, focusing on challenging. Unrealistic feminine beauty standards as the movement grew in popularity, the original focus on acceptance of weight began to shift toward a message that all bodies are beautiful while body positivity has become increasingly popular.
People continue to be confused about what exactly it means. Part of the reason why body positivity is so misunderstood is due to the fact that there are so many different definitions for what the movement means, depending on what, on, who you ask body positivity can mean appreciating your body in spite of flaws, feeling confident about your body.
Loving yourself, accepting your body shape and size body positivity also means enjoying the body you have and not beating yourself up over the changes that happen naturally due to aging pregnancy or lifestyle choices. Problems that can emerge as a result of poor body image include depression, women experienced depression at a much higher rate than men do.
And some researchers believe that body dissatisfaction may play an important role in explaining this gender difference. And depression rates, low self esteem. Research has found that body dissatisfaction is associated with poor self-esteem in adolescents, regardless of their gender age, weight, race, ethnicity, and socio economic status.
Eating disorders research also indicates that body dissatisfaction is linked to a disordered eating, particularly among adolescent girls. Research has consistently shown that exposure to depictions of the thin ideal are associated with both behavioral and emotional symptoms related to disordered eating.
It is not just exposure to these images that pose a danger. It is the development. Of beliefs that beauty success and esteem are determined by thinness studies have also found that when people internalize these ideas, they are more likely to experience body dissatisfaction and engage in unnecessary dieting body positivity strives to address these issues.
That's why I like. By helping people recognize the influences that contribute to poor body image. The hope is that people will then be able to adjust their body expectations and feel more positive and accepting of their own bodies. Such acceptance may then help them combat the toll that poor body image has a mental and physical.
Well, how the body positivity message is intended to help people feel better about themselves. It isn't without its problems and critics. And this does not surprise me. For example, one problem is the idea that body positivity implies that people should do whatever they think they need to do in order to feel positive about the, how they live.
Unfortunately, the popular messages that people are bombarded with include the idea of thinner fitter. People are happier, healthier, and more beautiful. This idealization of fineness can contribute to people engaging in unhealthy actions, including excessive exercise or extreme diets under the guise of feeling body positive.
Another criticism of body positivity is that it can be non-inclusive depictions of body positivity messages tend to exclude people of color as well as those who are disabled. LGBTQ and non-binary the body images often portrayed embody body positive messages, often still conform to a specific beauty.
Ideal. Many people simply don't feel included in body positivity. What can you do? Body positivity is designed to foster acceptance and love of your body, but it can be a struggle. And that adds another element of pressure and impossible standards to live up to the body. Positivity message is that you should change how you feel about your body, but can also be chest one more.
Simply telling people to accept themselves and be resilient in the face of the bombardment of images. Promoting the thin ideal can be damaging, telling poor people to ignore the dominant beauty. Ideal is not realistic. It can create more pressure for a person who is already feeling anxious, negative, and develop.
Pop culture tells people that they are flawed, but then demands that they have a positive attitude about it. Not feeling positive about your body can then lead to shame and guilt. Oh no, no, no. We don't want that. Research has even found that when people with low self-esteem repeat positive affirmations, that they don't actually believe in the result tend to backfire, leaving people, feeling even more about themselves than they did before.
This doesn't mean you should say not. You shouldn't say nice things or think positive thoughts about yourself, but simply covering up negative thinking with positive messages may be harmful. A better approach would be to work on replacing negative thought patterns with more realistic ones. That's what stopped the mind.
Screw does. Whether or not the body positivity movement speaks to you. There are ideas from this approach that may help you feel better about your body and less obsessed with chasing per perfection. It's okay to admit that you don't necessarily love everything about your body. It's okay. To feel neutral or even in different about your body, your worth and value do not lie in your shape or your size or in any other aspect of your appearance.
Body image does play a part in self-concept, but it isn't everything focused on taking the mental spotlight off of your body and try to base your self perceptions on other parts of yourself. None of these things are easy. They take continual effort and in most cases it's not something you can perfectly achieve.
There will be moments when you feel weak, when you dislike aspects aspects of yourself. And when you compare yourself to others, the key is to keep trying to find new ways to avoid the negative thought patterns. AKA mind, screw that contribute to poor body image. You know, the main reason I'm talking about this today is because it's one of my most requested concepts because people are always asking how can I feel more positively or more happy with my body and as a personal trainer over the 20 years that I've been doing that I have never heard anybody go, Hey, I'm happy with my.
And it's perfect the way it is. And this is something that we need to come to terms with. When you come to terms with that, you overcome that hump and you start exuding confidence, which is to me, body positivity. When you exude confidence, despite whatever you're thinking about your body, all right. This episode was brought to you today by.
The new fitness download with Kathy. And what is that? It is all about. The one fitness thing that you can do to improve your energy levels, to improve your fitness levels across the board. And it's one simple thing you can do in your cardiovascular exercise. And that is to train your heart. And I explained in detail how to do this, whether you're starting out or perhaps you've hit a plateau it's at www.kathyowen.com.
Backslash fitness and that's K a T H I E O w E n.com. Hope to see you there. All right. Now I'm going to discuss 10 tips on being more positive about your body. Not that I necessarily agree with body positivity, but I do agree with changing those thoughts about your body and to ones that are more empowering.
So one list cannot automatically tell you how to turn a negative body thoughts into positive body image, but it can introduce you to a healthier ways of looking at yourself and your body. So let's talk about 10 tips to think body positivity or body neutrality into your life. The more you practice these new thought patterns, the better you will feel about who you are and the body you naturally.
Tip number one, appreciate all that your body can do every day. Your body carries you closer to your dreams, celebrate all the amazing things that your body does for you. Running, dancing, breathing, laughing, dreaming the things that you see, all of that is appreciating what your body can do. Being thankful for that.
You know, I think we take for granted that we can breathe and we can, our heart stays beating without us even thinking about it. And that's another way you can appreciate it. The gratitude you can show for that is amazing. Keep a top 10 list of things you like about yourself, things that aren't related to, how much you weigh or what you look like, read your list.
Often, add to it. As you become more aware of things to like about yourself. Tip number three, remind yourself that true beauty is not simply skin deep. When you feel good about yourself and who you are, you carry yourself with a sense of confidence. Self-acceptance and openness that makes you beautiful.
Beauty is a state of mind, not a state of your body. Tip number four, look at yourself as a whole person. When you see yourself in the mirror or in your mind, choose not to focus on specific body parts. And we have a habit of doing that. Oh no, I don't like this. Or I see that big zit on my face or anything that you find that is not.
Attractive again. We're going to go back to that comfort zone thing. That is a comfort zone thing. And you want to see yourself as you want others to see you as a whole and complete person with a confident state of mind. Tip number five, surround yourself with positive people. It is easier to feel good about yourself and your body when you are around others who are supportive and who recognize the importance of liking yourself just as you naturally are, tip number six, shut down those voices in your head that tell you your body is not right, or that you are a bad person.
You can overpower those negative thoughts with positive ones. I know. I just said that that's kind of hard to do and that that's not exactly what we want to do, but we do want to replace those negative thoughts with positive. So the next time you start to tear yourself down, build yourself back up with a few affirmations that work for you.
So what could those be? You know, I like the way, um, Joseph Rodriguez teaches affirmations and what he does as he says every day, more than. I'm feeling better about my body, perhaps that could be how you state that. So the way you worded it is so important. And we, you know, we talk about this all the time is stopped.
The mind screw is the way you word it. An affirmation that goes, I feel great about myself is not a great affirmation because you're likely to not believe that. But when you say something like every day more and more, I feel better about my body. Well, okay. That means every day, a little bit more, a little bit more.
What does that go back to be 1% better today than yesterday? Tip number seven, wear clothes that are comfortable and that make you feel good about your body work with your body. Not against it. So. You can look on Pinterest for clothes that fit your body size. You can go. My size is a size eight, nine, and look it up on Pinterest and start to look for clothes that don't fit you so tightly that it emphasizes all the things you don't like about your body.
That's what this means. Wear clothes that are comfortable, and that make you feel good about your body work with your body. Not against. Tip number eight, become a critical viewer of social media, media messages, pay attention to images, slogans, and attitudes that make you feel bad about yourself or your body protest.
These images, write a letter to the advertiser or talk back to the image or message. What you're following on social media definitely affects what you let into your mind. And social media, especially Instagram is made to make you have that comparison theory, whether you have a healthy self-esteem or not, you're still going to have that comparison theory, or you're going to have something going on in your mind where you compare and that's just human nature.
Why let that in? Why let that. Tip number nine, do something nice for yourself. Something that lets your body know you. Appreciate it. Take a bubble bath, make time for a nap or find a peaceful place to relax outside. And tip number 10, use the time and energy that you might've spent worrying about food, calories and your weight to help do something for others.
Sometimes reaching out to other people can help you feel better about yourself and can make a positive change in your mindset in your world. You know, in closing, I just want to say that. Body positivity is kind of like toxic positivity. It's forcing positivity on something that maybe perhaps you just don't feel in your mind or your heart.
And if you don't feel it, you're going to be forcing it. So this is a process and it does take time and it just takes an understanding because what I would love to see is somebody who's been. Really trying to lose weight all this time. Really doesn't need to lose weight. Their body looks great the way it is.
And so often they don't see that, or they don't understand that. Or the person that does need to lose weight is so lost in their food. Or so lost in their concept of what their body is doing and if it is healthy or not, that they do not pay attention to what they're putting into their body. It's a balance.
It's a balance in there that needs to happen because it's about your health. It's about your wellness. It's about how you feel at the end of the day. And when you feel good and you feel strong, you feel healthy and you exercise your heart. Like I teach in my fitness download when you do that, you feel better.
And when you start to feel better, confidence just sets. All right. That's my episode for today. I hope we liked it. Be sure to share it with somebody who can benefit and till next time, I'll see you next. .
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