Loving your body doesn’t just happen overnight, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be simple and easy to do. It also doesn’t mean that it can’t be done in little time! I had a major shift in my body confidence in less than a month while I was doing my yoga teacher training in Bali which was a total surprise!
All it takes to love your body is a bit of time and some dedication from you. If you’re willing to put in a couple of practices a day then you are already on your way to learning to love your body and finding the self-confidence that you’ve been wanting.
How to Love Your Body
These are 8 ways to love your body that anyone can do in minimal time each and every day. Remember, loving your body is a practice and you, honey, are a work in progress. There is no end goal, just a great feeling!
Mirror Work
Mirror work is a simple and extremely effective way to begin loving your body. All you need is a mirror (preferably a full-length mirror) and you!
All you have to do is stand in front of the mirror and look at yourself. Take in everything. Your curves, the lines, the spots and bumps, the softness, the hardness, the freckles, the dimples, the colour, everything. Just begin noticing details about yourself.
The best part about mirror work is that you can do it in stages, depending on how comfortable you are with your body. You can start fully dressed, as covered as you want and work yourself up to being fully nude. Or you can dive right in and just start naked!
Get to truly know yourself and what you look like, all it takes is 5 minutes a day.
Take Pictures of Yourself
Just like mirror work, taking pictures of yourself gets you comfortable with yourself and your body. The point here is to take pictures and look back at them.
How many times have you had someone take a picture of you and when you look at it your first thought is “ugh!”? It’s because you haven’t seen yourself at that angle or you just straight up aren’t used to seeing yourself.
The more comfortable you get with yourself, the more confident you become with yourself.
Taking pictures at any and every angle helps, looking back on them helps, getting used to seeing yourself helps.
Personally, I love to take pictures of myself in lingerie that I buy for me, myself and I. I get to be sexy just for me and I keep them just for myself. I look back on them when I need a confidence boost and I think “damn, I look fine.”
Touch Yourself
This doesn’t have to be sexual! Just sensual. But if you want it to be sexual, then go for it girl. Self-pleasure is a wonderful practice that definitely helps boost confidence and is great for you mentally and physically.
My point here though is to just get to know your body physically. By using your sense of touch you can begin to notice how soft your skin is, what the hair feels like on your legs, everything!
Touching yourself gets you comfortable in your own skin because you’re getting to know it with more than just your eyes. As humans we liked to be touched, you don’t have to wait for someone else to touch you to feel that sensation, do it for yourself and confidence will follow.
Go ahead, give yourself a great big hug!
Dress for Yourself (And Wear Clothes That Fit)
The reason you get dressed in the morning should be to impress yourself, no one else. Wear what makes you feel good. Don’t dress based off of magazines, what so-and-so is wearing or what you feel like you should be wearing for your body type.
If you aren’t leaving the house in something you feel great in, then how do you expect your confidence to pick up?
Something you feel great in does not have to be something uber fashionable or sexy or work appropriate. Being comfy is enough to feel great in. I’m all about comfort and always pick my clothes based on how comfortable I feel moving in them, how they flatter me and then based on how they look.
You don’t even have to show off your favourite part of your outfit. Splurge on some lingerie and dress sexy for yourself. Just knowing how great you look under your clothes is a great confidence booster. Again, you don’t need someone in your life to dress sexy or nice for.
At the time of writing, I am very much single and I almost always wear a sexy, lacy bra that I love every day.
Make sure to wear clothes that fit. Get comfortable wearing clothes that fit. If you gain weight, go get a size or two bigger. If you feel like a sausage in your clothes you will not feel great which most certainly does not turn into confidence.
Repeat Affirmations
Repeating affirmations is so simple and can be used at any time as you don’t even need to say them out loud!
This can also be combined with mirror work, where you can look at yourself in the eyes and tell yourself what you love about your body.
Or you can combine it with touching yourself. One of my favourite ways to boost my body confidence is to hold my tummy (my least favourite part of my body…I’m still a work in progress!) and tell it I love it over and over. I’ll usually say thank you too.
Love Your Body Affirmations
- I love you body.
- I love my body.
- I love my x (insert part of body).
- I am so grateful for my body.
- I appreciate my body.
- I am comfortable with my body.
- I am okay with my body.
- My body is fucking fantastic.
- My body is strong.
- My body is beautiful.
- My x (insert part of body) is x (insert whatever your feeling!).
- I am learning to love my body.
READ MORE: 51 Affirmations for Self-Love & 29 Positive Body Affirmations
Move Your Body
Moving your body is the best way to not only get to know your body and how it works but also to move negative energy out.
Moving you body is one of the best things you can do for yourself both mentally and physically and it definitely helps to improve confidence! The more you know how your body works (how it moves), the more you’ll be comfortable with it. You’ll be able to walk with confidence, you’ll hold yourself differently and more.
With movement, you open yourself up for love to come in as the negative energy moves out. The key with movement though, is to move your body because you love it (or want to love it), not as a form of punishment or because you have to. That’s not love, honey!
Have Gratitude and Appreciation
As with everything in life, it’s important to have gratitude and appreciation, and yes, the same goes for your body! if you can’t appreciate what it can do you for, how do you expect to love it?
Love is a higher vibrational frequency than gratitude so you must first be grateful for your body before you can love it.
Just think about how incredible your body is. Your skin cells rejuvenate themselves, your hair grows, it tells you when it’s hungry or thirsty, and it does all of this without you even being consciously aware of it!
How can you not be grateful for all that it does for you? Just for you!
Begin to notice the little things your body can do and girl you will feel more love and confidence quickly.
READ MORE: How to Love Yourself More & Be Happier & 9 Tips on Body Appreciation for Good & Bad Body Image Days
Follow a Diverse Range of Accounts on Social Media
Take a look at your social media accounts, the shows you watch and who you look at when you’re out. Are they all slim, skinny, whatever word you want to describe someone who is on the smaller side or are you showing yourself a diverse range of bodies?
If you’re constantly only showing yourself bodies that don’t look like you it will take you a lot longer to begin to even feel comfortable with your own.
Go out and find people and media who look like you but also different that aren’t just the typical model type you grew up seeing.
The more bodies that you see that look like you, the more love and confidence you’ll feel for yourself. The more diverse of a range of bodies that you see, the more you’ll realize how incredible, different and beautiful all bodies are, including your own. This will of course lead to more love when you see how others who are not the norm can love themselves unconditionally.
Give yourself a chance by putting role models for yourself on your screen and in front of you.
READ MORE: 10 Best Self-Love Books for Women
That’s it, love. And yes, it really it this simple to love your body. Practice just one or a couple or even all of these exercises daily and I promise you will begin to notice your self-love and confidence begin to grow.
What’s next?
- Dive into your yoga practice to make it one of self-love and exploration. Try my Journey Home 30 day yoga adventure.
- Delve deep into your confidence and courage with Sacred Exploration – my one-on-one yoga and coaching program.