Loving your own body is often easier said than done.

Women move through many stages in life that can influence how they feel about their bodies – birth, menopause, traumatic experiences.

Changing how we feel about our bodies is a daily practice, just as important as brushing your teeth, you need to keep up the positive inner dialogue. It’s not something you do for 2 weeks and then drop after you feel good. It’s a constant practice to declare your love to your body, yes even if you don’t like the way it looks right now.

The beauty of the body is that it can change. There are many ways you can work on body-positivity, find out what works for you and what those 1 or two practices are that you are most drawn to.

I have put together a few ways to come back to loving your body, feeling more confident and remembering that your body is a gift not a curse.

Positive Affirmations

One of the most basic and effective ways we can practice self-love is to speak it aloud and speak it often, especially when it feels hard to be grateful for our bodies. Give yourself daily, verbal encouragements and reminders. This may mean saying a kind thing to yourself in the mirror in the morning, or placing encouraging sticky notes on your bedside table, or even putting daily encouragements into your phone or computer. Look for self-love and body-positive mantras that speak to you.

And remember, we said some of this work may feel silly, but just because it may feel silly, doesn’t mean it’s not working. Keep at it. This is working on a sub-conscious level, being that the brain will start believing it over time the more you continue to tell it this one thing the more it will start believing it changing your self-sabotaging patterns.

Surround Yourself with Positivity

Negative messages about body image are all around us, and they have a way of weaseling themselves into our thoughts and antagonizing our insecurities. Try to cut out the negativity that you can. Curate your social media feed to shield those fad diet posters. Look for positive people, people who practice self-love, and people who will encourage you to be who you are.

Take Time Out to Touch Your Body

Human touch or self-touch is so important to reconnect to the physical body. You could do this with coconut oil in the mirror whilst adding in affirmations or you could do this right after a shower with some moisturiser. Touching + talking is an incredible way to seed in some positive beliefs

Focus on Your Strengths

Rather than focusing on what you want to change, what you hate, or what you wish did not exist, focus on what you love, what your strengths are and what you are grateful for.Keep training your brain to do that, even when you think of something negative about your body, quickly switch it for the exact opposite within the second you catch yourself. If it feels fake good, keep doing it. Fake it till you make it

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Comparison kills joy, it literally has no benefit. If you feel crap about your body, comparing yourself to others is going to make you feel worse. The minute you start doing this compliment yourself and return back to focusing on the positive, give that person gratitude and return back to you.

You Are More than Your Body

Remember that you are more than your body, that is only a small portion of who you are. Think about what you love about yourself – personality, features, ethics, values, strengths, talents etc. You are more than your body.

I know it can feel like a chore to love your body, especially if you’ve spent years hating on your body but know that you can change that relationship. Make this a daily practice, attach it to something you do every day like brushing your teeth and watch yourself soften into a new relationship with your body.

If you’re craving more guidance on Sensual & Sexual Confidence, join me for this month’s live session of The Classroom by Melissa Vranjes™.

Much love, Melissa xx