I talk a lot about how much I enjoy leading my weekly body image group at work, so today I thought would be the perfect time to take a deeper dive into this specific terminology. In general, "body image" can be defined as "A picture someone has in their mind about their size/shape, et. al., and the attitudes that they form towards themselves." Because of this, there are actually three components of body image I like to explain more in-depth with clients. 1. the Perceptual part: how someone sees their body 2. the Attitudinal part: how someone feels about how they look 3. the Behavioral part: how these perceptions and attitudes influence someone's behavior(s). In essence, how we see ourselves can have a major impact on our thoughts, feelings, and ultimately actions towards our whole self (body, mind & spirit). What's also interesting is that I have found in my counseling sessions most people assume this topic is only fixated on surface level body image
Many of us have probably set New Years' Resolutions in the past, and odds are likely (at times) they have centered around changing our weight or bodies. For work this week, I was motivated to lead a body image group facilitating a discussion on just this topic and how to change the narrative for our New Year goals....and luckily, I stumbled upon a website that immediately gave me inspiration. If you're curious to check out the original post, here's a link to the Ravishly Article , but I also thought I would share the author's affirmations that I provided with my clients today. (I also purposefully changed the word Resolutions to Intentions, as that resonates with me more....but feel free to use whatever works best for you). ******* Fifty options for new year’s intentions that are actually centered on taking care of your body. 1. I will avoid stepping on a scale, because that number tells me nothing about my health or my happiness. 2. In fact, maybe some day this ye