Body Image as a Mindfulness Practice
Imagine you are moving along with your day, and all of sudden are struck with a bad body image thought. You notice some aspect of your body you are judging, and go into a fight, flight or freeze response in your nervous system. Something about the bad body image thought threatens your sense of safety and belonging, your nervous system responds and you struggle to shift out of this state.
Perhaps you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and this image triggers this experience, or you wake up feeling particularly uncomfortable in your skin, or an outfit that always fits feels a little tight and sets off this process. Or perhaps this negative judgment about your body is a constant narrative running in your mind. This mental and emotional state can be draining, exhausting and take away from our ability to be present and enjoy life.
Mindfulness as a Practice in Dealing with Negative Body Image
A practice that can be helpful in moments like this one is to view your body image as a mindfulness practice. For many of us who struggle with our body image this mental state can take over and color our day and our life. The definition of mindfulness is non-judgmentally paying attention to the present moment - and the key word here is non-judgmentally. The experience of curiosity can be a place to start to build a resource. When challenging body image thoughts arise, I like to think of it as a check engine light for the Soul - what are the deeper needs that want some attention?
Factors that Impact Our Bad Body Image Thoughts
There are three factors that influence this process of focusing on our body image with judgment. The first contributing factor is the systems of oppression that disconnect us from our body and our power. For example, sizeism and weightism are big influences in body image work. Others include racism, sexual orientation discrimination, the patriarchy, white supremacy culture, ageism, ableism and diet culture. Anti-fatness is rooted in anti-blackness and underlies many of these systems of oppression. Each of these systems of oppression are communicating we have less value if we inhabit one of these marginalized identities and the impact is to disconnect us from ourselves.
The second factor is our trauma history and any attachment wounds that have communicated either that it's not safe to be in our body or we are not enough just as we are. These experiences lead us to store fear in our body and to disconnect and disembody. As Rachel Lewis-Marlow of the Embodied Recovery Institute states, body phobic people are often people whose bodies are holding a lot of fear.
Finally, the third influence pulls these two previous factors together by the way we internalize them. Internalizing these messages from the systems of oppression and from our trauma and attachment history leads to self-objectification. Self-objectification is when people view themselves as objects for use instead of as human beings. We are treated as objects through trauma and being labeled according to our social identities and places we have less privilege, and internalize this experience to objectify ourselves. This process interrupts our embodiment and leads to focusing on how our bodies are being perceived by others.
Steps for Working with Body Image as a Mindfulness Practice
STEP ONE: Notice and Name the bad body image thought.
For example. say you are feeling conscious of the size of your belly, you may notice, “I am having the thought that my belly is big.”
STEP TWO: Notice and Name the sensations and emotions connected to this thought.
For example, your belly feels bloated, your heart is racing, your skin is crawling and you are feeling fear.
STEP THREE: Ask yourself, “How am I vulnerable to this body image thought today?”
The answer might be you are already in a marginalized identity and it contributes to continuing to feel unsafe in the world, or if you are in a straight size body, experiencing bad body image may lead you to feel your love and belonging is threatened. Bring awareness to the systems of oppression that impact your ability to land safely in your body in the present moment just as it is.
STEP FOUR: Ask yourself, “What needs to be tended to here?”
The vulnerability to the body image thought can alert you to deeper needs. For example, you may need to feel the grief and anger related to these systems of oppression, or maybe the need is to increase resiliency to these systems of oppression and seek communities of love and belonging that feel safe to you. You may need to “locate the problem outside of yourself” as we say in Body Trust work, recognizing this issue is related to the racism, sizeism and weightism that are a part of our culture.
The deeper need may be related to how you are holding trauma physiology in the body. In this situation, the trauma physiology in your body needs support with practices like orienting to safety, shaking, Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE), or with support from a somatic, body-centered psychotherapist. Speak to the part of the body that holds the fear, not the fear the body is feeling. Your body may need additional information to know it is safe in the moment.
Or you may need to engage in some embodiment practices that help you return to a sense of living in your body from the inside out rather than in fear of how you are being perceived by others.
Embodiment is the antidote to body image challenges.
There are many reasons that it might feel unsafe to come into your body including your sensory experiences, trauma history and attachment wounds. Finding professional support for moving towards embodiment is essential for some people, and may create transformation throughout your entire life. Recovery happens with deeper embodiment, as well as more access to the freedom and pleasure we all deserve. Our wish for you is that body image as a mindfulness practice will be an important support in your journey from self-objectification to embodiment.
Get Started With Body Image and Disordered Eating Therapy in Asheville, NC Today
Join us at Reclaiming Beauty as we start a journey toward shifting from self-objectification to embodiment. Our disordered eating therapists stand ready to support you in identifying the factors that interrupt your embodiment and what needs to be added in to heal and embody. Follow these few steps to get started:
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Other Services We Offer in Asheville, NC
Discover a holistic approach to well-being at Reclaiming Beauty. Our personalized embodiment coaching unlocks the wisdom within, fostering self-compassion and resilience. Or, explore the transformative benefits of the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP). This is a non-invasive auditory intervention that enhances social engagement and reduces stress.
