How to Start Building a Better Relationship With Your Reflection

Body appreciation is something you can practice.

Eventually, that practice can begin showing up in a lot of different areas of your life. But I think the best place to start is incredibly simple.

Stand in front of a mirror for 60 seconds and intentionally build yourself up.

Before you do that, though, I think you have to make a choice.

You have to decide that you want to change the way you see yourself. You may even need to declare it out loud.

I am going to work on appreciating who and what I see in the mirror.

Here is where it gets difficult.

You may have to take action on that choice before you actually believe it.

That does not mean you are lying to yourself. You are trusting that your current perception of yourself does not have to be permanent.

During those 60 seconds, look at yourself and find something you appreciate.

Maybe it is something about your appearance. Maybe it is something about who you are. Ideally, over time, you begin noticing both.

But what happens if you look in the mirror and genuinely cannot find anything you like?

Start with the thing you criticize.

Look directly at it.

Notice what you normally tell yourself about that part of your body, then begin practicing a different statement. If you cannot come up with anything else, start with the opposite of what you usually say.

You may not believe it yet.

The practice comes before the belief.

That is okay.

At first, you may feel like you are simply saying words. You may feel awkward. You may even think the entire exercise is ridiculous.

Keep showing up.

You also are not going to have a perfect relationship with your reflection every day.

There will be days when you look in the mirror and do not like what you see. There may be days when the negative thought feels much more believable than anything positive you are trying to practice.

The win is continuing to practice anyway.

You are giving yourself a controlled environment where you can notice those thoughts, work with them, and try again.

If you weigh yourself regularly, I think this practice can be especially useful immediately after stepping off the scale.

Look at the number.

Let whatever thoughts appear show up.

Then spend the next 60 seconds intentionally building yourself up.

The scale does not have to determine the conversation you have with yourself afterward.

You do not have to master body appreciation today.

You choose it first.

You practice it.

You trust yourself enough to continue.

And eventually, what started as something you were intentionally practicing can become something you genuinely believe.

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