What Is Body Image?

When I think about body image, I think it's how we see ourselves, both on the inside and the outside. It's made up of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions about ourselves.

There truly is no wrong answer when it comes to how someone experiences their body image. I think what's important is recognizing that these are our thoughts and feelings. Sometimes those thoughts get brushed aside because of what's popular, what we're told we should believe, or whatever the current trends happen to be.

I also think body image is about both our appearance and the things underneath that influence how we feel about ourselves. Appearance is usually the easiest part to identify. Because of that, it's easy to believe body image is only about what we look like. We can go long periods of our lives without realizing how much deeper it actually goes.

I believe everyone has a body image. We all have an image of our body and an image of ourselves. Some people simply think about it less than others. Hopefully that's because they're at ease with themselves rather than constantly fixating on something they wish was different. We all have thoughts and opinions about ourselves, but the depth of those thoughts and how often we think about them is different for everyone.

I absolutely believe our body image can improve without our body changing. At the same time, I think we can make every physical change imaginable and still struggle with how we see ourselves. That's why I believe we can take an active role in our body image and our self perception by choosing to appreciate ourselves as we are right now, inside and out, outside and in.

The difficult part is that there is so much messaging around us, and each of us has our own history with how we see ourselves. Because of that, we have to continue working on this. I don't think we'll ever be one hundred percent perfect because those old thoughts and feelings don't simply disappear. The goal is to get better at recognizing them, stepping back, and redirecting ourselves toward a healthier perspective.

If you've never really thought about body image before and you simply know you don't like what you see in the mirror, that's okay. Maybe you've never called it body image. Maybe you've just called it something else.

What I would encourage you to do is ask yourself what specifically you don't like. Once you've identified that, ask yourself why. Where did that belief come from? Who put it there? How did it become part of the way you see yourself?

I think we owe it to ourselves to understand what we feel about ourselves and where those feelings came from. That's where the conversation begins.

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