I know most people do not like their body. According to an article by glamour magazine that surveyed 300 women of all sizes found…Our research found that, on average, women have 13 negative body thoughts daily—nearly one for every waking hour. And a disturbing number of women confess to having 35, 50 or even 100 hateful thoughts about their own shapes each day.

Psychology Today said, currently, 80 percent of women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their appearance. And more than 10 million are suffering from eating disorders.

WOW!! that is some serious stuff. Not too surprising, but I still don’t think that most women understand that the majority feel the same way—there is always something we don’t like in the mirror.

MY BODY IMAGE. When I was in High School I was this little thing (under 100 lbs) and even on my wedding day everyone raved about how tiny my waist was. I grew up with people wondering if I had an eating disorder (which I didn’t) but it definitely didn’t help my self-esteem having people accuse me. I had one of my boyfriends mother’s flat out ask me if I had been throwing up in the bathroom after a meal we had just all enjoyed at a restaurant. Talk about embarrassing. No, just a small bladder. I had camp leaders tell me I exercised too much when I went on a hike with a couple girlfriends. Sure, I was small, but I honestly didn’t have an eating disorder.

I truly didn’t even understand eating disorders until I was in college and it seemed all the boxes of cereal we were buying were gone–quick. One of my room mates would binge and purge and she would spend an hour in the shower, my heart sank for her. Then I began to understand a couple of my younger sisters had the same problem. I ached for their emotional emptiness, but I truly did not understand.

My body issues have evolved over having a daughter and gaining 60 lbs, my husband’s porn problem (that mentally & emotionally messes with you), having people say, “Didn’t you use to be a hottie” , a brother telling me that I “use to be skinny like his wife”, my Mom talking about how skinny she was & then telling me “you’ve gained weight”, never feeling comfortable in a swim suit, not liking pictures of myself and no one taking pictures of me….It can mentally mess with you. But, I also haven’t liked having my picture taken. Who does?

BEGIN TO SEE SOMETHING YOU LOVE. Well, I just recently came across some good info. to share with you about body image, taking a good look at yourself in the mirror and finding the little things you do like and allowing those to shine. I just listened to a podcast with Vivienne McMaster, she has a blog called “Be Your Own Beloved.” Don’t you just love that name. It just sings to the soul and you want to know more. She has an amazing story of self-loathing, depression and beginning again each day to try and find something beautiful in nature, your surroundings, yourself. Here is her site http://www.viviennemcmasterphotography.com

BEGIN AGAIN. The funny thing is, I just began to take a couple pictures of myself last week. I always frowned at “selfies” as vain, too me.me. but I am slowly beginning to see that just a little picture of your feet, your hands touching a flower, your face at an angle you like—can lead to little bits of self-love. You can find something you like about yourself, so if you have a hard time looking at yourself in the mirror, begin again. Take a little step, a little snap of your camera phone and find a little piece of yourself that you lost. Hopefully, little by little we will all begin to focus on the truly beautiful things we see—in ourselves.

BEST BEFORE AND AFTER I recently had this video sent to me from my sister–it is great–check it out.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-story-behind-one-of-the-best-before-and-after-photos-ive-ever-seen?g=2&c=ufb1

DOVE BEAUTY PATCH If you haven’t seen this video by Dove–Dove Beauty Patch–check it out. So good!!

Here are some final thoughts from celebrities..

.Well, I hope all of this info. will make you take a step in a better direction for yourself. That you may find some little something about you that you can love. When we begin to truly see things we can love—that will spread and that will be a Bea-YOU-tiful thing.

Peace and lots of LOVE to you. -Heather

I watched an amazing movie the other day called “Awake in the Dream” by Catharina Roland —I highly recommend watching it and taking the seeds of change that will help you grow into a higher, better part of yourself. It was full of highly intellectual people sharing their deep insights, set to beautiful backdrops all around the world. It was wonderful to watch!!

Here is the trailer for the movie–

AWAKE IN THE DREAM PART 1

I am going to share bits of knowledge from this movie into a few different parts—this one I am going to share the thoughts about limiting beliefs.

She had author, Bruce Lipton, Biology of Belief, talk about what stops us from creating and using our potential—We have settled for our belief system, instead of seeing all the shimmer, shine, possibility of what reality can bring. Beliefs can bring limits or possibility. Thoughts like: Life is hard, I am a loser, it’s out of my hands VS I am beautiful, It’s a new day, I live in abundance, All changes change for the better, I am beloved…

This was fascinating to me–he began to talk about research done with people who have multiple personality issues. He talked about how powerful the brain is and can literally change the physicality of the body like a switch. He gave an example of someone who had two personalities, while one was extremely allergic to strawberries and would have a serious reaction, when the other personality showed up & was asked about strawberries, the response was that they loved strawberries and ate five of them with no reaction. When your mind changes, your biology can change as fast as you change your mind.

He explained most healing truly is the placebo effect—if the person believes the sugar pill will affect and heal them–it will. The pill didn’t heal–the BELIEF OF HEALING is what healed them.

I thought the following DOVE BEAUTY PATCH video would fit beautifully into what we are talking about. MAKE SURE TO WATCH THIS!! VERY POWERFUL. (This was NOT in the movie–I just thought it was a good fit & very powerful)

Bruce Lipton also spoke of the Nocebo effect (negative thought effect/the opposite of placebo)–Here is a video I came across to help explain the “Nocebo effect.” It is equally as powerful as the placebo, but it takes you in the opposite direction. A positive thought can HEAL you while a negative thought can KILL you.

Bruce also talked about the messages from the media that we should be afraid, the world is falling apart. He said, We need to be aware of not believing these things and not begin to follow and live in that fear because then we lose our power. Bruce said, “Let the world fall apart because then the new, empowering ideas will emerge and will be able to replace the old ones that are not working.”

I also really enjoyed listening to Arjuna Ardagh (At first I was a little closed off to his slow, spacey way, but the more I watched and listened to him–I was hooked) He explained thoughts as this…Scientists say that we usually talk about 400 words per minute to ourselves. Thoughts are constantly assessing our surroundings, giving us judgements, how to deal with people, how to act…the mind always thinking, always wanting more. This is the commentary of the mind–future, past, fears, judgements, evaluations. The good–this is the part that allows imagination—to desire to make a movie & then make it, to see a bldg & then build it…BUT it is also a curse. The capacity to think and imagine makes a wonderful servant—can be used, but makes a terrible master. Almost all human beings have lost the capacity to know how to switch it off. So the thinking process isn’t useful in the right way—it can become a disease. Like a television you can’t switch off anymore.

He had a great metaphor—it’s like having a parrot on your shoulder, always chattering, always wanting more—you can’t turn it off. It is genetic, it’s biological, always there, you can’t switch it off, but in the moment you are able to observe the activities of thought as something automatic something interesting happens–you become aware of the thoughts. You are no longer the parrot–you are the observer of the parrot.

“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not “the thinker.” The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter – beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace – arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken.” -Eckhart Tolle

Tag: Dove Beauty Patch

You & Your Body Image

Awake in the Dream part 1