By Kristen Donia —
It’s a random Thursday, I’m standing in front of the mirror in my bra and underwear searching for an outfit for the day. I think about the weather, my upcoming tasks, errands I will run, and the fact that I want to be comfortable above all else, something that has driven my fashion choices my whole life. Anyone else?
As I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, my first thought is “ugh.” I then begin to pick apart my body, thinking of a friend of mine who has a longer torso and a flat stomach and I begin to envy the way in which she can walk around the pool on a hot Arizona day with what I thought was sheer confidence. At brunch, I find that I was quite wrong in assuming this. Little did I know, she does the exact same thing each morning, and it comes as no surprise.
We’re all doing this to ourselves, the judging, the telling ourselves we should be and look different than we are. Self-confidence is an active process, not a passive practice though we would love it to be. And the truth is, the grass is always going to be greener. So – the question is, what can we do to see our grass in a new light? How can we begin to create more sunshine and shine it onto our very own body mentality?
The first thing I did was cancel what I’ll call the inevitable morning “mirror moments.” Each day when I began to get ready, rather than picking apart my body for what it isn’t, I simply got dressed and started my day. I didn’t look in the mirror. I didn’t assess, I didn’t pick apart, essentially, I didn’t give myself the chance to be horrible to myself.
Avoiding this negative behavior put space between this awful part of my routine and after a while, I thought of it less and less. I’m not gonna lie, it took some time and I would find myself occasionally falling back into the old habit, but I was consistent enough and stayed the course. I also celebrated the fact that I was taking a step in the right direction in becoming a more body positive version of myself.
When I got comfortable eliminating my “mirror moments,” I gave myself the opportunity to take it a step further. As I got ready, I began to look in the mirror head-to-toe and find three things that I liked or loved about my body. Things that make me, well, me. Let me say, It really starts to get challenging around Day 19, and honestly, that was my favorite part. The experience ended up being quite cool, I found myself searching for, and looking at, my body through a whole new lens.
If you want to practice more body positivity this is one simple, easy, way to start. Your body, your mind, your motivation will all change as a result. Just sit back and watch. Give it a try and drop us a message @teenstrongaz we would love to hear about your experience!