How to Be Grateful for Your Body

It's all too common that people can get caught focusing on what they perceive as imperfections with their body, rather than focusing on the inherent balance that exists.

We live in a dual world, which ultimately means that everything has two sides, everything has its pair of opposites. A magnet has two poles, positive and negative. Temperature is both hot and cold. There is day and night, up and down, heavy and light, kind and cruel, fast and slow. I think you get the picture; we cannot have one without the other. You may not believe it, but even supermodels have parts of themselves that they dislike. This means that it does not matter how tall or short, thin or large, white or black someone may be, they all have things they like and dislike about themselves. If someone does not come to recognise the beautiful balance of all things including their body, this can lead to body dysmorphia, bulimia or anorexia.

‍What causes suffering when it comes to body image?
Firstly, we must take responsibility for the fact that no external stimulus i.e. someone, something, can cause us to feel anything. It is our perception of an external stimulus that creates our feelings and subsequently our experience of an event. However, if we consistently surround ourselves with a particular stimulus, it can take a toll on our ability to remain balanced and poised in our perceptions. For example, if you have 3-4 social media accounts where you predominantly follow people that promote and only show a one-sided body/house/intimate partner/life it will be difficult to remain grateful for our own body/house/intimate partner/life due to the imbalanced comparison.

‍So should I just be grateful and remain as I am?
The answer is honestly different for everyone. However, whatever is not green and growing, is ripe and rotting. One of the key ingredients to living a life of fulfilment is progress and growth in some capacity, small or large. You will also notice, as you remove the unrealistic expectations that you currently have i.e. having a one-sided body, and you begin to be grateful for the whole. You will immediately begin to view yourself differently even though nothing has changed. This allows you to create goals and pursue a result, based on choice and inspiration, not necessity and pain.