Self Acceptance..Through Nudity??????

A client came to me recently perplexed over her inability to accept her body the way it is today. She has been working out regularly, releasing emotional pain from the past, eating healthy, receiving an array of compliments from both men and women…..yet she still only sees a body that is not “worthy “ of acceptance. At least in her mind.

“The compliments are nice , don’t get me wrong I am grateful for them, but I just cannot say I’m pleased at all with what I see. ” Some may say, since her body looks amazing , that she’s suffering from a perceptual disease, an emotional inability to see the reality of what her body really looks like. Since 60% of our population is overweight, she easily falls into the top 40% of Americans in regard to body size.

So I asked her to do 2 tasks for the next 30 days that I knew could have a powerful impact on her self image:

1. To have her boyfriend take photo’s of her body, as it is true that looking in the mirror may not give some people the unbiased reality of what they do look like.

2. To walk around as much as possible in the privacy of her home without any clothes on..yes, in the nude. And, to make sure when she did walk by a mirror, to stop and look for the parts of her body that she DOES like.

The results were amazing. First, as her and her boyfriend sat in front of me with the photo’s, she was amazed at how comfortable she was looking at her body in this detached way…..and how she did appreciate herself from this perspective.

Next, she admitted that while at first walking around her home nude was uncomfortable, and especially stopping and looking at herself in a mirror , after 2 weeks it became a real joy. She danced in the nude, felt free, and actually began appreciating the way she looked. The more she became comfortable seeing herself in the nude, the more she began to love who she was. Now. Not in the future.

Slow Down. Practice self acceptance daily.

Love, Peace, David www.talkdavid.com