Mondays can be rough for many of us, and this doesn’t create the ideal environment for building a better body image. To help you turn that around, every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit to help boost your body image – and kick-start the week on a positive note.

Got a tip for improving body image? Email me at mtartakovsky at gmail dot com, and I’ll be happy to feature it. I’d love to hear from you!

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For a long time, I was ashamed of my body. I felt iffy about wearing certain clothes because I didn’t know if I was thin enough to wear them.

I wanted to fix specific parts that I viewed as flaws.

I felt awkward in my body.

Maybe you have, too. Maybe you still do.

I recently came across an article on Beliefnet about waking up to positive thoughts by Mina Parker. One suggestion particularly struck me, because it’s relevant to how we view our bodies. Mina writes:

Okay, I’ll admit it. I am a control freak. The further I delve into my state of controlling denial, the harder I get slammed when something unexpected or unwanted does make an appearance, which of course it inevitably does. The biggest gift I can give myself is a daily remembrance that there are no mistakes. Nothing that can happen to me can make me a victim, I’m the only one who has the power to do that.

The only things I can allow myself to control are how I look at things and how I choose to respond to them. Even then, replacing the word “control” with “own” might do me a world of good. I own my responses to negative events.

For me, Mina’s mistakes translate into our physical “flaws.” Just like there are no mistakes – only learning opportunities or challenges that we can overcome – your body, too, has no trouble zones or attributes to fix or diet away.

I find her suggestion to replace “control” with “own” incredibly empowering. She writes:

I own my fear. I own my mistakes. I own my forgiveness. I own my lessons and my blessings.

So many of us think that if we can control our food intake, if we can control our weight, if we can control how our bodies metabolize foods that we’ll be fulfilled, happier and have the ultimate in life.

We’ll be able to mold our bodies into today’s thin ideal.

But the reality is that we can’t control our bodies. We can’t force them to become something they’re not.

I’ll never have a flat stomach, be ’5 9,” have a space between my thighs or have thick hair.

I’ll always have my love handles, my hips, my scars.

And that’s OK.

Because I’m learning to own my body.

And I hope you will, too.

Today and every day, practice saying, “I own my body.” If you meditate, use it as your mantra. Say it to yourself when you’re looking in the mirror. Say it to yourself when you start nit-picking at how you look. Say it to yourself in front of your children or younger cousins. Say it as you’re smiling.

Own your height. Your weight. Your hips. Your hair. Your thighs. Your arms. Your nose. Your face. Your braces.

Own it all.

Do you own your body? If you do, how did you get to this positive place? Do you think owning your body has helped your body image?

P.S., Last week, Katie, from Health for the Whole Self, kicked off December’s Self-Discovery Series, Word by Word. This month’s word is Authenticity. Check out her post for some thought-provoking questions. And I hope you participate!

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    Last reviewed: 6 Dec 2010