A negative body image is on of the biggest self-love and self-esteem busters. It’s so easy to tell you to begin to love your body yet so hard to do. Erena DiGonis, LMSW, CHC, a licensed psychotherapist and certified health coach, is my guest today and has five tips for connecting more positively to your body. Here’s what she has to say:

5 Tips for Lovingly Reconnect with Your Body
by Erena DiGonis

It is so easy to multitask our way through life. As we run through our day, on autopilot, just trying to get everything done, we lose ourselves. Have you ever stopped at 2 pm, and realized you “forgot” to eat lunch or didn’t even remember what you had? How about being overly critical and standing in the closet for too long saying cruel things to yourself and figuring out how to hide in clothes??All the stress and not taking care of the most basic needs leaves us depleted and disconnected!?Here are 5 tips to help bring awareness in shifting your perspective and honoring your body!

1. Trust your body and remind yourself it is perfectly designed?. Just the fact that you are alive is evidence of this! Think about it, you can cook dinner while helping kids with homework as fetus develops in you! Not to mention the millions of other functions that are taking place at that very instant. Pretty awesome, huh!?What does your body do for you and what do you do for your body?! Have gratitude for this magnificence.

2. Watch your negative thoughts. They impact your emotional, physical and spiritual health. Every time you say, “My butt is too big or I hate myself” your thoughts are dictating your feelings and behaviors! The challenge to become aware of the cruel chatter and recognize that this chatter does not define you as a person! You are not broken so enough with the “fixing yourself” by dieting, depriving and over-exercising. Even if you have significant changes to make, you are a beautiful work in progress. Accept this premise!

3. Breathe, breathe, breathe! This helps to neutralize negative feelings and get you back into your body! Check in with your body. How are you feeling?

4. Communicate with your body everyday. Right now, identify and write down 5-10 habits that bring you closer to who you want to be. Drinking water is a habit, give yourself credit for the things you do.?Also, take note of what thoughts and behaviors take you further away from your goals.

5. Seek positive support. Enlist the support of friends and family. I also invite you for a free Body Wisdom consultation where we can privately discuss your struggles and find strategies that can help create a permanent transformation with your relationship with body image and emotional eating.
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