It's no exaggeration to say that a lot of people struggle with body image issues and have negative thoughts about their own bodies.

In fact, in a 2018 study, it was found that 2 in 5 Americans feel body dissatisfaction every time they look in the mirror. Many of us are experts at finding things that are "wrong" with our bodies, be it our weight, shape, height, or other things like freckles, facial features, or skin tone.

While most traditional meditation lineages will point out that we are more than just this body, meditation can also help to improve one's body image while helping to develop a healthier body.

In this post, we will look at how and why meditation can be helpful when it comes to developing a positive body image, even if you are a beginner with no experience!

3 ways meditation can help you develop a positive body image

Spending time meditating on a daily basis has many benefits. It can improve not only how you feel about your body, but also how your body feels. These benefits can have a positive impact on your life, boost self-esteem, and cultivate a healthy and happy sense of self.

Meditation and trauma

For many people, part of their negative self-image has its roots in trauma or negative experiences. If you experienced physical or sexual abuse, or were bullied and made fun of for how you look, these experiences can stay with you, and you can even develop PTSD or cPTSD.

This makes it hard to feel good about your body as your nervous system is stuck in fight or flight mode, or freeze mode, and your body becomes a very uncomfortable place to be. You might feel anxious, jumpy, or always on edge. Additionally, if your body was a source of ridicule, every time you look at yourself you may be reminded of those mean words and unpleasant experiences.

Meditation can help your nervous system to regulate itself, meaning your body feels calmer and is an easier place to be. You feel more accepting of yourself, and start to experience more self-compassion and self-acceptance. Regular practice can also improve your mental health and wellbeing. 

Meditation and physical health

Meditation is also a great tool to help your body to be healthier. A regular meditation practice can help to reduce your blood pressure, improve your sleep, and reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone).

As the health of your body improves it becomes harder to judge your body and you just feel better about being you! This kind of health isn't about how your body looks, it's about how your body feels and doing what you can to look after your body. You may or may not lose weight (some people do, some people don't), you may or may not look "better", but that's not the point. The point is to feel at home in your body and to help your body to function as well as possible.

You may find that you start to look "better" but you'll also find that you're sleeping better, that you find it easier to relax, and that you feel less stressed, which in my opinion is more important!

Meditation promotes dispassion

Meditation can help us to feel more neutral towards how we look. Dispassion means not feeling excessively for or against something. Your body simply “is”. Very often we think we have to go from hating our bodies to loving them in one step and that can be hard. Feeling more neutral, more accepting, and less judgemental about how we look can be really useful and oftentimes can feel more attainable. 

This dispassion helps us to feel free when it comes to the images and ideas we have about ourselves. Those negative thoughts have much less power and how you look just isn't such an important thing to focus on. And, when you do think about yourself, you're more likely to feel more positively towards yourself and your body.

How to start meditating

If you are looking for a meditation technique to help you to feel better about yourself, and to begin to experience more joy, confidence, and gratitude every day (regardless of what your stomach, arms, or legs look like!) then you will love SKY Breath Meditation.

SKY is an evidence-based technique that has been shown to:

• Improve sleep

• Reduce anxiety and depression

• Boost the immune system

• Reduce blood-pressure

• Reduce PTSD

• Increase feelings of social connectedness

• and much more...!

Join us for a free session!

You can join us for a free intro session where you will experience a guided meditation by an expert instructor, learn a breathing technique that will help you to feel present, aware, and awake, and find out more about SKY.

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