Tag Archives: self-esteem

Flat Stomach, Flabby Arms, Who Cares? You Are More Than Your Body

Body paintbrush quote

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“Your body is not your masterpiece— your life is.”

This comment from Huffington Post offered some great food for thought.

How often are we bombarded with messages to treat our bodies like a temple because they are all we have? Well they’re not all we have. We have our whole lives: our relationships, our spirituality, ourselves as a whole being, not just a pretty form with thighs that may or may not touch. It is too common to see women, and men too, constantly obsessing over every square centimeter of their body like it’s the only thing they’ve got to offer the world. It’s not.

Aren’t you tired of comparing yourself to every woman you pass on the street or see on TV? Wouldn’t it be nice not to hate yourself a little bit more every time you see someone who has a flatter stomach than you?

Aren’t you tired? 

I am. (more…)

Why It’s OK to Ignore your Yoga Teacher (sometimes)

Consider the phrase, “How you do anything on the mat is how you do everything in life.”

This is a quote I heard recently from one of my fellow yoga teachers that has really struck a chord with me. Ask yourself: How do you show up on your mat? How do you show up in your life? How do you deal with challenging postures in class? Do you just give in or quit? Do you stress out, compare yourself, or push too hard?

yoga teacher

Chances are, how you approach and practice your yoga is probably a good reflection of your approach and practice of life.

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Image and Identity: New Music Video Asks if We Should Combine the Two

There’s another video out there depicting the extremes to which Photoshop can be taken. This time, it’s the music video for artist Boggie’s song Nouveau Parfum, and it’s not promoting exactly as simple a message as it may seem.

BOGGIE – NOUVEAU PARFUM (official music video) from THE SOUP on Vimeo.

During the music video, performed in French, everything about the subject, Boggie, is changed. Her eye color, hair color, amount of makeup, hairstyle have all been altered. You name it, it’s different.

The most poignant part of the video is right before the end when a newly edited Boggie shares a split screen with her own before image. The difference is staggering and frankly a little unsettling.

Her before image shows a pretty, natural-looking young woman. The after image is an idealized version of what someone thinks women should look like. Ultimately though, underneath the editing, she’s still the same.

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Stay Motivated With Weight Loss Advice from 5 Top Life Coaches

Can you believe we’re already halfway through January? It seems like just yesterday we were counting down the seconds to 2024! With the new-ness of the year beginning to wear off, it can be easy to fall into a mid-month slump where your weight loss resolutions begin to feel less important and less feasible.

coach whistling

Get back on track! To help you stay true to your weight loss goals we compiled advice from several leading life coaches. Read on for motivation, inspiration, and hopefully the extra “oomph” you need to keep on going!

Julia Stewart, MMC – President, SchoolofCoachingMastery.com

  • Cultivate mindfulness. This ancient Buddhist approach can be applied to any moment in your life that you want to enjoy more—or have more control over. Notice when you’re hungry; learn to distinguish between cravings and genuine hunger. Feed the latter, not the former.
  • Stop hating yourself. You can’t beat yourself into submission, but you can develop a healthy relationship with your body by appreciating all the ways it does its best to support you.

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10 Ways the Media is Messing With Our Minds and Bodies

It’s well-known that the media sets crazy standards of beauty and behavior, especially for women. You’d think since we’re all aware of this, it would start to change. However, it seems that the problem is just getting worse. Change will come eventually, but only if we all decide to stop letting magazines, commercials and our daily news tell us how to look, think and act.

We’ve got our list of 10 things the media tries to tell us to get in our heads and influence how we view our bodies. We’ve also included why we think they’re a bunch of hooey.

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10 Things You Hate About You

No, we’re not talking a long-awaited sequel to the film that introduced us all to Heath Ledger. Instead, we’re confronting some of the biggest issues we all have with ourselves. Body image is an issue that many people face. “Body image, the way you feel about your personal appearance, is linked to self-esteem,” said Mary Hartley, R.D. “The satisfaction you have with your body is based on the satisfaction you have with yourself.”

mirror

We want everyone to feel satisfied with themselves, so it’s time to quit the hate-speech and make peace with our bodies. Sure, you may not love everything about yourself, but that doesn’t have to prevent you from doing something about it. Here are our top ten beefs with our bodies and what we can do about them.

Jiggly Arms – If your arms make you self-conscious, you aren’t alone. To make your arms less jiggly, add triceps dips to your daily routine. By doing a few reps every day, your flapping arms will soon be nothing but a not-so-fond memory.

Lack of Energy – At one time or another, all of us feel completely devoid of energy. Combat this by making sure you are getting enough restful sleep. It may seem impossible to fit sleep into your busy schedule, but doing so impacts your overall energy levels and your ability to accomplish everything in your day.

Dull Skin – Do you feel like your skin is beginning to look a little zombie like? If so, make sure you are drinking enough water throughout the day. Staying hydrated does wonders for the complexion. Add some of the best foods for healthy skin to your diet, too, like fresh fruit, Brazil nuts, tuna, and avocados. (more…)

Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’ is a Mantra for Self Improvement

If you’ve ever heard Michael Jackson’s song ‘Man in the Mirror’ you might think it’s all about activism and politicking. With lyrics like, “If you want to make the world a better place then look at yourself and make a change,” anyone would raise an eyebrow to the defying characteristic of righteous action this song exudes.

Three years ago, after the news of Jackson’s passing, I played this song on my iPod as a way to honor the late, great, king of pop. Even though I was only a minimal fan at best, I still needed to have my own sense of closure, however trivial it was. The song I chose to memorialize Jackson with (in my own mind) was one of my favorites, yet I realized that I hadn’t actually paid that close attention to the lyrics. Sure, I heard the mantra, “Make that change,” ring over and over again, but it hadn’t hit home until that day.

Reclining in my luxurious overstuffed loveseat with a full bowl of popcorn in my lap I heard, “I’ve been a victim of a selfish kind of love. It’s time that I realize that there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan. Could it be really me, pretending that they’re not alone?” How did I ever miss that? Was it because I was jaded by the 80’s-era of Madonna and Michael Jackson pop-infused dance floor accessory successes, or was it because so often we choose to tune out that which we think has little or nothing to do with us? (more…)

Plus-Size Fashion Blogger Creates ‘Fatkini’ Gallery to Promote Self Love and Confidence

When you think bikini model, what kinds of images typically come to mind? Tall, rail-thin, leggy females wearing barely-there suits without a flaw in sight? Well that may be the case, perhaps it’s because those are the the only images the fashion and beauty industries put in front of our culture’s eye. And as a result, it’s what we’ve come to accept.

But 25-year-old Gabi Gregg, a plus-size fashion blogger living in New York, is hoping to break that stereotype. She’s promoting a message of self love, and believes that being happy with your body shouldn’t depend on what shape or size you are.

And in a whirlwind of support, people are getting behind this message with more enthusiasm than Gregg ever expected.

The controversy started when the fashion blogger posted a photo of herself on her blog GabiFresh, looking curvy and feminine in a high-waisted, two-piece bikini. In addition to posting her own photo, Gregg also encouraged other plus-sized girls to send in photos of themselves in bikinis to prove that beauty doesn’t come in just one size. (more…)

Heavy Black Women Have Higher Self Esteem Than Thinner White Women

A nationwide survey reveals the truth about women’s self-esteem in relation to their body size.

Heavier set African American women are found to be happier with their bodies than thinner and average sized Caucasian women. The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted the survey. They interviewed 800 women from all across the country in order to get a well rounded survey group. The results showed that 66% of overweight or even obese black women had high self-esteem. In contrast, only 41% of thin or skinny white women were found to have high self esteem.

Some of the other details of the survey included the fact that 90% of African American women think living a healthy lifestyle is more important than religion, career, or marriage. However, two-thirds of these same women reported eating fast food at least once a week and only half reported eating dinner at home on a regular basis.
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Self Image is More than Body Image

It is more than just how you look that can impact how you feel about yourself, your self-esteem. It can also be how you think that can determine how you assess your self-worth. I don’t mean whether or not you are a brainiac, though. Our thoughts powerfully influence our emotions. In fact, how we assess any given situation determines how we feel and often how we behave. Because thoughts are so important and powerful, psychologists have classified errors in thinking that can cause difficulty or distress for individuals. One of these errors is “all or nothing thinking.”

One example of all or nothing thinking is believing that because you are overweight you are not a valuable or lovable person. Not only does this belief lead to sadness and emotional distress, but it ignores all the other attributes that a person possesses. Beauty is fleeting, and generally not as important as intelligence, kindness, ambition, or humor. What characteristics do you most value in a friend, romantic partner, or family member? Do you recognizable those traits in yourself? Do you find yourself focusing on the single part of yourself with which you are not happy?

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Stop Middle Aged Weight Gain with Yoga

Millions of Americans are working extremely hard to lose the weight they’ve gained in middle age. Thankfully, there is an enjoyable way to prevent needing to join in this crazy rush to lose those extra pounds.

According to a study published by Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, people of middle age who participate in a regular yoga practice are less likely to put on pounds in mid-life compared with those who do not practice yoga at all. Alan Kristal, co-author of the study could not fully explain how practicing yoga helped people avoid weight gain because, “Except for very strenuous yoga practices, you don’t really burn enough energy to make any difference in terms of weight.”

In contrast to the highly sought after mega-calorie burning, sweat inducing, weight management benefits of vigorous exercise, yoga offers indirect ways to help you avoid weight gain, and the following explains why.

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