How gratitude can help with post-natal body image.
I’ve recently completed ‘The Magic’, a 28-day gratitude process which starts with listing ten different things you’re grateful for every morning for the entire 28 days. You’re grateful for some pretty random stuff by the end, but if you're looking for something to promote positivity in your life then it's the one. I've done it a few times over the last year (not always to the end I'll admit) but it's incredible at making you really appreciate everything you already have, the world around you and the people in your life.
At some point last summer I caught sight of my reflection and noticed the critical side of my brain reviewing my post-natal body. Clocking this negativity, and in the midst of gratitude bootcamp, I switched my thinking and made a mental list of the ten things I was most grateful to my body for:
1. Recovering quickly from a cesarean;
2. Growing a healthy human being;
3. Surviving labour;
4. Feeling strong and being able to lift weights again;
5. Being able to walk again post caesarian (the simplest things are so important to your wellbeing);
6. Being able to run again and feel good doing it;
7. Providing a food source for my baby and allowing me to feed;
8. My general health and wellbeing;
9. Feeling energised and the ability to live an active life;
and most importantly.....
10. I was truly grateful for my body for being able to conceive, when so many are denied this opportunity.
That was it, a simple list of things I was grateful for and I immediately felt a boost to my self confidence.
My body may not look exactly how it used to, but what it has performed over the last two years is nothing short of a miracle and and I’ll take every (perceived) flaw, again and again.
Our bodies do amazing things for us every single day in keeping us alive.
Fully accepting yourself takes time and you may never be 100% happy with what you see in the mirror but next time your inner critic pipes up, switch it up, focus on all the incredible things your body has done and continues to do for you and watch your perspective shift.
Bx