Tips From An Anxiety Counselor On How To Embrace Your Body

Embrace Your Body So You Can Live: Tips From An Anxiety Counselor in Tigard, OR

Remember the endless summer days and vacations when you couldn’t get your swimsuit on fast enough?

You couldn’t wait to swim at the pool, lake, river, ditch, pond, or ocean. Running screaming through a sprinkler or flying head first on a slip and slide was ultimate fun! There was no thought given to what you actually looked like in the swimsuit. It just needed to fit well enough to cover your bits and stay dry long enough to get slathered in sunscreen before you bolted for the water.

But, not anymore.

Do You Hide Your Body From The World?

Many of us are now allergic to water activities. We don’t want to do them because in order to get wet, we need to be wearing a swimsuit. And we don’t want to. More than that, we might feel physically ill even entertaining the idea.

Why? Because our culture has given us an ugly dose of unrealistic “attractive” body images. Our social conditioning has taught us what is acceptable, and we don’t feel adequate. Even more, we feel shame and shame is the hardest, emptiest feeling we can experience.

So we avoid feeling it by choosing other things to do. Things where we can cover our bodies up, even if it means we are suffering a mild heat stroke by doing so. We don’t play with the kids in our lives anymore outside in the water. We smile and say, ‘I’ll watch you!’ and sit in a chair on the sidelines.

Not only do we miss out on fun with our friends/family/kids and for ourselves, but we also pile on the guilt for not having the right kind of body, to begin with. We sit in it until the temperatures change and we can go back to layering our bodies, locking them away from the world.

You Can Be Free With Help From An Anxiety Counselor

So, what can we do about this harrowing feeling about our bodies? It’s debilitating. It’s lonely. It’s a stealer of joy.

Well, like most of the things I talk about, the answer is always in acceptance. The only way out of shame is in accepting that we have it and that it’s ok to feel it, but that we are ready to move on from it.

So, my first question is, are you ready to let it go? Are you ready to be free?

If not, I’m sending you all the loving kindness I can in hopes you will revisit this someday soon. (Oh and please consider getting an anxiety counselor to help you get there!)

If so, let’s do this.

Try These Steps to Start Embracing Your Body

Step one: Identify the feeling. Where do you feel shame? 

Sit for a few minutes with your eyes closed. Imagine yourself naked or in a swimsuit. Whatever feeling comes up, that’s the one to pinpoint. Pay attention to where in your body you feel it. Is it in your chest? In your head? Your stomach? Does it feel achy or throbbing or stabbing? 

Once you have identified it, take 6 deep breaths, counting to 6 as you breathe in, and 6 as you breathe out.

Step Two: Identify a memory. When did you feel joy in your body? 

Now, think about a time when you felt joy in your body. It might be as a kid. It might be when you were doing a sport or reaching a goal or giving birth! Sit with that memory and image. Imagine the light radiating from your skin all over your body. Do your 6 breaths, counting in for 6 and out for 6.

It is up to you to reclaim the joy your body can provide. You are the only one who can do it. 

AND you can do it right now. Exactly how you are. No matter your shape or size.

You Choose How You Feel About Your Body

This is the only body you will ever have. You can choose to feel shame or you can choose to feel gratitude. When you are ready to recognize that you don’t need shame to protect you anymore, you can let it go and in doing so, you will embrace yourself in a way you didn’t know was possible.

In order to move towards consistently feeling gratitude, do the visualization above as often as you can. Sit with the hard feeling and then envision the joy. The more you do it, the closer to freedom you will get. 

My hope for you is freedom and all the splashing, shimmering fun you could ever want this summer and for many summers to come.

Are You Ready to Start Meeting with an Anxiety Counselor in Tigard, OR?

Are you struggling with the thought of embracing your body? On the other hand, are you ready to start the process so you can live your life but you are struggling to get started? Either way, our anxiety counselors in Tigard are here to support you. With therapy for anxiety and stress counseling you can learn to release the shame you feel about your body. In order to get started with Discover Counseling follow these simple steps.

Reach out for a free consultation with an anxiety counselor

Schedule your first appointment at Discover Counseling

Start embracing your body and living your best life

Other Mental Health Services At Discover Counseling in Tigard, OR

Our caring online therapists offer more than just therapy for anxiety in Tigard, OR. We also offer trauma recovery, therapy for life transitions, and counseling for postpartum. As well as therapy for teens, Christian counseling and codependency treatment. At Discover Counseling, we care about not only you but also your relationships. This is why we also offer premarital counseling, couples therapy, marriage counseling, and therapy for relationship problems. Reach out now to get started!