When You're Having a Blah Body Day, What Helps you Feel Better?

[Sam W]

It's rapidly approaching summer time in this hemisphere, which means the beauty and wellness industries are leaning hard into the "here's how your summer body should look" messaging. And for a lot of us, running into those messages (and really just existing as a person in the world) can lead to some days of feeling blah about our bodies. So, it might be helpful to share some strategies for dealing with those feelings.

For me, exercise (in the broad sense) helps a lot because it brings me into my body. When I'm in that mindset, it's easier to on all the things I love about having and using a body. The other thing that helps is accepting that there will be blah days, because being positive 100% of the time is a tall order, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with my body.

How about y'all?

[Mo]

I try to find something I can do with my body that feels good. That might mean taking a walk, stretching, doing a weird makeup look (I find that my brighest/wackiest makeup happens when I'm feeling terrible), taking a bath, even knitting/cooking or something else simple I can do with my hands. I find that light exercise feels good but if I'm not up for it, something gentle and soothing like having a bath can be good too; mostly I'm trying to find something that can help me feel grounded in my body and positive about it in some way.

[thewrit3r]

Exercise or movement of any kind also helps me because it helps me realize what my body is capable of doing. It also just feels good when the endorphins are being released. Dancing is definitely a favorite of mine for body positivity because it’s just so fun I love myself in it

[millstreet]

I take a moment to think about what I appreciate about my body, like how it is strong and lets me walk to see my friends or all the places I've gone with it. Then, I'll do something that makes me feel good like a bit of yoga/stretching, a walk, or a healthy snack. A positive mindset is key for me!

[infinitynbeyond]

I get naked, have a nice bath or just look at myself in the mirror a while and get friendly with it. When I'm focusing on only one aspect, here or there, and getting mean with myself then seeing my 'whole self' in the mirror helps me realise that I am a person and not a machine/object. It kind of puts me face to face with what I'm doing and also helps me realise that just because my body is mine doesn't mean I also have a right to 'push it around'. Seeing myself this way reminds me that my body is doing so much more than what I'm concerned about - keeping me alive, digesting food, protecting me, fighting, pumping, etc.

When recognising all those things, my previous worries then seem a little bit unfair. Even if I am standing there extremely bloated (which is also a feeling I really dislike), I just sort of laugh a bit and realise I am expecting too much of myself - and if anyone couldn't handle a bit of bloating, they are not the person for me anyway (friend, partner or otherwise). I then tend to 'curl up in a ball' at the end and try to hug myself, and then seeing everything all folded up and scrunched up together kind of just looks funny and removes all the seriousness of it. In the end of the day, we're just a bunch of blobs! It's amazing that we are out here and alive!

Dancing also works and sometimes follows all this. It keeps things fun

[Sarah B]

I like to exercise, go for a jog or go to the gym and then after take some naked pictures of myself. The pictures are not for anyone else just myself and for some reason I enjoy my body more that way rather than looking in a mirror. I think for me when I look at my naked body in a picture I focus on the whole package but when I look in a mirror I always concentrate on what I don't like.