Awareness of the body: what image do you have of yourself
Find out with this path and start living better
15 min
by Raffaella Rognoni Face
to face with the body This is the starting point of
a path that will help you ask the right questions, explore beliefs and prejudices for achieve greater awareness of your body and remove obstacles to achieving your well-being.
A journey that for each section will accompany you from the convictions that sometimes turn into cages to the awareness of how simple change is.
In each mini-path we will help you to identify an orientation goal and some exercises will be recommended.
Your body IS YOU. We often treat the body as something other than us or think of it as something bad or wrong.
This is where it is important to start: “I am my body”.
I ask you a question: “Your body today represents you
”
I often found myself with coachee who answered: “No!” .
The body allows us to manifest into the world. During the first impact, others see our body and its movement of us.
“How you relate to your body
You talk to him, listen to him, move him with harmony …
”
“How you feed your body
” … It is said that everyone is what he eats.
So you can start from here and CHOOSE how you want to nourish your body by listening to it.
Trust your body and trust yourself!
STEP 1 – Soft or thin: which side are you
on Sometimes without even realizing it, we take sides in favor of prejudices, we side with blondes or brunettes, sneakers or stiletto heels, the book or the gym. Similarly, we have beliefs about the body that create mental cages capable of interfering with a natural propensity for balance. Resistance to a change towards a slimmer body can be linked to the fear of not recognizing ourselves anymore, of betraying our way of being which is a bit our way of facing life. It is worth facing our beliefs to understand their deeper reasons and avoid them behaving like prejudices, leaving us in this case less freedom of choice.
The word to the coach
Often during coaching sessions I have heard from my coachees: “I want to lose weight because if I think of myself I see myself different: I have another line, which allows me to wear that type of clothes, etc …”
“And you when do you think about yourself… what image do you see of yourself
Also, what do you feel when you think your thin body or when you think it soft
”
It is important to note, in fact, that each of us associates beliefs, judgments and emotions to a certain image.
Some consider the thin body corresponding to cold, angular, nervous attitudes; others associate it with health, well-being, attention to life and others….
The same thing happens in associating a soft body with welcoming attitudes, open for some and the exact opposite for others.
There is no truth, there is always one’s own truth that corresponds to what we believe .
A famous phrase reads: “whether you believe or do not believe you will still be right”, just to emphasize the importance that one’s beliefs have on one’s actions and consequently on the results that will be obtained. In this case the belief concerns you, the Where does
this idea that everyone has of themselves come from
If you take a step back and retrace the history of your family often and there you find many answers about it: beliefs often unknowingly are handed down through family narratives.
A good exercise can be in this regard to browse the family photos …
… “What have you discovered about yourself
”
And now I ask you: “What are the characteristics of the body that correspond to you and represent you, in your feeling
”
Well … give an image and a name to the body you are and the first step to becoming one.
STEP 2 – Your body is a message: you agree with what it says
Did you know that 90% of our daily communication is not related to what we say
This means that, although we can carefully choose the words, who is in front of us is conditioned in perceiving them for 55% by what is defined as the non-verbal (mimicry, gestures, body language) and for 38% by the paraverbal ( volume, tone, rhythm). Our physical appearance, as much as we may consider it a superficial matter, is actually one of the most important aspects in communicating.
The word to the coach
“Have you ever noticed the message that your body transmits to you and to others
”
Well yes, your body communicates. You can notice this from the returns of others and about yourself you can think about how much your body has changed over the years.
“How your physical appearance has changed over the course of your life
There have been specific episodes that mark these stages of transformation
What your body says to you
”
Listen! There
are
different languages ​​that our body uses: for example how you cover your body today, how you dress, what colors you choose . bright colors such as red and orange are the colors of action; blue is the color of tranquility and safety; yellow is the color of the will to live. About colors and body, the color par excellence that marks its ratio and brown: “It’s a color you use
“.
Then there are non-colored colors: black – often used in clothing because it “parades” and is elegant – and a color that conveys distance; white is instead the color of the opening, difficult to wear also because it often tends to enlarge the figure. “And what colors do you use
How do you dress
.”
There is a tool in communication called the Johari window that can help you understand how the relationship with others is not always to be taken for granted and how there are potentialities to be discovered .
Open area: there are things that I know about myself and that I can pass on to others. For example, I am a generous and loyal person and others see me as trustworthy. I have a figure that expresses solidity and reassures.
Secret Corner: there are characteristics known to me but not known to others or known to a few. They can be problems that I don’t want to show, qualities that I have not had the opportunity to show. For example, others may not know my comic streak or perhaps they do not suspect that my continuous availability towards everyone often tires me.
Blind spot:and the part that others see of me but that escapes me. Unbeknownst to me, others might consider me seductive for a feature of my body or for my gaze. Similarly, people can negatively interpret something that I consider positive: the habit of giving advice in good faith could be judged by some as intrusive.
Unknown space: Something that is still in potential and is unknown to me in the outside world. Often those who find balance in their own body see a different look in others, more willing to notice its beauty in a broad sense. A new lifestyle can make you discover an unexpected lightness, a welcome ability to easily solve problems, an incredible desire to go to the gym …
The more we increase the part known to us and to others, the more our relationships are aware, open and sincere. The increased awareness of our body (how I see it, how others see it, how it could change) opens up new possibilities for us.
STEP 3 – Objective
One of the most difficult commitments in the processes of change is to choose the direction in which to move. To channel all the energies we need to find the right motivation and we need to understand what we really want to achieve. To remind you how to formulate a goal go here. In this section you have focused on the relationship between you and your body, now we need to better define the goal: this is up to you alone, but some reflections may be useful.
The word to the coach
Thinking about your medium-term goal what comes to mind
Sometimes it is difficult to orient yourself towards a goal. I show you different paths: which of the following objectives could be significant for you
. Trust: in your body and in others
. Trusting your body means learning to listen to it and get in tune with it. Trusting others means relying on the experience of competent people and giving up some of our control. For example, if you have encountered a continuous abandonment of programs, diets, consultations, your weak point (therefore to be strengthened) could be trust.
Reconnect mind and body
Your body is not a stranger, it is the interface “between your thoughts, your desires, your values ​​and those of others: as well as your inner world, even your most material part requires attention and respect in order to transmit to others, in the most effective and immediate way, your uniqueness.
The encounter with the other
It is necessary to become aware that in order to meet the other, it is essential to:
- clearly recognize your values;
- become aware of the fact that friendship (love) is possible only between free people, who have a project;
- become aware, through communication, of the various interests and motivations underlying relationships with others;
- continuously opening up to the group and the community with an attitude of research and encounter.
All this needs attention and delicacy
. Each of us can make a commitment so that something wonderful happens in his life: not to live “day by day”, without a plan, even minimal, but aware of everything that happens and have the ability to give him the right size.
Giving up cumbersome prejudices, beliefs and habits leads to greater freedom and therefore to new meeting spaces.
STEP 4 – Exercises
We offer you some simple exercises to deepen your awareness. They may seem too simple activities, but if you take action they have a strong impact on a deep level. Remember that reading is very different from doing one thing: it is a bit like studying and realizing that the words we think we have in our heads are difficult to organize with a speech during the interrogation. Turning thoughts into actions makes a difference.
The mirror
Look at yourself in a life-size mirror and describe (with pen and paper) how you see yourself.
List what they are:
your salient physical characteristics
the typical expressions of your face (smiling, doubtful, distracted, nervous, frowning, etc.)
the positions of the body and limbs that you usually assume (arms crossed, legs crossed, etc.)
How are you
What you deduce from what you wrote
Your words List in two columns what you say to your body:
Negative words / Positive words
Ex. I have big legs / I have beautiful green eyes
“What stands out most
”
PS Remember that even the words you say to yourself are a form of nourishment for your body and your mind.
You have decided to treat yourself well: use words carefully and you will see how your body transforms!
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