Improving Body Image with the Help of IFS

<p>We aren't born hating our bodies.  We <em>learn</em> to.  The constant, unrelenting messages from our culture ensure that pretty much all of us have an issue with our body.  </p> <p>I wish my stomach was flatter.  I wish my butt was smaller.  I wish my boobs were bigger.  I wish I had washboard abs.</p> <p>It never ends.</p> <p>For some, negative feelings toward their body is a mild distraction from an otherwise ok day.  For others, it's a non-stop barrage of negativity.  It's avoiding social events because you don't want to be seen in public.  It's avoiding intimacy with your partner.  It defines who you are.</p> <p>And if all of that isn't bad enough, it can also have a huge impact on your eating patterns.</p> <p dir="ltr">Think about it. If you loved your body or even just accepted your body as is, how would your eating be different?  Or really, I should probably say, if you grew up getting the message that all bodies are good bodies.  All bodies are valuable.  And your body is wonderful just as it is, would you have ever had an issue with food?  </p> <p>On this week's podcast, we're looking at body image from an IFS perspective.  We start by talking about the four aspects of body image:</p> <ul> <li>Perceptual:  the mental representation you have of your body</li> <li>Affective:  how you feel about your body</li> <li>Cognitive:  how you think about your body</li> <li>Behavioral:  how you treat your body</li> </ul> <p>And we move into what to do about it.  And, if you've listened to the podcast for awhile, you know what I'm going to say:  you get to know your parts.  </p> <p>We all have parts of us that have taken in the cultural messages about bodies.  Those parts carry feelings and beliefs about our bodies that are very often negative.  With the help of IFS (Internal Family Systems), we can get some space from them (meaning instead of just believing what they're saying, we can listen to them with some distance) and we can get curious about them.  We can show them compassion.  It's not their fault that the