To improve your self-compassion.

How do you feel about your body? If you don’t immediately answer “Great!” with a smile, don’t worry, you’re not alone. This is a very common problem for people today. Building a positive body image is a good way to counteract the negative stream of images we are constantly encouraged to compare ourselves to.

When your body image is negative, unhelpful assumptions about your body will lower your self-confidence and make you feel insecure around other people. But these thoughts are almost always unrealistic, unreasonable and inflexible. Do you recognise any of these assumptions in yourself?

"If I don’t look good, then I look awful."

"If I can see the problem, then everyone else must be noticing it too."

"If people notice how awful I look, then they will be disgusted."

"If I relax my standards, then I will let myself go."

1. Identify the appearance assumption you would like to adjust. Pick one from above, or one that's personal to you.

2. Ask yourself “Where might this assumption have come from? Why is it still here?”

3. Ask yourself “What impact does this assumption have on my life?”

4. Ask yourself “In what ways is this assumption unreasonable, unrealistic or unhelpful?”

5. Now, think carefully about what might be a more balanced and flexible assumption.

6. Finally, ask yourself “What can I do to put this assumption into practice on a daily basis?”