Being Intentional About Body Appreciation at Any Stage

No matter where you are in your body journey, learn how to cultivate appreciation and self-love by being more intentional about how you view and care for your body.

Ways we judge our body (sometimes) unintentionally:

• Body checking in the mirror 

• Pinching parts of our body and ‘fat checking’

• Negative self-talk

• Blaming our bodies when clothes do not fit or look the way we want 

• Keeping clothes that are too small as ‘goals’

• Believing that if we reach a certain weight, life will be better 

Examples of Intentional Body Appreciation:

Focus on Functionality

Practicing Gratitude 

Having a positive environment

Challenging/Neutralizing negative self-talk

Learning about your body!

Engaging in Self-care

Choosing a balanced lifestyle to celebrate yourself 

Ways to Cultivate Body Appreciation:

When we engage in activities that help us connect with our bodies, we also become more attuned to our physical and mental needs.

Properly fuelling our bodies gives us the energy we need to show up in our daily lives as our best selves.

But how can we make sure we're fuelling well?

 By rebuilding body trust.

This means eating balanced meals and snacks throughout the day, checking in with ourselves by asking, “What would feel good today?” or “How can I best show up for myself today?”—and truly listening to what our mind and body need.

Rebuilding that trust can be especially challenging at first. It requires learning to interpret our body’s cues and understanding that its needs will vary from day to day. That variability can be uncomfortable, especially when diet and wellness culture often promote the idea that consistency means rigid repetition.

But as we begin to reconnect with our body’s signals and recognize all the ways it supports us, keeping us alive and functioning, we can start to cultivate a deeper sense of appreciation and respect for it.

Your body has never tried to starve you.

 It has never pushed you to the brink of exhaustion.

 It has never told you that you are not enough.

Instead, your body calls out for the nourishment it needs to sustain you.

 It carries you through, even when you push it to the edge of collapse.

 And yet, we are the ones who tell our bodies they are not enough—

 That we are not enough.

 Even as our bodies spend every moment of our lives working to keep us alive, striving to meet our demands, and carrying the weight of our expectations.

When you are feeling down or struggling to find ways to appreciate your body, ask yourself:

In what ways has my body kept me alive? How has it helped me grow through all life stages? When did it fight off sickness? And if it couldn’t, how did it let me know something was wrong? When I treat it with respect, how does it thank me? How does it allow me to move through the world day to day? How can I take small steps to acknowledge the subtle things I forget my body does for me?

Notice how none of these questions focus on appearance?

With Care,

Taylor Ashley RP