When I begin working with a new client, I send them some questions and a health wheel to fill out before our first meeting. Many of my women clients, and some of the men, score themselves pretty low on body image. (You can do the health wheel – the form is on my website).
I do a great job of helping my clients create healthy eating habits that work for them, get started with an exercise program, increase their awareness and make intentional choices. Most of the time I can help them think about food, eating and exercise differently.
But body image has been elusive. Some of my clients become much more at home in their bodies as they feel better, more in control and more fit. Others continue to hate their bodies, even as they lose weight.
Yesterday I tested out a body mapping technique that I’d developed with a friend. We had used it in a workshop as a way to access the wisdom held in our bodies, and the body’s ability to heal. I wasn’t sure how it would work for body image, but I had a volunteer willing to give it a try and it seemed like it made sense.
My test subject drew an outline of her body on a big piece of flip chart paper. I lead her in a body scan, doing a quick check throughout her body. She used crayons to identify areas of pain or tension. Then we went back through with a series of questions about where in her body she felt energy, where she felt blocked, etc, ending with what areas did she like and what areas did she not like. She drew it onto the map as she felt it in her body.
She identified that her body part that caused her “disgust” was shut off from the rest of her body. We tried tuning in to that area, but since it was blocked off, there was not much to pick up. The energy about that area was all in her head/mind and we were able to get a clear sense of all the swirling mental energy around it. But the mind was holding on to those thoughts, not very interested in letting go.
So we moved back into her body, and in a relaxed state, used visualization to help move the flow of energy into and through that area. It took a little work, but she was able have a physical sense of reconnecting that part with the rest of her body. And then she redrew it on her body map – the new feeling of connection and integration.
It felt really good, and it seems to me that having the body be integrated will change how it works. We talked about ways she could access that connected feeling on an ongoing basis – how to keep it alive and help it grow.
I’m looking forward to seeing what develops. The mind is powerful, and when it is connected to the body, healing can happen.
Have any of you worked with techniques to change body image? If you are willing to share your experiences, I’d really like to know what you’ve tried and what has made a difference!
Find more nutrition information and my monthly newsletter on my website: http://healthyhabitscoach.com .
Eat well!
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for this great article. I like the idea of using the body map in this way. I have had body image troubles all of my adult life and it took battling a life threatening health condition to finally convince me to address it.
My key to success was and is definitely EFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques. Learning to tap on acupuncture meridians while processing years of unprocessed sadness from troublesome past experiences slowly but surely unfroze my energy.
After watching my body recover from all that it hae been through the last year, I also have been compelled to apologize to it for being so mean to it with my thoughts and actions over the years.
One of the beautiful things about EFT is the set up statement protocol that creates the backbone of this self compassion oriented process. An example follows:
Even though I have always hated my body, I deeply and completely love, accept and forgive myself.
Even though I have no idea how to stop hating my body, I deeply and profoundly accept myself anyway.
Even though I wish my body were perfect, I completely accept it as it is.
As the tapping continues, wonderful insights arise that give clues to where the self destructive habits come from. Very Cool!
Gary Craig, the founder of EFT, offers a complete manual for free on his website
http://www.emofree.com
Best to you and thanks for bringing this topic to the table!!
If I can learn to stop criticizing my body, anyone can!!
Catherine