How Can I Heal my Body Dysmorphia?

“How can I heal my Body Dysmorphia?”

Body Dysmorphia is especially tricky because it is all about the perception of the mind. We all see our world through the lenses of our mind. If you are usually very positive and happy, you may be seeing the world in a very positive and happy light (“rose-colored glasses”), and not much can get you down. If you are depressed, you are probably seeing the world as very negative and even the littlest “negative” thing can make you more depressed. With Body Dysmorphia, your mind is viewing your body through the lens of your mind hating your body.

Let me try to make more sense of it all, Eating Disorders typically are fueled through hatred for your body. You may think your body is too fat, shaped weird or just don’t like any part of it. Your poor body image likely started very early on in your Eating Disorder, perhaps even before it. Through your Eating Disorder, your already bad body image got worse because your perception of your body has worsened…even though your body may not have changed or may not have changed in the way you think it had.
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All this to say, if you are still struggling with your Eating Disorder, you really need to be addressing those thoughts and the disorder. By working on lessening those thoughts, it allows for more mental space and the mental ability to perceive your body in the way it actually is, not morphed. However, during the Eating Disorder and early on in recovery, your Eating Disorder still tries to run the show by morphing your perception of your body in an effort to control your behaviors. Ie; making you perceive yourself as fat so you are more inclined to restrict your food intake.

It’s very difficult to know what your body actually looks like when you have Body Dysmorphia. When working on the Body Dysmorphia itself, you need to start by understanding and accepting that your body probably does not look like the way that you think it does. I know it’s hard to think that something looks differently than you actually see it, but remember your mind is a powerful thing!

Once you can accept that this is the case, it’s time to start reassociating your body with positivity and positive messages. Throughout you Eating Disorder and Body Dysmorphia, most experiences surrounding your body and body image were negative. We need to re-train the brain in order to truly help Body Dysmorphia. I outline all the steps in this video here!
I hope you found this post helpful! If you know anyone else who could benefit from reading this, please share with them. If you have any questions, concerns or requests for future posts, please leave a comment or message me privately.

I wish you wellness and acceptance on your journey to finding your State of Balance!
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Also, check out my Youtube Channel for more inspiration!

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