BEAUTY BELIEFS

What are some of the toxic 8eauty beliefs that have shaped your life?
For example:

DO YOU PREFER THE WAY YOU LOOKED 5 OR 10 YEARS AGO?

WHEN YOU STRAY FROM YOUR IDEAL WEIGHT, DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL BAD ABOUT YOUR SELF?

DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU WOULD RATHER LOOK LIKE SOMEONE ELSE WHO IS YOUNGER, THINNER OR WHO POSSESSES DIFFERENT PHYSICAL TRAITS?

*If what you’ve just read is starting to make you feel bad, please understand that we have been intentionally programmed to feel these things and that is 100% not our fault!

The purpose of the following exercise is not to make you feel bad. It’s to help you see that these programmed beliefs are hurting a part of you that you have also been programmed stay disconnected from.

I want you to know that, even after practising self appreciation for years, there is still a part of me that feels twinges of these negative beauty beliefs. The difference is that now, if and when I choose to think them, I do that with the full awareness that I am sending hate to my beautiful self. This awareness helps me switch off the thoughts a lot quicker than I used to and, for me, that’s a win. SELF APPRECIATION isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being BETTER.

REAL TALK ABOUT YOUR SELF TALK

Choose the statement(s) from the list above, then go to the mirror and say to your self, out loud, the statement(s), from the list below, that best fits your current, honest beliefs:

“LOOKING AT YOU MAKES ME UPSET BECAUSE I LIKED YOU MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER.”

“WHEN YOU GAIN (OR LOSE) WEIGHT, I DON’T LIKE YOU AS MUCH.”

“I WOULD FEEL MUCH HAPPIER IF YOU LOOKED LIKE SOMEONE ELSE.”

Now pretend you are talking to your best friend
and repeat these same things.

How does that feel?

If you don’t have these particular issues,
think about other toxic 8eauty beliefs that have affected you.

Are you starting to understand how these programmed beliefs send destructive messages and reinforce the notion that we are not good enough in our true, natural state? As I said, in the first class, balance is everything. If you wouldn’t say something to another person because you don’t want to hurt them, you cannot say it to your self and expect a different result.

WRITE DOWN ANY INSIGHTS YOU’VE GAINED FROM THIS EXERCISE.

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR SELF

HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS:
DESPITE THE UNFORTUNATE PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO, OUR SELF STILL ADORES US IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WAY. 
HERE IS A SONG FROM SELF TO YOU.
YOU CAN READ THE LYRICS BELOW THE AUDIO.

SELF ALSO SENDS YOU SOME BEAUTY FUEL CHERRY BLOSSOMS!