What’s Your Body Attitude?Somatic Therapy San Francisco

As a somatic therapist in San Francisco, I often notice how people treat themselves, in particular, how they treat their bodies. Often people hyperfocus on the outside. What does my body look like? Do I like what is in the mirror? What does my body look like to other people? Does it look like the bodies I see on social media or elsewhere?

Unfortunately, this fixation on how the body looks is similar to just focusing on the outside of a house. You can have a perfectly painted house and manicured lawns, with trimmed hedges and a picket fence but inside the house could be utter chaos.

Many of us base a lot of how we treat our body on how it looks. We look at our bodies and make judgments based on superficial characteristics or comparisons to others we see on social media or in life. Based on those evaluations, we talk to our bodies— often very negatively. Think about the effects of that negative self-talk: a near constant stream of negative assessments and derisions can swirl in our heads, informing our every decision. Things that we would never say to anyone else or tolerate from anyone else are repeated over and over and make up our attitude towards our respective bodies. Oftentimes, we don’t even notice how cruel and punitive we can be in how we assess ourselves and barely realize the toll that takes on our body image and self-esteem. If you are not sure how you relate to your body and want to know more about your general attitude toward it, it can be helpful to reflect on that relationship.

The following are a couple of questions to help determine your body attitude as evidenced by how you treat your body.

1) Do you sit in front of the mirror and pick apart your physical flaws?

If so, you definitely are not being kind to yourself and may have a negative attitude towards your body.

2) Do you ignore your bodily needs? For example, going without food or sleep or not resting when you are sick?

Ignoring your body when it is trying to tell you something is not wise and is also not building a positive relationship with your body. Your body’s cues are there for a reason. . .make sure to try to listen to them!

3) Do you only pay attention to what is going wrong in your body?

Focusing only on things that you feel are less than optimal, such as aches or pains, can lead you to have a negative perception of your body.

4) Do you compare your body to other people’s bodies?

Comparison simply leaves us unhappy. There will always be someone with a body that looks “better” or a body that works differently than ours. Better to leave comparisons out altogether and appreciate the body you inhabit.

If you find that you answered yes to any of these questions, don’t despair! There are ways to change your relationship with you body. Eliminating these behaviors may be a meaningful start. Another way of changing your relationship to your body is to build a deeper connection. Somatic therapies such as dance therapy, which can allow you to move in your body with minimal judgment, can offer a path to a new and more positive relationship to your body and yourself!

If you have questions about somatic therapy San Francisco, dance therapy, or improving your body attitude, please contact me at lisa@lisamanca.com. I look forward to hearing how I might help you!