A body we love means internal as well as external work
A balanced approach to self-love
As our society moves slowly toward healthier messages about weight and beauty, we are bombarded with conflicting messages about what our health and appearance goals should be.
On the one hand, we're being told to change our perceptions about beauty rather than changing our bodies. We are encouraged to embrace self-love, and move beyond 'shallow' weight-loss and beauty goals.
Whilst this is a valuable message, it can be difficult to swallow when we have a lifetime of conditioning shouting the opposite (and the Instagram models aren't getting any more realistic). On top of this, there are well-documented health risks associated with being overweight.
As we struggle to navigate this transitionary period from stereotypical beauty to balance, we can be left deeply conflicted. Deep down, we still harbour stereotypical appearance goals, whilst also dealing with the anger and resentment over how these desires affect our mental health.
Body image is extremely complex, and we believe your goals are your choice.
We believe in taking a balanced approach, where clients are supported through the internal as well as the external work.
Heal your body image
For many of our clients, their dissatisfaction with their weight is influenced as much by psychological and social factors as it is by actual physical appearance.
Throughout our lives we are exposed to countless messages (through media and interactions with others) about how we should look, and how it affects our worth as a person if we don't measure up.
Our brains can, over time, become hyper-fixated on perceived flaws in our physical appearance, meaning we can end up with distorted views of our bodies, or disproportionately inflate the importance of perceived flaws.
We think we will be happy once we lose a certain amount of weight, only to find ourselves fixated on a new 'flaw' once we reach our goal.
For this reason, it is often important to address body image internally as well as externally.
The internal work.
Throughout our lives, we're exposed to thousands of messages about how our physical appearance contributes to our status within society, and our worth as a person.
These messages are so deeply ingrained, that our brains can become hyper-fixated on them, leading to a distorted view of our body, and/or changes in our body becoming disproportionately important compared to other goals.
This can mean that no matter how much we improve our external appearance, our brain will find a new 'flaw' to fixate on, preventing us from feeling confident and happy in our body.
For this reason, it's important to explore the various potential sources of poor body image (with our physical appearance goals being just one source).
Our practitioners have personal (as well as professional) experience with body image issues, and will work with you gently and non-judgementally to build a healthier mind in addition to a healthier body where relevant.
The external work.
Although working to love our bodies from the inside is crucial, changing our bodies externally can also be an important component in improving health and confidence.
Every clients needs and goals are difference, and it's not our place as practitioners to impose goals or values on our clients.
It's our job to to get you feeling truly happy within your own body as quickly as possible, and this includes helping you to explore both internal and external avenues to achieve that.
We're here to provide a range of physical and psychological approaches, but the choice between these is deeply personal.
