How to go about helping yourself
Have compassion, acceptance, belief, worth and care. Use gratitude, reframing, mindfulness, your tribe, and resilience.
Self-compassion. Its starts with self-compassion. Live life through a compassionate lens. We are not born feeling imperfect. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to your mind.be kind to your body. Be kind to others. Notice your thoughts about everything, especially food and especially your body. In all things in your life encourage yourself. Have empathy towards yourself and others. Be kind. Be kind. The same care and kindness you give to others, give to yourself. (self-compassion.org).
Self-acceptance. It continues with self-acceptance. Accept yourself right now, and accept your body type, whatever it is. Whatever your age, race, gender, skin colour, your weight, your height, your sexuality. Comparing yourself to others is not helpful to you, for you are you. Accept yourself in your entirety and in kindness. This means ignoring your critical voice, no judgements, no criticisms, no put downs. Honour who you are, and your emotions. You are enough. Always. You always have been. You are enough. Self-love is powerful use positive affirmations to help you. (louisehay.com).
Self-care is not selfish, its vital to your well-being. Unplug from social media, go for a gentle walk-in nature, do a 3-minute breathing space, try a loving kindness meditation, visit an old friend, plan a trip, journal, listen to music, connect with your true feelings, learn to be alone with yourself and be ok, for more ideas. See my list of things you can do that do not cost a penny.
Be grateful. Whatever your story you are here. You got this far. You are 100% successful in this. Live in gratitude and practise being grateful every single day. Appreciate the small daily things around you. Remind yourself of at least three things every day for which you are grateful. Write a gratitude list. This includes your body. It is the only one you have so be grateful for everything it does for you.
Self-belief. Recovery is real. Have hope. Believe it and visualise your life without an eating problem and any insecurities. Take positive action. You can do hard things. You can change the way you think. Give yourself credit for everything you have achieved so far. Use your character strengths to help you. (Via.Character.Org).
Self-worth. Build this. Remind yourself daily of anything that has gone well, you are important. You matter. Do not define yourself by others’ views. You are valuable. Be true to yourself. Use positive psychology to help you. (positivepsychology.com).
Reframe your ideas about life, mistakes, weight, and food. Thoughts are not facts but what you do with them matters. Pay attention to them and let them pass through your mind like clouds. There are no mistakes, just experiences to grow and change. Ignore harsh, unhelpful thoughts, and food rules. Food is fuel. Nothing is bad or good, safe, or unsafe, but you are thinking makes it so. Food is just food. It is not the enemy. Stop dieting. Stop counting calories. Stop weighing. Stop Restricting. Stop hating yourself and learn to look after your body. Whatever size and shape it is. Re- educate yourself. (cci.health.wa.gov.au)
Live mindfully learn to pay attention without judgement. Focus on what you are doing in the present. If you look back, learn to let go of the bad experiences, and savour only good memories from the past. The future does not exist. When planning future goals think about what makes you happy. Choose positive experiences, people, memories, thoughts, and emotions as much as you can. (bemindfulonline.org)
Find your tribe. Connect with others whose company you love. Be true to yourself. Do what makes you happy. Do pleasurable thing that makes you lose track of time. Do small things for yourself daily to recharge. Look after your mind and your body. We all have mental health. Look after yours. For loads of ideas. (getselfhelp.com)
One day at a time. Build resilience. Life is difficult and life is beautiful. Live with purpose. Choose a recovery path that suits you. If this is all too big for you – pray and hand it over to the god of you are understanding. Accept the things you cannot change and change the things you can. Remember that recovery, whatever that looks like to you, is possible. Recovery is real.
