I was recently inspired by this quote from a Ted Talk by Mary Jelkosky – Our Bodies are Not an Image. Mary says:
We cannot let our body image ruin our life experiences.
Read that again.
Does the message shake something in your core? It does for me! The first time I heard that quote, I was instantly reminded of a younger version of myself who struggled with body image.
I can vividly remember when my body image issues kept me from enjoying pizza parties, birthday dinners, and vacations – all because I was too obsessed with my appearance and fixated on food.
Are body image struggles holding you back from enjoying your one precious life? I know it can feel overwhelming to address body image issues, so I’ve put together a list of journal prompts that can assist on bad body image days.
12 Journal Prompts for Body Image
Utilize these journal prompts to cultivate self-compassion, awareness, and appreciation for your body.
Reflection
- How has society, social media, and beauty standards impacted your view of your body?
- What challenges have you faced when it comes to body image?
- What have you tried that either has or hasn’t helped you on a bad body image day?
Appreciation
- List one thing you appreciate about your body.
- Name something that your body does for you daily.
- Describe 3 amazing experiences you’ve had because of your body.
Visualization
- Describe a day in your life when you fully respect your body. How does your ideal day look different from a typical day in your life now?
- Imagine that your self-worth had nothing to do with your appearance. What attributes would you highlight about yourself instead?
- Imagine comforting a younger version of yourself. What would you say to her about body image?
Action
- How do you want to feel in your body?
- What is one action step that you can take today to feel that way?
- What are your goals for body image development that you will continue to work on?
Save these prompts so that you can come back to them on a bad body image day. Complete them more than once to measure your progress as you work on improving your body image. Remember, you don’t have to change your body, in order to respect it.