What are your thoughts about your body? Don’t worry if you did not smile when you say “Good!” We will help you teach some body image activities to feel confident in your own body. Body image art therapy activities are also beneficial for reducing the negative feelings related to one’s body.

Feeling contented in your own skin can be a difficult thing to do for some people. It can be hard to love your body . We are bound by body standards from the minute we are born. Women seek thin bodies, whereas men desire strong bodies. A slim body is attractive while being overweight is unhealthy and unattractive.

So, meeting society’s beauty standards such as a glass skin or perfect body shape can be exhausting yet not possible. Sadly people hesitate to share images without photoshop because they are bound by fake beauty standards and don’t love their own bodies. However with the help of body image activities you can feel confident in your own skin and learn to love your body.

  The body image activities given below will encourage you to look at your body and notice how beautifully unique it is. Even so, loving your body is about your mental wellness as much as it is about your overall health.

• Treat yourself well and pamper your body
• Affirmations for a positive body image such as “I am perfect the way I am”.
• Compliment yourself such as “I look beautiful today” or “I adore my freckles”.
• Wear clothes that make you feel confident and happy.
• Commit to your body such as “I will not compare my body to others”.
• List down things that your body does for you such as “I appreciate my strong, muscular legs because they help me go where I need to go”.
• Let go of all the unrealistic body expectations. Such as there is no such thing as glass skin. Real skin have veins, freckles, birthmarks, stretchmarks or moles. Embrace your real self .
• Make movements that makes your body happy. Such as nature walks, swimming, dancing or painting etc.

People usually think and represent information in their minds in the form of mental images. It is related to views of our self and others. Opinion about our body image reflects how we take others views and how we compare ourselves to others.

Body image art therapy activities are beneficial in the exploration of unpleasant emotions because it allows the client to directly connect with their inner thoughts and feelings. This is helpful for persons who have undergone trauma and find it difficult to verbally express their pain.

Body image disorders are associated with a great deal of shame, as clients are frequently disgusted and ashamed by their perceived bodily imperfections. This might be hard to talk about in therapy since the client may hesitate for saying their thighs are too big or they don’t have a perfect jawline. The client may however be more easy to share their body related concerns in the form of arts and body image activities.

The following are the major goals of art therapy

• Acceptance
• Mindfulness
• Non-judgement

Body image art therapy activities are an excellent way to practice mindfulness. Hence the body image art activities can help to focus your attention on single task at a time. People receiving art therapy report that they feel absorbed in the creative process of art making. Further Acceptance and nonjudgment are evident in art therapy, where people are free to express their own ideas and creativity without being judged. Therefore the clients have freedom to choose different colors, shapes and textures according to them.

Following are some body image art therapy activities that you can try at home to help heal your mind, body, and soul.

1. Draw Yourself and Write In Your Positive Qualities

It will assist you in being more optimistic about your body image and developing a better self image. You can also highlight any of your body part which you like the most.

2. Sculpt Yourself

You can sculpt your body or any part using clay. This will help you to connect positively to your self.

3. Make a Drawing of Yourself as an Animal

Make a drawing of yourself as your favorite animal. It will help to express you positive qualities hence release feelings of self doubt. While it will enhance your perception about your body image.

4. Draw the Person You Want to Be

It will help you explore your ideal body image which you can rationally explore and discuss in the therapy later on.

5. Paint the Many Aspects of Yourself

It will allow you to paint the facets of your personality and give a picture to each one of them. You can draw as many characteristics as you want. It will help you to see your body image positively.

6. Use Your Fingertips to Create Art

Your fingerprints are unique just like you. Make art out of your fingerprints using ink or paint. This activity will also engage your senses and it is a great way to practice mindfulness. Also help to link happy feelings to your body image.

7. Make a Tree of Yourself

Your roots will be full of descriptions of things that give you strength and positive attributes. While your leaves will represent the things you want to improve.

8. Make a Box With Values in It

To begin, make a collage or paint a box that symbolizes yourself. Then, inside the box, put items that reflect the things you value.

9. Draw Something on Theme “Perfectly Imperfect”

It will allow you to look at the things from different perspective. You will realize real things can be flawed yet beautiful and unique in their own way.

10. Make Your Body Figure by Using Recycle Art

This will allow you to think that any thing is not useless and has a purpose. It will help to reshape and rethink your body image.

11. Draw Your Emotions as People

It will involve to focus on how you are feeling. Then link that feeling to your body image. It will make you analyze your emotions while giving them a colorful picture. This activity will also help to regulate your emotions.

12. Make a Painting Using Your Body

You have a wonderful body. Feel more connected to your body by painting on your hands and feet or wherever else. You can further read “What Is Body Image? Body Image Issues Explained” at Epsychonline website for more information about the topic. Further you can enroll in “Body Image Concerns” course to reduce your anxiety related to body image.