Body Image

thelavenderlotus

As a Mahayana Buddhist (and a U.S. American) how can I use Buddhism to develop a more positive body image? I currently incorporate healthy eating and exercise (right liveliness) to keep my body healthy, but I still feel such dissatisfaction.

DhammaDhatu

Hi LL

The Buddha described life as "nama-rupa", which means "mind-body". This word is singular.

Why?

Because the mind depends on the body & the body depends on the mind. Without the body, the mind could not exist. Without the mind, the body could not be known.

So your life depends on your body.

It follows it is best to take care of your body & think kind thoughts of gratitude towards your body.

Kind regards

DD

Bodhgaya

Are you flexible?
You should try becoming more- you strain yourself less and it's pretty impressive. Tai chi is nice too, like a moving meditation.

Hope you find peace.

[DeletedUser]

The more you care about your body, the more damage and dissatisfaction will arise. Just moderate exercises and not binge on meal - ard 80 percents.

Ada_B

Be grateful that you have a body and that it works (for the most part, speaking for myself). It can be good to meditate on the body and on gratitude for all the marvellous things it can do.

For instance, I am very grateful for my eyes because even though I wear glasses, my mother is legally blind and can see very little indeed. I am so lucky to be able to see colours, to navigate around with ease, to browse in shops, to read a book... All of these things my mother either cannot do, or has to do in a different, more difficult way. Who cares if my eyes also happen to have crows feet around them and I wear glasses? It is irrelevant.

Having been forced to use a wheelchair last year, I am also immensely grateful that I can now walk again, even though it can be painful, even though its a bit of a struggle. Still, having tasted what it's like not to be able to walk, I realise how hard it is to get about in a wheelchair and how simple and marvellous walking is.

It doesn't really matter what your body looks like and if you learn to appreciate it for its function, you'll see that. This should also encourage you to look after it - maybe our bodies are only rented for a season, but it's good to keep the place tidy

zombiegirl

i promise you... everyone- thick and thin, tall and short- has some sort of a qualm with their body image. it's human nature to be most in tune with our own suffering. you might be saying, "i wish i was more _____", but someone else might be looking at you and saying "i wish i had her _____!" i can guarantee that even the most beautiful actress has some sort of insecurity. the point being, you will never be happy with your body until you just let go of whatever model you are trying to compare yourself to. enjoy working out and eating well because it is good for you and gives you more energy, not because it will help you fit in a size 8. like others said, focus on function, not on a size or weight which is the result of society's influence.

what i have found is that the happier i become with my life in general, the less i care about what other people think. i read somewhere that every action a person takes is in search of their own happiness. even when people are rude and put you down, it is because they are suffering from the belief that by putting you down, they will seem that much more impressive. we know this doesn't really work, and if these people stopped to examine their actions, they would probably know it too. and this is why when someone shows their insecurities to me, even in the guise of an attack, i try to show them kindness. to be truly happy with yourself means that the happiness is based upon yourself and not dependent on other people's opinions. i think that this began to happen for me when i started to dissolve the belief that it was "us vs. them" and just began to put myself in other people's shoes. when you view it like this, you know that hurtful words are the result of their own suffering.

Ada_B

My experience was that getting an illness that forced me to use a wheelchair and effectively destroyed my body for a while, has been the best antidote to worrying about body image. I am far more concerned with its function these days, than what it looks like doing it. I think a lot of disabled people feel the same.

Now I can walk again, it is fantastic, even though I have severe pain all the time (controlled thankfully, albeit partially, with medication). I took the dog out for a walk for the first time in 2 years and I felt fantastic! Who cares what my legs look like doing it?

But I have also learned that even if I cannot walk, or cannot even get out of bed, I can remain calm and happy. It's cope-able. So I have managed to reduce, just a little, my attachment to my body. It is amazing what experiences you can learn from. Dharma is everywhere.