Love Your Body, Love Your Life by Sarah Maria

Improve Negative Body Image and Self-Esteem

Oct 19, 2009 Sandra Williams

Because a poor body image is intertwined with self-esteem, improving it also contributes to improved health, happiness and professional success.

According to Sarah Maria, 90% of women are dissatisfied with their bodies. This comes as no surprise since the media frequently bombards women with unrealistic body images.

This contributes to poor body image beliefs, but Maria helps counteract negative messages with “five steps to freedom” in Love Your Body, Love Your Life: 5 Steps to End Negative Body Obsession and Start Living Happily and Confidently.

Step 1: Set a Powerful Intention

The first step to obtaining desires is to write them down, using the present tense as if the intention has already happened. There are several questions in Love Your Body, Love Your Life to answer before finalizing the intention such as whether it’s deserved or possible.

Step 2: Identify and Detach from Your Negative Body Thoughts

Sarah Maria encourages people to create a new reality by changing their thoughts. There are exercises in Love Your Body, Love Your Life to help get rid of negative body image thoughts so that positive ones can replace them.

Step 3: Discover Who You Really Are

Affirmations that match an individual’s ideal life are used to further enhance positive body image thoughts. Cultivating gratitude, forgiveness, and letting go of judgments are also explored as ways to get rid of a poor body image.

Step 4: Befriend Your Body

In this chapter discover the body’s power to heal and the benefits of mindfulness meditation. There’s also common sense advice on a healthy approach to eating and a reminder about the importance of humor. Music and healing touch are also touched upon as beneficial therapies.

Step 5: Live Your Purpose

If people don’t have a sense of purpose, it can lead to depression. Creating that purpose and choosing a new life are done by getting in touch with passions, goal setting, visualization and asking the universe.

Love your Body, Love Your Life is divided into three parts. Part 1 is entitled "Understand Your Journey" and it indentifies a poor body image and explores where it comes from. Part 2 expands on the five steps to freedom and Part 3 focuses on nurturing relationships.

• Sarah Maria does an excellent job of teaching people how to accept and love themselves, regardless of what anyone thinks or whether they approve. Each chapter in Love Your Body, Love Your Life (Adams Media, 2009, ISBN 10: 1605501530) includes exercises that will help empower readers, increase confidence and decrease food obsessions.

About Sarah Maria

Sarah Maria is a body-image expert, author and coach dedicated to help people embrace their bodies no matter what their shape or size. She also writes about self-esteem, health and spirituality. Sarah Maria founded Break Free Beauty to help more people love themselves and their bodies the way they are.

The copyright of the article Love Your Body, Love Your Life by Sarah Maria in Self-Help Books is owned by Sandra Williams. Permission to republish Love Your Body, Love Your Life by Sarah Maria in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Love Your Body, Love Your Life

Sarah Maria