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The notion of “have a body” relates to radical self-acceptance and honoring.

The concept of “go to the beach” relates to living now rather than waiting indefinitely.

Surrounding ourselves with individuals who have kinder self-talk helps significantly.

Body discontent, body disparagement, and body-change focus are unfortunately normative for the majority of people for most of the year; however, there are certain times when this becomes more intensified, most notably around New Year's and the start of the summer season.

The two-step process for achieving "beach body" suggested here (have a body and then go to the beach) might sound a bit flippant, but it actually does capture the two essential features of a healthy, grounded, compassionate way to change our body image.

Body image is the way we think about our body, but this is influenced by many factors, many of them distorted and judgmental. One of the biggest myths about changing body image is the idea that we improve it by changing the body; however, the true and lasting way to shift to a more positive body image involves changing the image of our body more than changing the body.

Having a Body: Accepting and Honoring Ourselves

The recommendation “having a body” is about fully immersing in the experience of accepting ourselves as we are right now.

We all have bodies. This is where we live, our home, and the base from which we engage in our lives. Our bodies are our vehicles for living a full and enriching existence. Constantly denying the proper balance of the needs of our bodies would be like owning a car or a house but ignoring the needs for regular maintenance.

Given the societal messages pushing thin, toned, smooth, polished, young, acceptable, and rigidly idealistic body shape for all, many individuals find it difficult to honor and respect their bodies. Marketing communications are loud, relentless, and well-designed, backed by cleverly crafted millions of dollars. And when we don’t respect........

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