Children are some of our all-time greatest examples. They can go from tantrums in time out to all the snuggles and giggles within a manner of minutes. They forgive almost instantaneously and are eager to learn new things. We can be more like them in several ways such as exploring, forgiving, enjoying the simple things, and being humbler and more teachable. But what if we could implement another element of becoming like a little child into our lives by
viewing our bodies the way they do?

An inspiring interview with adults and children gives us a powerful example of how children view their bodies. The question asked to these adults and children was: “If you could change one thing about your body, what would it be?”
All the adults mentioned something they would change like wishing they could have a smaller forehead, bigger eyes, tighter stomach, etc. But the children’s responses were much different. Some wanted a mermaid tail, wings to fly and others were perfectly content with just the way their bodies were. Pretty incredible right?

Mindfulness

Children are mindful, positive, energetic, and grateful for their bodies. By practicing mindfulness, positive affirmations, moving our bodies and expressing gratitude, we can follow young children’s examples and more fully enjoy our bodies As babies develop into toddlers, an entire world of discovery occurs. They become completely enthralled that they can wiggle their fingers, which turns into using those fingers to put everything in their mouths, to learning they can crawl, walk, eat, use their voice to communicate and so much more. Children are mindful. Mindfulness is one of the most powerful ways we can start to appreciate all that our incredible body does. We can be mindful by tuning into our five senses: Sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. Tune into your heartbeat. It has pumped since the day you were born and carried blood to every part of your body to keep it functioning. Tune into your lungs by feeling your chest rise and fall as you breathe. Live in your body as though you are discovering its functions for the first time. “Wow, I can’t believe I can see these vibrant colors, feel this soft blanket, taste all the flavors of this smoothie, hear that bird chirping…etc”. Approaching the way we experience our world with child-like discovery can absolutely transform the way we feel about our bodies.

Affirmations

You don’t see toddlers saying terrible things about themselves and worrying about how others perceive them or their bodies. As we grow up, worldly messages bombard us: Be desirable. What does that entail? According to female cultural ideals, it entails: Be skinny but also curvy in all the right places, no wrinkles, no blemishes, stretchmarks and cellulite are a hard pass, wear makeup but not too much or you’ll come off as ‘fake’. For men it is, be tall, muscular, no ‘dad bods’, chiseled jawline, and have a head full of hair. The list is truly endless. These messages have become ingrained and require a literal retraining of the brain to see past them. This rewiring can be done through challenging negative thoughts by replacing them with positive affirmations. Catch those negative thoughts in their tracks and actively choose to affirm yourself. “I am loveable, I am worthy of all that is good”. My favorite is “I love and accept you (your name)”. You don’t need to love you when you lose weight, exercise or ‘look good’. You can love your body NOW as you are NOW.

Move

Kids have crazy amounts of energy and are always on the go. Adults on the other hand, usually aren’t fidgeting with energy all day. As adults, we need to find ways to move our bodies for both our physical and emotional health. We must be cautious of our intentions here because of the fine line between exercising to lose weight to fit an ideal and helping our bodies be healthy. We know that exercise is essential in keeping our muscles, heart, lungs, organs, and brain healthy. Finding enjoyable ways to move our bodies will help us be physically and emotionally healthy. Our bodies do SO much for us, and they deserve to be used to their full capacities.

Gratitude

Children are grateful for the simplest things. A candy bar from the grocery store, singing their favorite songs in the car or seeing a hummingbird fly by. We can become more like children by expressing gratitude for the simple bodily functions. Hug yourself and tell your body how precious it truly is. Thank your fingers for typing, your stomach for digesting, your lungs for breathing, etc. Gratitude is one of the most powerful ways we can learn to love our experience in our bodies.

There is a reason that our Savior Jesus Christ was often found with children lovingly gathered around Him. He admired their courage, purity, humility, confidence, ability to forgive and their mindfulness. He often invited all the adults around Him to become more like little children as we taught: “Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Our Savior learned from the powerful examples of children and so can we. Let’s follow them by relearning to LOVE our precious bodies.

References

Armitage, C. J. (2011). Evidence that self-affirmation reduces body dissatisfaction by basing self-esteem on domains other than body weight and shape. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53(1), 81–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02442.x
Hausenblas, H. A., & Fallon, E. A. (2006). Exercise and body image: A meta-analysis. Psychology & Health, 21(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/14768320500105270
Homan, K. J., & Tylka, T. L. (2018). Development and exploration of the gratitude model of body appreciation in women. Body Image, 25, 14–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.01.008
JubileeProject. (2014, October 29). Comfortable: 50 people 1 question. YouTube. Retrieved December 31, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0tEcxLDDd4
Kite, L., & Kite, L. (2020, November 3). More than a body blog – learn body image resilience & overcome objectification. More Than A Body. Retrieved December 31, 2021, from https://www.morethanabody.org/blog/
Siegel, R. D., Germer, C. K., & Olendzki, A. (2009). Mindfulness: What is it? where did it come from? Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness, 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09593-6_2