How to Cultivate Self-Intimacy & Let Go of Body Image Struggles

Escape Diet Prison - The Podcast with Anne-Sophie Reinhardt

Getting to know yourself.

Being who you are without apology, without fear, without shame.

Taking a stand for yourself and knowing – without a shadow of a doubt – that you deserve to be respected, seen, take up space.

Waking up in the morning realizing yet again that no matter how much you weigh, no matter what your body shape and size, you are loved, cherished and taken care of by a universe so vast it surmounts your imagination.

All of these things are invaluable when it comes to letting go of your desire to lose weight, to be less, to have the perfect body and the perfect size.

And these feelings, this deep, unwavering knowledge can only be achieved by cultivating a vast sense of self-intimacy:the practice of truly, deeply getting to know your heart, your core, your feelings, your fears, your hopes, your dreams and your Self.

In this episode of Escape Diet Prison, I share 8 practices that’ll bring you closer to your core.

Journal

You cannot get to know yourself and truly have a deep understanding of your desire if you don’t have a practice of self-reflection, asking yourself the big questions, rewriting your story from one of victimhood to one of power. When you journal, focus on feelings, feelings and feelings. How do you feel in any given situation? What are your emotions made up of? Where do you feel them? When do you feel them? The more you get in touch with your feelings the more you get in touch with your core. If you’d like some journaling posts to get you started, here’s a great post giving you 25 prompts to find self-intimacy.

Take action

… in the real world just as much as in your head. No true self-intimacy can be acquired if you do not go out there, take action, make things happen and see how you react.

Stretch your comfort zone

Stepping outside of your comfort zone, being adventurous, daring, doing things you’d never normally do will not only help you to create a sense of Self, but it’ll also enable you to see where your boundaries are, where you do want to go and what you truly – from your core, not from fear – do not want to pursue.

Let go

Let go of relationships, fears, jobs, places, memories, friends, regrets and everything else that weighs you down, that stands in the way of you finding yourself, knowing yourself and seeing yourself. There is nothing wrong or bad about letting go. It is part of life, it is part of personal growth and it is your right to do.

Unbelief your beliefs

Updating your beliefs by unbelieving what you’ve always thought was true about yourself is probably the biggest way to cut through the noise and get to your truest Self – the one that isn’t bound by fears, by societal convention, shoulds and have tos. Playing with your beliefs, melting them away as you walk into your personal ring of fire, the one that we all walk through from time to time, gives way to freedom, power and your Self.

Forgiveness

Who do you need to forgive? What do you need to forgive? Holding on to grievances of the past is just another layer of mind clutter and emotional distraction and destruction that enables your social Self to run the show on fears and pretence. You do not have to hold on to all of these things to continue living. In fact, if you want to live a good life, your best life, be true to yourself, forgive, forgive, forgive. Tapping is a beautiful tool helping you forgive yourself and others and find the freedom and peace to continue life. Check out Tapping for Body-Confidence 101 here.

Change

what needs to change And you already know what needs to change, don’t you? You might be a bit scared, maybe hesitant to change, but you can. do. it. You are strong enough, you are worthy enough and you owe it to yourself – your core.

Take a stand for yourself

THIS. Do you ever take a stand for yourself or are you constantly trying to hide, making yourself smaller because you do not know your worth, believe that the less fuss you make the better? Again, self-intimacy cannot be achieved if you do not take yourself seriously, if you do not realize your worth. Go back to journaling and journal until you feel confident enough to say yes, say no and hey, this is not OK with full confident, clarity and the unwavering knowledge of who you are.

Bonus tip: Allow yourself to break down.

Don’t override self-intimacy by constantly trying to be strong. Strong is nothing more than yet another form of shaming yourself into being someone you are not. Allow yourself to fall apart, to break down because in those raw moments, that is exactly when you meet YOU.

Love and light,

Want more support? Join the free Escape Diet Prison Facebook group to engage with others who are on the same path as you. We can only grow if we surround ourselves with like-minded people. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck and that is a promise.

Enjoyed this episode? Share it with others in your life who MUST listen to it right now. YOU are a change maker in this world and your voice needs to be heard.

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