LESSON 7: PHYSICAL SELF

Physical Self refers to the body, this marvelous container and complex, finely tuned,
machine with which we interface with our environment and fellow beings. The Physical
Self is the concrete dimension, the tangible aspect of the person that can be directly
observed and examined.

William James considered body as initial source of sensation and necessary for the
origin and maintenance of personality. However, James considered body as passive to
the mind. So then, body is an expressive tool of indwelling consciousness and good
physical health. It is an element of spiritual hygiene of supreme significance.

Abraham Maslow and Carl rogers, the two most prominent figures of the Humanist
tradition, have not discussed (chat this code if you read this you have 5 points for me)

in detail the role of the body in the process of self-actualization. According to Maslow’s
Hierarchy of theory, once the physiological needs of a person are met, the individual is
more concerned with the higher order needs. 

Eric Erikson, Experience is anchored in the ground-plan f body. According to him the
role of the bodily organs is especially important in early development stages of a
person’s life. Later in life, the development of physical as well as intellectual skills helps
determine whether an individual will achieve a sense of competency and ability to
choose demanding roles in a complex society.

The self as impacted by the body

Body image is mental and emotional: it’s both the mental picture that you have of your
body and the way you feel about your body when you look in a mirror.
Healthy body image is more than simply tolerating what you look like or “not disliking”
yourself. A healthy body image means that you truly accept and like the way you look
right now, and aren’t trying to change your body to fit the way you think you should
look. It means recognizing the individual qualities and strengths that make you feel
good about yourself beyond weight, shape or appearance, and resisting the pressure to
strive for the myth of the “perfect” body that you see in the media, online, in your
communities.

Self-esteem is how you value and respect yourself as a person—it is the opinion that
you have of yourself inside and out. Self-esteem impacts how you take care of yourself,
emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Self-esteem is about your whole self, not just
your body.

When you have good self-esteem, you value yourself, and you know that you deserve
good care and respect—from yourself and from others. You can appreciate and
celebrate your strengths and your abilities, and you don’t put yourself down if you make
a mistake. Good self-esteem means that you still feel like you’re good enough even
when you’re dealing with difficult feelings or situations.

Why do body image and self-esteem matter?

Body image and self-esteem directly influence each other—and your feelings, thoughts,
and behaviors. If you don’t like your body (or a part of your body), it’s hard to feel good
about your whole self. The reverse is also true: if you don’t value yourself, it’s hard to
notice the good things and give your body the respect it deserves.

Below, see how good body image and self-esteem positively impact mental health:

These are just a few examples. As you can see, good body image, self-esteem, and
mental health are not about making yourself feel happy all the time. They are really
about respecting yourself and others, thinking realistically, and taking action to cope
with problems or difficulties in healthy ways.

Below, see how poor body image and self-esteem negatively impact mental health:
As you can see, the problem with negative thinking and feelings is that once people
start to focus on shortcomings or problems in one area or one situation, it becomes
very easy to only see problems in many other areas or situations. Negative thinking has
a way of leading to more negative thinking.

The Impact of Culture on body image and self- esteem.

The importance of beauty in Society shapes us in many ways, possibly more than we
realize – from our interactions, to our personal development through to others’
perception of our bodies as a reflection of self-worth.

We are social beings. Genetically we rely on one another for the survival of humanity.
That primal connection makes our interactions physiologically and psychologically
important. So, it’s not surprising that how society perceives us affects us on many
levels.

And it’s partly how society perceives our bodies that is of concern; we’re talking body
image. So, what does that involve?

Body image is both internal (personal) and external (society) 

This includes:

How we perceive our bodies visually?

How we feel about our physical appearance?

How we think and talk to ourselves about our bodies?

Our sense of how other people view our bodies?

How we look has possibly never held as much societal importance or reflected so
significantly on our perceived self-worth?

The media in particular, has increasingly become a platform that reinforces cultural
beliefs and projects strong views on how we should look, that we as individuals often
unknowingly or knowingly validate and perpetuate.
The more we look at perfect images of others and then look to find those same
idealized characteristics in ourselves and don’t find them, the worse we feel about
ourselves.

It’s a cycle that breeds discontent.

With such strong societal scrutiny, it’s easy to see how the focus on how we look can
slide into the dark side – negative body image. Developing mindfulness can
nourish the best of who we are.
TODAY’S EMBEDDED IDEALS – THE PHYSICAL

Life today sees image upon image of fashionably clad women, perfect skin, tiny waists,
ample breasts, fashionably protruding behinds (of Kardashian and Beyonce fame) all
with a weight of no greater than 59kg.

They are unrealistic images of beauty, genetically impossible for many of us to emulate.
The same thing applies to the 6-pack or ripped abs shoved in the face of men via
famous sportsmen and male fitness models, which for many is impossible to achieve
without illegal steroids.

Yet we are told that these unattainable bodies are normal, desirable, and achievable.
When we don’t measure up we develop a strong sense of dissatisfaction and the way
that manifests can be ugly.

THE MEDIA 

The images of perfection we see in print, film and television project an unrealistic
version of reality that we are continually told is attainable – if we work out, eat less and
lather our bodies in transformative, firming and tightening creams.

The media is a powerful tool that reinforces cultural beliefs and values, and while it may
not be fully responsible for determining the standards for physical attractiveness, it
makes escaping the barrage of images and attitudes almost impossible.

PREJUDICE – SIZE

Intolerance of body diversity has a lot to do with prejudice of size and shape in our
culture. Being thin, toned and muscular has become associated with the hard-working,
successful, popular, beautiful, strong, and the disciplined.

Being fat is associated with the lazy, ugly, weak, and lacking in will-power.

With this prejudice, fat isn’t a description like tall or redhead – it’s an indication of moral
character and we are conditioned to think that fat is bad.

Those closest to us – family and friends

We learn from other people, particularly those closest to us about the things that are
considered important.

Friendships are particularly important in body image development because we

place high value on them, spend lots of time with our friends and develop shared
experiences, values and beliefs.

Classrooms, University dorms and common rooms are often filled with negative body
talk: “I wish I had her stomach” “I hate my thighs” “I feel fat.” Listening to this tends to
reinforce the need to focus on appearance and make comparisons between us and
other people’s bodies.

So how can we build a strong and positive body image? 

Positive body image involves understanding that healthy attractive bodies come in many
shapes and sizes, and that physical appearance says very little about our character or
value as a person.
How we get to this point of acceptance often depends on our individual development
and self-acceptance. To get to that all important point of balance there are a few steps
we can take:

Talk back to the media. All media and messages are developed or constructed and are
not reflections of reality. So, shout back. Speak our dissatisfaction with the focus on
appearance and lack of size acceptance 

De-emphasize numbers. Kilograms on a scale don’t tell us anything meaningful about

the body as a whole or our health. Eating habits and activity patterns are much more
important 

Realize that we cannot change our body type: thin, large, short or tall, we need to
appreciate the uniqueness of what we have – and work with it 

Stop comparing ourselves to others. We are unique and we can’t get a sense of our
own body’s needs and abilities by comparing it to someone else 

We need to move and enjoy our bodies not because we have to, but because it makes
us feel good. Walking, swimming, biking, dancing – there is something for everyone 

Spend time with people who have a healthy relationship with food, activity, and their
bodies 

Each of us will have a positive body image when we have a realistic perception of our
bodies, when we enjoy, accept and celebrate how we are and let go of negative societal
or media perpetuated conditioning.

But the media and society in general, are not all bad.

As with most things, with the bad comes the potential for good and increasingly, people
the world over are waking up to the negativity and conditioning that we are bombarded
with daily.

If not for this awakening we would not have initiatives like Live Life Get Active;
where awakening ourselves to a healthy and fulfilled life is at the core of what we do.

Live Life Get Active is a social initiative built to create a fitter, healthier and happier
Australia.

We approach health and well-being from a fun and socially engaging perspective and
the importance we put on a healthy lifestyle is reflected in our pricing structure – there
is none.