Love Your Body! - Part 1

Tips for feeling better about your body after cancer:

Feeling great about our bodies is no easy task and negative perceptions of the way we look run rampant among all women. Add the side-effects of chemo, radiation, surgeries, drugs and medical probing into the mix and it’s no surprise that most women diagnosed with cancer also struggle to love and embrace their bodies.

But body image is less about the way you look and more about the way you feel about your body. It is a core component of self-worth and impacts the ways in which we relate to ourselves and others. It is also key to sexual functioning and positive body image is  positively correlated with levels of desire, orgasm and sexual satisfaction.

An overwhelming number of women living with cancer diagnoses report a decline in sexual desire and many connect body image issues with this side effect. And while sex may be the farthest thing from your mind during treatment and recovery, feeling as comfortable and confident as possible in your own skin is always important. So whether you’re feeling randy as a rabbit or desire nothing more than a warm snuggle, take some time to nurture a healthy relationship with your body.

Here are a few tips to promote positive body-image post-cancer diagnosis:

1. Allow Your Body to Perform

After a cancer diagnosis, it is common to feel that your body has let you down. And in some ways, it most certainly has. However, it has also fought a hard fight along the way and can still perform in a variety of powerful capacities, so be sure to use it and show it some love.

Since your body has likely undergone significant change post-diagnosis, it is essential to re-cultivate your relationship with it and find its new (and sometimes) improved strengths. Whether you enjoy yoga, salsa dancing, kickboxing or strolls in the park, look for physical activities that not only keep you fit, but allow your body to show off its strengths.

2. Employ “Balanced Thinking.”

It’s easy to get down on your body and though positive thinking can keep you afloat, sometimes being unreservedly

positive is unrealistic. However, balanced thinking can take you to new heights as you accept some of your perceived imperfections and focus on highlighting the positive.

Here’s how it works: every time a negative thought crosses your mind or you begin to focus on something you’d like to change about your body, be sure to balance it out with a positive thought. So if you’re hard on yourself for your love handles, remind yourself how much you love your ripe, round bum. And if you find yourself missing your long, luscious locks, be sure to spend an equal amount of time enjoying your long, fleshy thighs.

Part 2 Continued here...