Hinduism teachings on the importance of positive self esteem in life.
Having a positive self-esteem is of the utmost importance if we have to not be obsessed with our body.
Having a positive self-esteem is of the utmost importance if we have to not be obsessed with our body.
One of the first things that this needs is that we treat body with respect no matter, how ugly it might look in the popular perception.
We should never try to control our body rather, we should eat healthy food and exercise regularly because that would keep our body healthy and would also make us feel good.
Our world view should not be one that judges every person or even an object based just on its form.
We should not try to fit in clothes not designed for the present state of the bodies. Just like we do not wear the clothes that we wore when we were children, we should not try to wear clothes that we used when we were of a different form.
We should ignore the critical comments or the critical outlook people have on particular body shapes. We should be careful not to be apologetic about our body shape, no matter what the ideal body shape is according to popular perception.
The body image of a person is something that haunts one unless one has a greater conception of one’s personality.
The popular media has been feeding us with ideal and mostly impossible images of body that we try to emulate in vain. When it becomes clear that such a utopian body image is out of our grasp, we become depressed and all the effort we took to reduce weight by trying to maintain an impossible diet plan is thrown to the wind and ironically, the obsession with an ideal body image becomes the very reason for eating unhealthy food and becoming obese.
It is alright to have a body that is not picture perfect. Most people don’t have picture-perfect bodies. The sooner we understand this and live with it, the better it would be good for our lives and psychological well-being.
We should avoid having negative thoughts about ourselves. We should not worry about our body and appearance. Achieving a particular body form should never be our aim at any time of our lives. We should keep ourselves company with people who care for us and would not be worried about our body shape.
Excerpts from Prabuddha Bharata April 2018 editorial