How to Love Your Body Even When it Feels Hard
May 09, 2025
How to Finally Love Your Body – No Matter What
What if your body wasn’t broken, and could be your greatest ally?
The world has a way of giving you the impression that something about you is wrong, too much or not enough.
But here’s the truth:
“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens. ~Louise Hay
It may be time to replace criticizing every body part, with gratitude and privilege that you’re alive in that sexy corporeal body! Yes, I said it!
In This Blog, You'll Learn:
- 🌫️ Why You Feel “Not Good Enough” About Your Body
- 🌍 How Society Shapes What You Believe About Your Worth
- 🔎 How to Start Rediscovering Your Self-Worth
- 🪞 Signs You Might Be Struggling With Body Image
- 💔 What Happens When Illness Makes You Feel Less Than
- 💗 How to Gently Rebuild a Loving Relationship With Your Body
- 🌿 How Invoke and Release® Can Help You Heal From Within
If you've ever felt like you're falling short just by being yourself, you're not alone. Let's explore where that feeling really comes from.
Why You Feel “Not Good Enough” About Your Body
We grow up hearing messages like:
- “Be thinner.”
- “Look younger.”
- “Don’t age.”
- “Be perfect.”
And when your body doesn’t follow those rules?
You feel like you’ve failed. Even though the rules were never fair to begin with.
Maybe you’ve felt this too:
- You’re aging and feel invisible
- Your body feels unfamiliar after illness, injury, or birth
- You compare yourself to everyone—online and off
- You feel like your worth depends on your looks or what you achieve
These pressures come from all directions. The world around us constantly reinforces who and what is seen as “worthy.”
How Society Shapes What You Believe About Your Worth
Our self worth is closely connected to how we see our body.
Let’s talk about how societal norms shape what we believe about ourselves.
It’s normal to wonder, “Am I enough?” — especially in a world that keeps moving the goalposts. (Rude!) But when our worth is based on outside standards we didn’t choose, it’s easy to start feeling "less than".
These expectations often depend on where and how we grew up:
📍 In DC, worth might come from climbing the political ladder
📍 In San Francisco, it's about being a startup success
📍 On the East Coast, it could mean having the “right” education
📍 Online, your last role or follower count might define your value
📍 And in many families, worth is tied to being the achiever, the caretaker, or the one who never messes up.
These are just examples — but no matter where you are, there’s pressure to measure up.
Chasing these narrow ideals can leave us constantly proving ourselves… and still coming up short.
You hit the goal, and soon enough, you're asking, “What now? Am I still enough?” Like your value has an expiration date! 🤯
But you’ve always been enough.
Let’s challenge these unrealistic standards — and come back to the truth of who we are.
How to Start Rediscovering Your Self-Worth
Your worth isn’t tied to how you look or what you achieve. You are already enough — right now.
Still, it’s easy to connect self-worth with having a “perfect” body or perfect health. So when our bodies change — through aging, illness, or unexpected symptoms — we panic. We think, “What’s wrong with me?”
But here’s the truth: bodies are meant to change. That’s part of being human.
The deeper struggle often comes from the messages we grew up with — that beauty should look one way, or that our value depends on being flawless. And when you reach your ideal weight? Many clients report feeling stressed that they’ll gain back their weight, or feel upset about aging.
You don’t have to believe those old stories anymore.
Let’s start to reveal and heal the hurt behind it.
Let’s choose self-love over self-judgment.
Signs You Might Be Struggling With Body Image
Sometimes, we don’t even notice how harsh we’re being with ourselves—until we see the signs.
- Obsessing over “flaws” others don’t notice
- Believing there’s something defective or ugly about your body
- Feeling self-conscious all the time
- Hiding your body or over-grooming to “fix” something
- Comparing your body to others constantly
- Needing frequent reassurance about how you look
- Feeling disappointed even after makeovers
- Being harsh with yourself over body parts like your belly
- Feeling awkward or dismissing compliments
- Staring at yourself in the mirror, looking for imperfections
💔 Tina’s Story: The Girl Who Couldn’t See Her Beauty
I remember visiting my childhood friend Tina in my twenties. She was naturally gorgeous. People would stop to compliment her beauty and red hair all the time.
But Tina never believed it. She’d stare in the mirror, searching for what was “wrong.”
Even when strangers said, “You’re stunning!”
She’d ignore them—which made her come across as a snob, then obsess over tiny things she thought made her ugly.
It was painful to watch.
Even though people kept stopping her with compliments everywhere she went for almost a week, Tina's self-doubt just wouldn't let her hear the truth. She was so invested in this story of not being enough that she basically lived in her own world where she was always falling short.
When Illness Makes You Feel “Less Than”
It’s not just about looks. Sometimes, the fear runs deeper — especially around health.
Maybe you:
- Worry about every ache or symptom
- Feel like getting sick means something’s wrong with you
- Panic if your labs aren’t “perfect”
- Avoid doctors — or go all the time just to feel okay
This fear often comes from unresolved trauma.
Maybe being sick was the only time you got attention.
Maybe you were told that being “strong” means hiding pain.
But here’s the truth:
💛 Needing rest doesn’t make you weak.
💛 Getting sick doesn’t make you unworthy.
Your body is not the problem.
It’s the old stories — and those can be healed.
😔 Dan’s Story: When Being "Perfectly Healthy" Became a Burden
“Dan” was one of my clients. He seemed calm and kind—but one day, he canceled because he wasn’t feeling well.
The next week, I simply asked, “Are you feeling better?”
He froze. Then tears came.
Turns out, Dan had built his whole identity around being “strong and healthy.” Admitting to being unwell made him feel exposed. He thought he’d let people down just by needing rest.
But healing doesn’t happen through pushing.
It happens through honesty. Through letting go of the idea that we have to be invincible.
How to Gently Rebuild a Loving Relationship With Your Body
Here are a few gentle ways to begin:
- Talk kindly to yourself. Notice when you’re being harsh—and shift the tone.
- Question the “rules.” Who said you have to look a certain way?
- Celebrate your uniqueness. Your story is yours. That’s your magic.
- Ask for support. Whether it’s a friend or therapist, you don’t have to carry this alone.
- Use healing tools like Invoke and Release® to release the weight of old stories
Ready to Befriend Your Body?
This blog comes from Masterclass, My Body is Not Okay: Befriending My Body — one of the many healing classes inside the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle.
This healing approach is all about dropping judgment and reconnecting with the body you live in.
Here’s what you’ll explore with the Invoke and Release® Healing Modality:
- 💥 Challenge narrow beauty standards and embrace “I get to look like me!”
- 🌸 Make peace with illness, aging, or change in your body
- 🕊️ Replace harsh self-talk with compassion
- 🔁 Reframe what worth and beauty truly mean
- 🫶 Feel safe and soft in your own skin again
Inside the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle, you’ll get gentle but powerful tools to help you:
- 🔥 Release shame and insecurity around your body
- 🧲 Attract people who value the real you, not just your looks
- 🌟 See your own beauty and strength
- 🏡 Feel more at home in your body, exactly how it is
If something in you is whispering “I want that,” come join us.
You don’t need to “fix” yourself. You just need a soft place to land.
✨ That’s what the Invoke and Release® Healing Circle is for.
Important Links:
Reveal and Heal Obstacles to Your Success™
Invoke and Release® Healing Circle
Helpful blogs:
Why is Healing Trauma Important
Your Body as Your Healing Ally
Ancestral, Family, Gender and Cultural Agreements as an Obstacle to your Dreams
Expanding Your Self-Love Will Activate Your Success
Overcoming Internalized Inferiority
Recommended Book:
Body Confidence: The Scientific Approach on How to Shine From Within by Dr. Katherine E. Iscoe
