August Challenge: Week 4

You did it! You are on the final week of the August Challenge and I hope you are really starting to feel things come together. In this final week we are going to be purging mindsets/thoughts/beliefs that no longer support who we want to be. It’s important this week to realize that the thoughts that we have, the feelings we experience, the behaviors we exhibited are not things to hold shame about because they all helped us survive until this moment….BUT. But there comes a point where what helped us SURVIVE stops us from continuing to THRIVE. We hit the ceiling, so to speak. So, this week, we are going to have a few new challenges that gives us an intentional space to ARC: build AWARENESS, REDIRECT, and CHANGE the thought.

Challenge 1: Grab an old photo of yourself that you struggle with accepting

Using your notebook, write down every thought that pops up into your head as you look at the photograph. Be quick! The negative thoughts come in fast and strong! Don’t judge what your mind is showing you, just write it down and let it flow out of your head and onto the page. Once you’ve exhausted the thoughts, we then move on to stage 2 which is looking at the thoughts we’ve written down. This is building AWARENESS. You are now aware of some of the things your brain tells you about your self.

At this point, we want to practice the art of the REDIRECT. And you can do this by getting curious:
”I hear you say you think your arms look disgusting in this image. Who taught you that?”
”Who is profiting from you disliking your chin so much?”
”When was the first time you heard that a big tum is a bad thing?”
”What were my caretaker’s relationships with their bodies - do I see any similarities?”
etc.

Once you’ve redirected from negativity to curiosity we can bring in the element of CHANGE.
Revisit your values + clarity statement and remind yourself of who you ARE now instead of who you used to be - use this to come up with a statement that helps you shift out of old thoughts to new thoughts.

For example:

My AWARENESS was when I look at photos of myself I used to see how broad my back looked and I would think “I look like a bison” or some shit.
My REDIRECT helped me realize that when I was in grade 6, the boy I had a crush on slapped my back and said I was “like a horse” - this was HIS story, not mine.
My CHANGED thought was “Look how broad my back is - it’s always been so strong to carry so much for others. But look beyond just that part of you, look at the whole photo - does it translate what we wanted it to translate?” (empathy, curiosity, creativity, etc are my values)

Now, it’s important to recognize that in order to purge ourselves of the old thought, we need to put in the consistent practice of the ARC - you can’t just do it once and voila! It requires consistency and constant repetition.

Challenge 2: Sit Still

Hooboy - this is a good one. Set aside 30 minutes to just sit and stare at the wall or floor. That’s it - the purpose is to literally do nothing. Using the ARC technique above, I want you to pay attention to how you feel/what your mind says/thinks as you sit there. Do feelings of guilt come up? What do you think about? Do you get agitated that you aren’t being productive? Why do you think that is? Out of all the activities this one I predict you might do the least because it is hard for us to slow down, do nothing, especially when we have people pulling us in so many different directions - but its important to understand how we think of ourselves if we aren’t “contributing” or “productive” because this plays into how we value ourselves. Use a similar line of questions as above:

”Where did I learn that productivity = love?”
”What was I taught about hard workers vs. lazy workers?”
”What stereotype am I trying to avoid?” (for me, it was to prove that just because I was fat didn’t mean I was lazy - even though lazy is a construct)
etc.

Then change your guilty/shame ridden thoughts to thoughts of understanding and compassion.

”Rest is necessary for creativity.”
”I am valuable whether I am or am not contributing.”
”It is necessary to my health to rest.”
etc.

Challenge 3: Look at yourself naked in the mirror for 2 minutes

Okay, okay, hear me out on this one. This is something I challenge my Body Image Bootcampers to because I want them to get comfortable see their bodies as they ARE - not as they wish them to be. Just like the other 2 activities you will apply the ARC approach by listening to your thoughts, redirecting your thoughts and creating new thoughts that support the person you want to be.

In the redirect you want to get curious again:
”Who taught me that this part of my body is ‘bad’?”
”Why do I think this looks disgusting?”
”What am I making the way my body looks mean to me?”

Then it’s time to Change course/Create new thoughts:
Is confidence something you aspire to have? You can ask “What would someone with confidence say to that thought?” “What would a confident person think about this body?” “How would a confident person stand in front of the mirror?” etc.

Alright, my amazing friend! This is the last of the August challenge so once you finish this week you are well on your way to feeling more energetic, more aware, and more excitement for the possibility that lies ahead. Our next challenge will come in November!