4 Ways To Silence Your Inner Bully When You’re Working Out (And All The Time)
Your inner mean girl/guy/person can be quite loud and disruptive. It can be helpful to remember that this isn’t actually YOU- this is societal conditioning. As humans, we’ll always have some degree of negative thoughts pop up and in, there’s no such thing as perfect mental health in the same way that there’s no perfect body.
That being said, there are a few ways you can make this voice quieter and pop up less often.
I talk more about negative body talk with Katie Horwitch on the Women Against Negative Talk Podcast here!
4 Ways To Quiet Negative Self Talk
1) Get rid of the scale
Seriously, you don’t need it. BMI is made up and that number can’t tell you anything of value about your health- plus it encourages you to ignore your bodily signals and trust a piece of equipment more than yourself. No no no no no!
2) Get rid of the mirror
A silver lining I’ve found during quarantine, is that working out exclusively at home without the studio setting of wall to wall mirrors, has actually encouraged me to pay attention to my sensory and body awareness more, rather than relying on my reflection to inform my alignment. Additionally, staring at yourself naked while getting changed or in tight workout clothes is a recipe for picking yourself apart. Can you move your mirror to another room so it’s not in your face as you change or move?
3) Stop body checking
We’ve all done it, woken up and first thing when we hit the bathroom, lift up our shirt and turn sideways and inspect the “morning skinny” or grabbing at your skin and berating yourself. It’s easier said than done, but your better off avoiding this behavior as it drastically improves the chances of thinking mean thoughts about yourself.
4) Pivot
Instead of beating yourself up for not being “body positive” or loving your body enough, call on some tools to prevent your from spiraling- like repeating a few affirmations to yourself when you start to get down or jotting down a few things you’re grateful for about your body to remind you of how lucky you are. Ex: “My strong legs allow me to power through intense workouts and that’s pretty amazing”.
Conclusion
As I’ve spoken about at length before, negative thoughts are gonna show up inevitably from time to time and that is okay and 10000% normal. Taking care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health-and both of these practices should be integrated. For even more tips on getting your inner bully to stfu, check out this IG post I made with further action steps!
Helen Phelan Studio is designed to vitalize the body with high sensation, breath centric workouts that prioritize being kind to yourself and listening to your body. Check it out for free for the first 10 days!
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