By Dr Angelika Grechnaya · HCPC-registered Counselling Psychologist
A gentle welcome
Body image is not just how we look. It's the running conversation we have with our bodies, shaping how we walk into a room, how we eat, how we let ourselves be seen, and how safe we feel in our own skin. If that conversation has become harsh, exhausting, or all-consuming, you are far from alone. Research consistently finds that a majority of adults experience some form of body dissatisfaction, and for many it quietly narrows the shape of daily life.
This short guide brings together five exercises I often introduce in early sessions with clients working on body image. They are grounded in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), compassion-focused therapy, and the wider body image research tradition (Cash, Tylka, Wood-Barcalow and others). They are designed to be gentle, curious and evidence-based, not another set of rules to fail at.
Take them at your own pace. You might try one a week, or return to the one that speaks to you most. There is no correct order and no right way to feel while doing them.
1. Notice the voice, don't argue with it (yet)
Most body image distress is carried by an inner voice: a stream of appraisals, comparisons and warnings that runs in the background. CBT calls these automatic thoughts. Before we can shift them, we have to hear them clearly.
Try this: For three days, keep a small notes page on your phone or in a notebook. Each time you notice a body-related thought, jot down the situation (e.g. getting dressed), the thought (my stomach looks disgusting), and the feeling that followed (shame, 7/10). Don't try to change anything. The aim is simply to see the pattern: what triggers the voice, what it says, and how it lands in your body.
Naming a pattern is the first step to loosening its grip. Many people are surprised by how repetitive the thoughts are, and how much of the day they occupy.
2. Interrupt the mirror and body-checking cycle
Repeated body checking (scanning in mirrors, pinching, weighing, comparing in photos) is one of the most robust maintaining factors of body image distress in the research literature. It feels like it gives certainty, but it usually deepens anxiety and pulls attention onto tiny, out-of-context details.
Try this: Pick one checking behaviour you notice most often. For one week, don't try to stop it. Just track it. Then, in the second week, introduce a small delay: a two-minute pause before you check. Notice what the urge does when you don't immediately act on it. Urges are like waves: they rise, peak, and fall, even when we don't feed them.
3. Broaden the definition of "your body"
When body image is painful, the body often becomes reduced to how it looks, a surface to be judged. Research on positive body image (Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015) shows that people who feel more at ease in their bodies tend to hold a wider view: the body as something that does, feels, senses, and carries them through life.
Try this: Write a short list of five to ten items about what your body has done for you today. Not achievements. Simple things: carried me up the stairs, tasted my coffee, held my child, let me hear music, kept breathing while I slept. This isn't about pretending you feel grateful. It's about widening the lens beyond appearance, even by a few degrees.
4. Meet the younger part of the story
Body image rarely begins in adulthood. For most people, the harshest inner voice is a distillation of earlier messages: a comment from a parent, a school memory, a relationship, a cultural climate. Understanding this doesn't excuse the voice, but it changes who we're speaking to.
Try this: Bring to mind an early memory when you first felt self-conscious about your body. How old were you? What was happening? What did you need in that moment (reassurance, protection, information, kindness)? Writing a short letter from your adult self to that younger self can be a powerful compassion-focused exercise. Keep it simple and warm. You are not rewriting the past; you are offering it a different companion.
5. Choose one small act of body-respect
Change in body image rarely comes from a single insight. It comes from many small behaviours that quietly say this body is worth caring for as it is right now. These are sometimes called "body-respect" behaviours, and the research on intuitive eating and body-respect practices suggests they build a more stable sense of self over time.
Try this: Choose one small, doable act for the coming week. Not a plan to overhaul your life. Something like: wearing the clothes that feel comfortable rather than "correct"; eating a lunch you actually want; taking a walk without tracking anything; going to bed 20 minutes earlier. Notice how it feels to treat your body as an ally, even briefly.
A note on what this guide is, and isn't
These exercises are a beginning, not a treatment. Body image difficulties can be deeply layered, sometimes woven into trauma, disordered eating, anxiety, or a long relationship with shame. If any of this resonates strongly, or if body image distress is interfering with your eating, relationships, work or wellbeing, please consider working with a qualified professional. Support helps.
Important disclaimer
This guide is for education and reflection only. It is not therapy, diagnosis or medical advice, and it does not replace individual assessment or treatment with a qualified clinician. If you are struggling with an eating disorder, self-harm, suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, please contact your GP, NHS 111, or the Samaritans (116 123, UK) for immediate support.
If you'd like to go further
I offer confidential body image therapy online, across the UK and internationally, and in person in London a few times a year. If you'd like to explore working together, you're warmly invited to book a free 15-minute introductory call, with no commitment, just a chance to see if we're a good fit.