Whilst this is also a title of part of my website, this is also a philosophy of mine that I wish to share with as many people as possible. It’s born out of the contact I’ve had with the hundreds of patients and clients that I’ve worked with, and also with those in my own personal life too.

There seems to be a real misconception of what the media project as idealised visions of men and women and what’s actually desired by the population as a whole. Whilst on occasion there is comment in the press that the misrepresentation of women (and to be fair men) might lead to skewed ideas held by the population at large, there doesn’t seem to be much clinical evidence presented. Just through my own experience there seems to be a very large effect. That a great deal of unhappiness comes from poor personal body image.

But where does this poor body image come from?

More importantly, how to we get a more positive internalised body image?

There are those that are unlucky enough to have friends and family which attack their body image and create this feeling without any media intervention. This attack can start right from early childhood with “nicknames” doing some of the damage and other negative inputs being repeatedly shared and internalised.

Alongside is a really pervasive element in our culture with regard to the “ideal” man and woman. But who are these people and why are they the ideal? Are they even realistic? It appears our idols are “celebrity” figures, but these come at us in magazines and through moving images. All enhanced and styled to “perfection” after the photoshoot or captured in such a way to augment reality.

Oddly we then chastise these idols if they are spotted looking “normal” when out and about and “shame” them in the same magazines and shows that they were idealised on. This is clearly a confusing message for those who live in our society.

Whilst the more holistic answer is to publish and show a more realistic image of men and women in the media. To encourage those around us to love and celebrate the whole us, as with all therapy the change can only really be made convincingly by ourselves.

It’s all of us who need to come to love the bodies we’re in, to love the people that we are. If you can’t love yourself, then at the very least we need to accept we’re ok as we are. I want all of us to be able to Uplift ourselves. This for me involves coming to accept and acknowledge that in general we’re attractive, entertaining and a decent member of the human race.

There are a number of changes that need to be made and felt in order for a holistic change to take affect and a pervading feeling of contentment to be experienced. We need to start to believe and trust in ourselves, to feel happy in our skin. There can also be an acknowledgement that there are other people out there who will want to be in our company if we choose to let them.

Each of us is individual and unique, and therefore it’s genuinely impossible to write a “manual” for how to Uplift Yourself, but as the weeks and months progress I want my musings to building into things you can consider and implement. Building to your own enhanced sense of self, your own sense of contentment, leading to you feeling you’re living your life not just existing.