🌞 It’s Not Just the Heat: Body Image and Being Seen 🪞

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A Different Kind of Body Talk

Summer can hit differently when your relationship with your body feels complicated.

As temperatures rise, so does the pressure to be visible—more skin, fewer layers, greater scrutiny. Diet culture hasn’t disappeared; it’s just rebranded. From GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro taking over our feeds, to a surge in body transformation content, conversations about exercise, “ideal” body types, and glow-up culture are everywhere.

Visibility in this season can stir deep vulnerabilities, especially when body image is shaped not only by social media, but also by generational messages about respectability, desirability, and worth.

The Voice Within

Body image isn’t just about how we look—it’s shaped by the stories we’ve been told, the feelings we’ve absorbed, and the beliefs we carry without even realizing. From childhood onward, we collect messages—some loud, some whispered—about what our bodies mean and how they should be seen. Over time, these messages turn into internal scripts, often on repeat:

• “If I looked different, I’d be more lovable.”

• “I have to hide parts of myself to avoid being judged.”

• “How I’m seen is who I am.”

These beliefs don’t stay on the surface—they settle in. They shape how we move through the world, how we measure our worth, and how we relate to ourselves.

✍🏾 Despite being a therapy collective, we’re not a monolith. That means we bring a wide range of tools to the table. Some of us work somatically, tuning into what the body holds. Others lean into narrative therapy, relational psychodynamics, or parts work. What we all share is a commitment to helping folks explore their stories—with nuance, flexibility, compassion, and care.

This is just a glimpse into how we might use frameworks like Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic therapies, and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) to support clients to explore and gain insight about their relationship to their bodies and body image.

Take what resonates. Leave what doesn’t. Your healing doesn’t have to follow anyone else’s map but your own.

Gentle Frameworks For Body Image Healing

🧩 Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Let’s talk about the parts of you that show up when your body feels most visible. The ones that step in, not to sabotage, but to protect. Maybe there's a part that gets loud in dressing rooms, whispering that nothing looks right. Maybe there’s another that scrolls through your camera roll deleting every unflattering photo before anyone else can see it. These aren’t flaws. These are adaptations—protective strategies shaped by past wounds and cultural conditioning.

In Internal Family Systems (IFS), we call these "parts." Each one formed with a purpose. Some are fierce protectors. Others are critics trying to shield us from rejection. When we meet these parts with compassion, we create space to understand their fears—without letting them run the show.

🌳 3 questions to engage your parts within:

• If you were to give your inner critic a name or personality, what would they be like? What are they afraid might happen if they didn’t speak up so loudly about your body?

• Can you sense any younger parts of you that feel especially activated in moments of visibility—like getting dressed, being photographed, or going out? What do they need to feel more supported?

• Is there a part of you that wishes things felt different? What does that part believe would change if your body looked another way?

💭 A strategy or practice to try: Get curious.

When you catch a harsh thought: "I can’t wear this,” or “Everyone’s staring”—pause. Ask, “What part of me is speaking right now? What is it trying to protect me from?” Often, it’s a younger version of you asking for safety, belonging or validation.

🌀 Somatic-based Therapy

Somatic body image work (using techniques from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing etc.) reminds us that the body, like our minds also hold stories. That tension in your shoulders before stepping onto the beach? The subtle urge to shrink in a group photo? Your body is likely remembering discomfort — and not just recent discomforts either. Our bodies often hold years (sometimes generations!) of experience trying to make sense of coded messages around bodies, desirability, discipline, and self worth.

These sensations aren’t wrong. They’re wise. They tell us where the hurt lives, so we can meet it with care.

🦋 3 reflections to bring in gentle somatic awareness:

1. When you think about being seen this summer, where do you feel that in your body? 

   • Is there tension, numbness, heat, or a desire to withdraw? What might that sensation be trying to communicate?

2. In a moment of body discomfort, instead of changing the thought—what happens if you just place a hand where you feel it most? 

   • What would it be like to sit with that part of your body with curiosity instead of judgment?

3. What helps your body feel most regulated or safe? 

   • Consider a gesture, position, breath, or rhythm that brings you back to yourself when body image distress takes over.

💭 A strategy or practice to try: Tune Into the Body

Instead of pushing through, pause to notice what your body is doing. Are your shoulders tight? Jaw clenched? Place a hand there. Breathe. Offer that part of your body some kindness instead of critique.

💧 Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)

Emotion-Focused Therapy helps us get underneath. Shame and fear often mask deeper longings—connection, safety, belonging. When we slow down and ask, “What does this feeling need from me?” we soften the grip of the inner critic and move toward healing instead of control.

❤️‍🔥 3 Invitations to deepen emotional awareness:

1. What emotion tends to rise first when you’re struggling with body image? 

   • And what softer feeling might be hiding underneath it—like hurt, loneliness, or the need for affirmation?

2. What does this feeling want you to know? 

   • Not what it wants you to fix, but what it might be trying to say about what you long for.

3. If your emotional self could speak without fear of judgment, what would it say about how it experiences your body today?

A strategy or practice to try: Name the Feeling

Try this: "I feel shame right now." Then go deeper: "Because I want to be accepted. Because I fear being seen and misunderstood." Let the emotion name itself. It will become less loud once it knows it’s been heard.

Beyond the therapy couch

Exploring feelings, judgments and memories around your body IN therapy is a great first step. But what happens outside of that safe space? What tools and strategies do we recommend folks try— regardless of therapeutic framework or therapy modality?

💘 Try Body Neutrality Before Body Love

Exploring feelings, judgments and memories around your body in therapy is a great first step. But what happens outside of that safe space? What tools and strategies do we recommend folks try—regardless of therapeutic framework or therapy modality?

Body neutral and descriptive language—free from overly negative OR positive judgments—can be a safe middle ground to explore, especially when body love feels unattainable. If “Just LOVE yourself!” makes you roll your eyes, this perspective might feel like a relief.

Practice shifting your focus from appearance-based evaluations (“Do I look good?”) to experience-based reflections (“Am I comfortable?” “Can I move freely today?”). It’s a powerful tool for reducing anxiety and reclaiming agency.

Be as descriptive as possible where and when you can, and practice this language shift whenever you remember.

Example: “I look so ugly and gross in this outfit. I hate everything about this.” → “I am wearing shorts and a tank because it’s a really hot day. I am not always comfortable with how I look in this outfit. I don’t have to love my body all the time.”

🗣 Get To Know Your Triggers

Body image triggers can feel overwhelming, but they don’t come out of nowhere. They often arise from a deeper web of memory, environment, and emotion. Think about trigger moments not as failures—but as openings. Opportunities to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what's really going on beneath the surface.

Triggers often fall into eight (yes, 8!) general categories:

• Emotions: Anxiety, shame, guilt, or low mood.

• Body states: Tiredness, restlessness, hunger.

• People: Those who trigger past pain or pressure.

• Access: To things that enable avoidance, like alcohol or mirrors.

• Places: Gyms, fitting rooms, or familiar environments.

• Pressure: Social cues to engage in body talk or comparison.

• Routines: Everyday tasks linked to memories or loss.

• Thoughts: Old beliefs, “shoulds”, or flashbacks.

We don’t rush through these. We notice them. We name them. We hold space for what they stir up. Your body’s responses to triggers aren’t bad—they’re information. They’re your nervous system’s way of trying to prepare or protect. Giving yourself space to decompress, reflect, and regulate is part of what helps loosen the grip they can have.

🧶 Understand the Cultural Roots of Body Image

Understanding cultural context can shift how we see body image. If food was both love and control in your family, discomfort around eating—especially in public—makes sense.

Many of us grew up with quiet rules about how to look, eat, and carry ourselves. Food may have been a way to celebrate, but also a source of pressure. Comments like “you’re eating all that?” or jokes about being “big backed” can sting, especially when they come from people we care about.

Generational traumas like scarcity, control, or colonial influence shape our relationship to food and our bodies. You do not need to untangle it all at once. Start by noticing what comes up, and meet it with curiosity, not shame.

📜 Reflection Prompts:

• What cultural or familial messages about body image are you still carrying? Which ones are you ready to put down?

• How was food talked about or handled in your family growing up? How did that shape your sense of worth or body image?

• What traditions or messages do you want to keep, and which ones might you gently release?

⚡️ Resources for You

A few folks on the Bloom team co-authored two culturally specific national resources for NEDIC (The National Eating Disorder Information Centre). Check them out below for more reading and exploration beyond just body image:

• Let’s Talk About Disordered Eating & Eating Disorders in Indigenous Communities ☞ co-authored by Christine Miskonoodinkwe-Smith, Desnee Trevena, and Elizabeth Montgomery

• Let’s Talk About Disordered Eating & Eating Disorders in the Black Communities ☞ co-authored by Dominique Mortier and Meghan Watson

Some days, shame will speak louder than progress. That doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. Being seen can feel risky, especially when you’ve been taught to shrink or shape-shift to survive.

Part of healing is learning to protect your peace. That might sound like, “I’d rather not talk about my body,” or “Let’s shift the conversation.” Simple, clear boundaries help honour the emotional energy it takes to unlearn what never belonged to you.

If this season feels hard, take a moment to notice what’s shifting inside.
That noticing is a form of care. And care is a practice you get to return to, again and again.

Written by: Meghan Watson, M.A. RP & Zarmina Shafton M.Ed, RP

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