Sometimes it seems tough to be a woman(or man). Society and our general culture places so many demands on us to be successful, beautiful, slim, fit and perfect parents to name a few. But to make matters worse we have a tendency as human beings to internalise this pressure and often learn to have a critical voice inside ourselves which tells us to be slimmer, fitter, work harder. This voice or 'inner critic' can be a significant part of the reason we often try to push ourslves beyound our physical and emotional capacity and to reach impossible standards.

How's Your Body Image?

This is particularly true when it comes down to body image. Ask any women on the street and she will give you a list of her own perceived imperfections. So what can we do about it and how can we feel better about ourselves and be kinder in the way in which we speak to yourselves internally?

Currently I am a few kilos heavier than I am used to. Despite an amazingly healthy diet and regular exercise, as well as looking in detail at my hormonal and metabolic function these kilos will not budge. So instead of being tough on myself I can also choose to ask myself some different questions:

• Why are the extra kilos there?'
• What can they be expressing about my deeper less-known self?
• What is their real meaning?

David Bedrick, the author of "Talking Back to Dr Phil: Alternatives to Mainstream Psychology", debunks many myths from popular psychology in favour of what he calls a 'love-based psychology.' This means that instead of looking ast attitudes to dieting . eating and exercise as reasons for lack of effective weight loss; he looks deeper to see what the less obvious message of the body and deeper self might be. He says:

"my research shows that we don't only diet for bad reasons, like shame or self-hatred, but we may eat for good reasons, motivated by self-love and coping mechanisms that provide support and useful psychological information" .

David has an entirely new take on the whole body image issue and if like me you are intrigued, you can catch David talking about his attitudes to Body Image here. David will be teaching in Sydney in September in Bondi Junction, so if you would like a deeper understanding of your relationship with your body and an opportunity to begin relating to your body in a different way,  check out David's ground-breaking workshop entitled: Eating, Hunger and Body Image on Saturday 26th September. Body image cannot be healed by dieting alone and David brings a refreshingly new perspective and will teach you how to relate to your body issue sin an entirely new way. For more information check this out!

The above quote is from David's book : 'Talking Back to Dr Phil: Alternatives to Mainstream Psychology".