Your brain is a synaptic subway where information glides along the rails of thought.  Whatever thoughts passage the most attention, most frequently, subsequently become express trains.   If you are consistently disembarking at a dismal destination, its time to lay new rails in your organic abacus. 

Some of us have a rather pernicious psychological pilot barking connections between ourselves and less than fetching adjectives.  And while I am a gentle pacifist at heart, there are times for a quick, quieting Boo, Whore, which this inner mean girl needs to ear.  Following is the modus operandi for talking back to your negative thoughts.

1.  Prerequisite to talking back to your thoughts is listening to your internal dialogue. Set a timer for every 15 minutes and quickly assess what you’ve been thinking.  Or choose an activity you do frequently as a thought check stimulus.  For me, every time I change a diaper, I inventory my mental refuse.  

2.  Once you’ve added conscious to the unconscious side of the conversation, prepare your comebacks.  Positive affirmations are reform school for your snotty self talk.  Proper mental repartee begins with a personal pronoun, Me, I, My; is clear and brief; describes the present tense.  Examples could include: I adore my soft, rosy cheeks.  I own strong bones.  My fluffy bottom is deliciously soft to sit on.  My thighs fill out pencil skirts delightfully well. I am grateful for my cuddly, inviting lap.

print, push a pen across it, then post upon your mirror

3.  Once your paths are mapped, it is time to derail negative thought trains onto positive mind travels.  Pronounce your affirmations now and often. Declare them aloud to your reflection, retort negative thoughts as they arise.  Affirmations are most effective when repeated, repeatedly.  Persevere and soon enough you’ll be alighting at station body adoration.

4 Challenge: Make a list of at least 5 positive statements about yourself.  Post them on your mirror, repeat aloud daily,  then refer to them every time you have a negative thought about yourself.

Post your positive affirmations in the comments
feel free to link to blogs, instagram, pinterest, flicker, or other sources

For day three of our challenge, I have recruited the charming wit, ridiculous talent, and adorable fertile belly of Britt from A Day in the Life Too.  Her beauty-full message about initiating awareness in our minds to infuse the beauty of our bodies, expressed what I had struggled to share.

Our bodies can not live in isolation of our minds.  Really and truly, if you separate them, you’ll die.  So many times our internal voices are at war with our external bodies, sending the sting of berating arrows and wielding swords of degradation.  When we can positively connect our minds and bodies in a peace promoting activity, we can begin to love the total package.

Hey guys. I’m Brittney. I’m a wife, a mom of 3.67 kids, and a lover of steak. Medium rare. And anyone knowing those three things about me pretty much qualifies as my best friend. Including you, now. Sleepover, my house, Friday night. We’ll stay up allllll night, like ‘til 11 p.m.

Just kidding. I never make it past 9:30 these days…

…which is actually an accidental a kind-of-if-you-stretch-it-out-enough segue into my current thoughts on beauty-full-ness. I’m 6-1/2 months pregnant, and, at 23 pounds (and growing! geesh) heavier than normal, “beauty” is an interesting beast for me these days.

Beastly: I fit into about four articles of clothing, two of which are getting tight.
Beauty-full: My husband smiled and even kissed me when he saw I had raided his closet to fit into something. Anything.
Beastly: Physical discomfort = sleeplessness = staring back at myself in the mirror every.single.morning. are two of the tiredest eyes ever. Sometimes I stare and stare and stare at them and realize 10 minutes later that I’ve fallen asleep, standing up, with my eyes open, toothpaste running down my chin. Again.
Beauty-full: My 7-year-old son thinks my corny jokes are hilarious and that I, therefore, am awesome. (I kind of pad the vote, though, with homemade cookies. Shhh…)
Beastly: Zits. Many. And frequent.
Beauty-full: My adorable 3- and 5-year-old daughters sing lullabyes into my protruding belly button for their unborn sister’s “naptime.”
Basically, I’m not going to win any awards for physical beauty. Ever, if I’m being honest with you, but especially not as a lumbering, belly-heavy, puffy-faced pregnant woman. But, strangely, this fact neither defines me nor makes me feel UNbeautiful. My husband and family love me, which is a huge blessing and major perk in life.

For me, though, beauty-full-ocity (yep) comes largely from living within my own head and being comfortable with the somewhat intelligent, fun, kind, and creative girl who resides there. (And even though she may vacation from those traits from time to time, she always comes back. And asks for her mail, oddly enough.) Some days I feel pretty. Some days I don’t. And some days who cares because I’ve got an important play-doh date with my toddler and a friend with REAL problems.

My take on beauty: do the best with what you’ve been given and leave it at that. It’s interesting, isn’t it (to the one person still reading this rambling monologue…hey mom!), that as individuals we see and respond to the world through the same pair of eyes, whether mascara is alluringly spackled on dense footlong lashes or blearily smeared into under-eye cesspools of inky smudge.

And, really? A woman who loves and is loveable is beauty-full either way.

(Although I do recommend washing the cesspools-o-smudge or they get itchy. I may or may not know this from experience.)

Day 3 Challenge: Engage in an activity that kindly connects your mind to your body, eat a pretty plate of healthy food that pleases both stomach and spirit, stretch your breath and meditate on your calves within downward dog, kiss your dearest one directly on the mouth. 

Post your reconnecting experiences in the comments, 
feel free to link to blogs, instagram, pinterest, flicker, or other sources