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The Resilient Brain Project, by The Viva Center

Resilient Brain Project

A comprehensive library of resources to support you on your mental health journey towards a happier, healthier life

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Body Image

A person with high self-esteem believes they are a good person; they can recognize their good qualities and will generally strive for a happy and successful life. Someone with low self-esteem has negative feelings about themselves, believing that they are not worthy of love, happiness or success.
—National Alliance on Mental Illness

body image - person doing cartwheel
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Actions for Now

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For Allies

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You’re Not Alone

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Master the Subject

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Actions for Now

Steps to Reduce Symptoms
  • National Association for Self-Esteem (NASE)
    Rate your self-esteem, read the latest research and engage in activities to boost it
  • Life With Confidence: Find games, quotes, articles, and more to cultivate confidence
  • 5 Yoga Poses For Confidence and Inner Strength
    Engage the mind-body connection with these empowering yoga poses
  • CBT Worksheets
    These PDF worksheets were designed to improve self-esteem
  • 5 Mantras for Daily Self-Love
    This infographic lists 5 mantras for you to hold in mind when your self-esteem feels threatened
  • 5 Easy Steps That Help You Build Self-Esteem with Meditation
    A brief, written meditation for building confidence
  • The Kanye West Self-Confidence Generator
    Get inspired by the singer who “love[s] you like Kanye loves Kanye
  • The 15 Day Confidence Challenge
    New activities for each day designed to push your boundaries and improve your self-esteem
  • Self Esteem Worksheets
    18 exercises for kids, teens, and adults
  • 5 Everyday Practices to Boost Your Confidence
    These techniques from Bossed Up will help you gain the self-assuredness you need, particularly in the workplace
  • More Self-Esteem Worksheets
    These worksheets target adults, and cover topics like challenging negative thoughts, creating gratitude journals, listing positive traits, and more
  • A Guided Meditation to Quiet Self-Doubt and Boost Confidence
    This video will guide you through a roughly 11 minute long meditation for boosting self-esteem
  • 6 Steps Towards More Confidence At Work
    Tips for building your professional self-image and morale
  • 10 Ways to Appear Confident (When You’re Really Not)
    Physical tips for coming across as confident
  • 6 Personal Commitments to Overcome Low Self-Esteem
    6 changes you can make in how you act and think as you move towards a greater sense of self-worth
Healthy Relationship with Body Image and Food
  • Eating Disorder Screening Tool
    Are you struggling with body image and eating healthily? This help can help you determine whether it’s a good idea to seek professional help
  • My Name is Jessamyn
    Practice yoga with body-positive yogi Jessamyn Stanley
  • How to Boost Your Body Confidence This Summer
    This blog looks at how and why our body image dips in the summer (hint—swimsuits are involved), and ways you can fight that trend
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For Allies

Give the Best Support Possible
  • How to Boost the Confidence of Others
    Simple strategies for letting others know how great they are
  • How to Help A Partner With Low Self-Esteem in 6 Creative Ways
    Support your partner and/or spouse with these tricks
  • What Not To Say To Someone With Low Self-Esteem
    Steer away from these common phrases when speaking with a friend whose self-esteem has suffered due to a breakup, a bad layoff, etc.
  • Teaching Strategies to Build Student Confidence
    Advice for teachers on how to create an atmosphere that promotes student self-esteem
Body Image & Healthy Eating
  • How to Help a Friend With Eating and Body Image Issues
    Ideas from the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
  • Kids Who Won’t Eat: How to Help Children With Eating Disorders
    A piece from Parents on recognizing dangerous eating patterns and how to combat them
  • How to Help Someone With An Eating Disorder
    Advice for supporting friends and family members and identifying the best type of treatment
  • The Impact of Body Image on Patient Care
    A case vignette and analysis from the Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
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You’re Not Alone

Stories
  • How to Talk Yourself Down From A Self-Esteem Spiral
    Haley Nahman shares the skills she uses to recover from feelings of self-doubt and low confidence
  • Brand New Kind of My: How I Overcame Low Self-Esteem and Negativity To Be a Better Me (and You Can Too)
    Writer Jazmine Denise shares her tips on boosting confidence. Note that one of her tips has a religious leaning, but the others are applicable to people of all belief systems,
  • To Dye or Not to Dye? Dr. Julie Lopez on the Difficulties and Joys of Going Gray
    The pressures of maintaining a youthful appearance are discussed in this blog post. Dr. Lopez shares why she decided to ultimately embrace her changing appearance.
Healthy Relationship with Body Image & Food
  • Food Psych Podcast: Leaders in the Body Positive and Health at All Sizes movements discuss intuitive eating, eating disorder recovery, nutrition, and more.
  • “My Story on Low Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem”: A teen shares her struggles with her appearance, and how she learned that she deserves happiness
  • BodyPosiPanda
    Check out Megan Crabbe’s blog on recovery, diet culture, self-love, exercise, “and all things Bopo.”
  • 17 Stories of Eating Disorder Survival
    Get inspired by these tales of healing
  • My Horrible Body Image Sabotaged Every Relationship Until I Did This
    How poor body confidence interfered with one woman’s relationships, and how she made a change
  • How I Began to Love My Body
    A four part blog series about one person’s struggle with body image, featuring advice for improving your own body confidence
  • 9 Stories of Women’s Complicated Relationships With Their Bodies
    You might relate to one of these stories, shared via Buzzfeed
  • Eating Disorder Stories of Hope
    Readers sent in their stories of eating disorder recovery
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST FOR BODY IMAGE
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Master the Subject

Learn How It Works
  • This is Where Self-Esteem Lives in the Brain
    See which part of the brain controls our self-esteem and learn why some people have “stronger” self-esteem centers than others
  • 9 Powerful TED Talks to Boost Your Self Confidence
    These TED talks discuss subjects like self-image, body language, everyday phobias, and more
  • Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Mental Health
    This page examines the complex relationship between these body confidence, self-image, and mental wellness
  • Training the Brain to Boost Self-Esteem
    A look into the neuroscience of self-esteem, and how working with brainwaves can transform it
  • The Dove Self-Esteem Project
    Resources for teachers, parents, youth, and more on subjects including bullying, body image, gender stereotypes, etc.
  • Building Self-Confidence
    Mindtools offers both video and text resources explaining what self-confidence is and the steps you can take to boost yours
  • Your Job Affects Your Self-Esteem: Make it a Positive Effect
    How to ensure that the effect your career has on your life is positive
  • Confidence with Lea Sloan
    Tools to alter our neuropsychological experience and boost our confidence
  • Low Self-Esteem: Simply Psychology
    Learn the research behind why self-esteem is important, especially in teens and children
  • The Importance of Self-Esteem for Kids with Learning and Attention Issues
    Learn more about the relationship between learning and confidence, and get advice for supporting the children around you
  • EMDR and Confidence, with Dr. Julie Lopez
    How EMDR therapy is used to treat issues of confidence
Healthy Relationship with Body Image and Food
  • What is Body Image?
    An overview of why it’s so important to have a positive relationship with one’s body
  • Self-Esteem and Body Image
    A webpage on the relationship between self-esteem and body image. While this information comes from the Center for Young Women’s Health, it applies to people of all ages and gender identities.
  • How Social Media is a Toxic Mirror
    This article from Time examines the relationship between social media and poor body image
  • The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating
    A nutrition therapist and a dietician specializing in eating disorder counseling came together to create this list.
  • The Body is Not an Apology (TBINAA)
    Check out articles on dismantling weight stigma, the position of disabled women within the feminist movement, growing up mixed race, and more on TBINAA, a movement designed to foster radical self-love
  • Overview of Eating Disorders from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH)
    Learn the signs and methods of treatment for anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating
  • Men’s Stories: Living With an Eating Disorder
    This 30 minute documentary discusses eating disorders from a male perspective
  • Body Image: Is It Influenced By Your Family?
    What is the relationship between our parents and the way we view our bodies?
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Advocate

Connect to the Larger Movement
  • The Dove Self-Esteem Project
    Resources for teachers, parents, youth, and more on subjects including bullying, body image, gender stereotypes, etc.
  • National Association for Self-Esteem
    This group serves to fully integrate self-esteem into the fabric of US society
  • National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
    This organization supports individuals and families affected by eating disorders
  • The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Related Disorders (ANAD)
    A nonprofit working to improve education, prevention efforts, treatment, and advocacy for eating disorders

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