If lockdown has got you feeling anxious about your body image, then it’s time to act. If you’re currently going through an Instagram detox and can’t bear to look at the chiselled women on that app for any longer, then feat not as the following 3 activities are guaranteed to get you feeling body confident again once lockdown is over and we return to our ‘new normal’.
By Team Savant
Image: Carl Barcelo
1. Dance
The Royal Academy of Dance believes that everybody should have the opportunity to learn to dance. So, why not give it a go? Dancing is a great way to stay fit and healthy and can be incredibly fun. It also opens up plenty of doors and provides a great way to make friends and meet new people. Crucially, dance is known to build up your strength and greatly tone your muscles, meaning you’ll be feeling body confident in no time. Furthermore, dancing regularly can improve your physical confidence and mental functioning, giving you a sense of healthy self-esteem along with an increase in aerobic fitness. The benefits of dancing are endless!
2. Yoga
Yoga has become increasingly popular over the last twelve months with many companies seeing it as a great wellbeing exercise to bring colleagues together while working remotely. Nevertheless, it’s a brilliant solo activity that can bring a sense of calm and relaxation to your work-out regime. Regular practisers of yoga report reduced levels of stress and the ability to sleep better at night as a result. This is going to help you feel calmer as we move back into the real world and allow you to focus on your body confidence. Not only is yoga great for improving your flexibility and mobility but it also helps to boost your core strength, toning your muscles and vastly increasing your body confidence. Yoga also promotes better self-care, meaning you are more likely to look after your body when practising yoga regularly, thereby increasing your confidence. Not sure where to start? There are plenty of great free yoga classes online to help you get to grips with the basics. Check out Yoga With Adriene on YouTube.
3. Cycling
If you find going for a jog rather mind-numbing and completely exhausting, then cycling could be the activity to really perk you up and get you feeling better about your body again. Get your hands on a bike and get outdoors and start experiencing all the benefits that cycling has to offer. Firstly, cycling can help you to lose any excess body fat that might be hampering your body confidence levels. Secondly, your muscular strength and flexibility will improve greatly, just like with dancing and yoga. Finally, cycling has been proven to reduce anxiety and depression in those that get out on their bikes regularly, so it is very much worth considering if you’re feeling a bit down about your body at the moment and want to make a constructive change.
Hopefully, these tips get you feeling body confidence in no time at all.