For the last few days I have been hanging around the Something Fishy website: a site dedicated to people with eating disorders. Admittedly I am suffering from some disordered eating issues myself which I would rather not express here, but that isn’t the reason I have been visiting this website. It has a section entitled Recovery: Reach Out which provides a whole bunch of self help and recovery tools designed to improve self image and make you feel good about yourself. The site lists heaps of ideas for keeping busy, hobby ideas, affirmations and motivations, self pampering tips, breaking negative thought patterns and much more! The site is more focused on recovery than on the problem which is important, and puts lots of emphasis on the fact that eating disorders are not about food and weight but about much deeper emotional issues.
My favourite sections are the affirmations section which is three whole pages of positive sayings about yourself which even after reading three or four makes me feel much better. I also love the Ways to Cope page which encourages doing little things like colouring in, stomping on bubble wrap or throwing soft balls at a wall. Nothing is made to sound silly which is comforting. It also encourages creating and using ‘Safe Places’ which are places which make you feel good. Already I am at work on creating my own safe place at home to surround myself with all my favourite things. Just thinking about it makes me happy ^_^
