Have you ever taken a timeout and evaluated the power of how you see yourself?

Three days ago, I had a fitness photoshoot with my dear friend, the exquisitely talented Dana Dufek . Dana is everything you could want in a photographer. She’s professional, thoughtful, prepared, creative, engaged, direct and her way of seeing me feels like how, in an ideal world, I’d see myself.

Before
Scheduling a photoshoot, in hindsight, feels like a true test of my values. Have you ever dieted, worked out extra hard, dehydrated, spray tanned or made extreme sacrifices for a special event? Do you look at photos and think, ‘wow – that doesn’t even look like me!’ ?

In preparation for the session, it became a thin line between wanting to look my best and wanting to look like the fitness ads I see everywhere. Visions of tan, ripped bodies, defined abs, hairless everything, perfect hair, flawless makeup – even ideal sweat drips for the love of God – rapidly went through my head multiple times per day.

After repeatedly getting enveloped in a mental tug of war, I began a daily meditation to center myself and remember what I’m here for. And it’s not a 6-pack. Here are the three questions I used. Share them if they help you!

During
When I opened the door to welcome Dana into my home, I felt centered. My meditation was complete. I felt grounded in my values. Now, could I be natural and not get in my head in front of the camera?

All the praise to Dana! Here’s the thing about her, she’s instantly your best friend. While I’m lucky to say Dana and I have been friends for over a decade, I’ve also seen her engage with countless strangers and make them instantly at ease. It’s a skill that can’t be taught and it’s amazing.

We laughed, we teared up, we cleaned my floor with our butts (sorry, you might never know what that means), we made a pinky swear and the whole time she seemed to know exactly what I wanted and she never let me get caught up in my head.

After
Check out this 90 second video of the shoot!

Needless to say, I felt exhilarated! That’s what happens when you stay grounded in your values and you have a strong support team.

I can’t wait to share the images with you and the upcoming projects that coincide.

I see you, you beautiful, powerful human, you. How do you see yourself?

xo,
Katie

P.S. I’m doing this with Dana next: http://www.smittenboudoirmke.com