Your Body Already Is a Summer Body by Kaylee Finlay
As the sun stays out longer, many feel excited about the time outdoors at the pool or beach, yet for some there is a fear of their bodies being on display. Despite years of ad campaigns and hashtags promoting #bodypositivity , many still struggle with that practice. When you hold negative feelings about your body, feeling positive about it can feel distant and unreachable. However, there is a middle ground between hating and loving your body, though, and that’s known as body neutrality.
Body neutrality focuses on recognizing that your body is only one part of who you are; we don’t have to prioritize our appearance above all else. While body positivity focuses on the idea that you are inherently beautiful, body neutrality shifts to the recognition that your body doesn’t have to be beautiful to be deserving of respect and to be valued.
A few ways to incorporate body neutrality into your summer routine are:
Wear clothes that make you feel comfortable: Finding clothes that are comfortable and suit your daily activities is all you need to do! Your clothes should allow your body to move in the ways you need it to and make you feel at ease; it doesn’t have to fit into what others think you should wear or what the latest trends are.
Focus on what your body can do: What does your body allow you to do? For example, your legs help you walk down the beach, your arms allow you to hug your loved ones, and your nose allows you to smell the summer BBQs.
Clean up your social media: If your social media is full of people posting about dieting, weight loss “hacks”, and bragging about the number on their scale, it’s going to be hard to shift your mind away from placing value on these things. Mute the accounts that feed that negativity!
Body neutrality does not mean that you can’t love your body or feel good about it; it just shifts the focus to appreciating and respecting your body for what it is- a body; not an indication of your worth.