I know this may sound like a huge relief, but it’s true: loving your body unconditionally isn’t necessary for happiness and self-assurance.
Saying positive things aloud in front of a mirror isn’t necessary. You don’t have to love every curve, fold, shift, or inch.
To be completely honest? For a lot of plus size women, it might feel hard to “love your body” after years of being criticized, pressured, and held to arbitrary beauty standards.
What Happens When You Stop Forcing Yourself to Love Your Body
Saying things like “I love my body” when you don’t truly believe it might lead to internal conflicts.
Feels like you’re not loving yourself enough… It is the wrong way to practice self-love.
This is where body neutrality comes in, and it’s why it could be the best and most caring way for plus-size women to change their opinions today.
When you practice body neutrality, you are not obligated to feel good about yourself.
Leaving the emotional battleground behind is the key.
It’s about embracing one’s physique and not letting it dictate its beauty.
“It must be mine.”
Do you not sense a gentler sensation when you picture that line resting peacefully in your heart?
At peace?
Less stage-managed?
The real deal?
By embracing body neutrality, you are inviting yourself to see your body as a collaborator rather than an object.
You may exist in your body without having to gain love, respect, or acceptance.
You may live your life without worrying that your value is always changing due to external factors.
Without worrying that a single “bad picture” would dampen your spirits.
Without worrying that you need to look a certain way all the time to be OK.
Body Neutrality: The Healthier, Softer Approach Plus Size Women Deserve
When you’ve been taught for much of your life that your body has to be mended, downsized, corrected, or controlled, this change might feel almost like a revolution.
And this is when body neutrality truly shines:
It doesn’t necessitate any effort on your part emotionally.
It is not necessary to always celebrate oneself.
The only things it requires of you are that you be present, honor your body, and go on with your life.
Consider all the mental effort you’ve put into scrutinizing your physical appearance.
Dissecting it.
An attempt at concealment.
Seeking to effectuate a shift.
Trying to make yourself adore things you don’t like.
Envision refocusing all that power.
Envision restoring that room for the things that truly matter to you: your interests, your connections, your aspirations, your real life.
When you practice body neutrality, you may let go of your thoughts and focus on the here and now.
Also, it lines up with what we know from studies on the effects of clothes on our mood, self-esteem, and self-perception.
Studies on color and clothing psychology have revealed that what we wear may change how we feel, but not because we want to love our bodies more.
The reason behind this is that when we dress appropriately, it brings us a sense of stability, self-confidence, and identity.
(See footnotes for more reading.)
That’s why body neutrality and fashion go so nicely together.
You can let your guard down and dress freely when you prioritize comfort, expression, and fit before trying to “fix” anything.
You start to choose gentleness over criticism.
Put practicality ahead of fear.
Presence, not perfection, is what you prioritize.
That alteration, I assure you, alters the course of events.
Your Body Doesn’t Have to Be Loved to Be Respected
Permit me to tell something that many ladies who are larger size have:
As soon as you slip into a dress, all eyes are on your hips, tummy, and arms.
Prior to assessing your preference for the dress, you immediately begin evaluating your perceived imperfections.
Being neutral in one’s body breaks that cycle.
Whereas “do I appear thin enough?”
Now we need to know: “Is this enjoyable?”
Changing your focus from appearances to experiences may completely alter the mood of your morning.
When it comes to bodily neutrality, mental safety is quite important.
It allows you to have days when you are unhappy with your appearance without allowing yourself to fall into unhealthy levels of self-criticism.
Here’s a secret: even the most fashionable and confident individuals in the world have days when they don’t like what they see in the mirror.
The key distinction is that they refuse to let those instances to determine their worth.
Being body-neutral allows you to express, “I’m not happy with my appearance today… and that’s alright.”
It absolves guilt.
It alleviates stress.
You won’t feel bad about yourself if you aren’t always upbeat.
Once an individual relinquishes the expectation of perpetual elation or approval from their physical form, they simultaneously cease to engage in self-recrimination for inherent human characteristics.
Surprisingly, when you let go of the need to adore your body…
More often than not, you find that you like it even more.
Acknowledgment develops subtly with objectivity.
Sooner or later, self-assurance sets in.
Your connection with yourself grows steadier and less tumultuous.
To fit in with a world that never figured out how to accommodate you, you gradually cease stifling your joy, your voice, your personality, and your style.
Being body-neutral allows you to grow.
You are who you are.
Within your own self-awareness.
While you were here.
Within your life.
If you can’t love your body right now, try something easier.
Attain objectivity.
Give it a go.
Give it a go—just show up, no judgment.
You are not a goddess because of your physical form.
All it need is respect.
Being upbeat and optimistic all the time isn’t necessary.
Kindness is all that is required of you.
You should not reduce your size.
All you have to do is live.
And that is the quiet brilliance of body neutrality:
It gives you your life back without demanding emotional perfection in return.
REFERENCES
The Psychology of Clothing: Meaning of Colors, Body Image and Gender Expression in Fashion — Textile Leather Review.
https://www.tlr-journal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/TLR_2019_22_KODZOMAN.pdf
Color and Psychological Functioning: A Review of Theoretical and Empirical Work — PMC (National Library of Medicine).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4383146/
