You are beautiful the way you are
People are labelled on their body types nowadays. There is this constant pressure to fit in the number, which is defined as the perfect ratio of beauty. Women are body shamed, they are forced to feel disgusted in their own skin just because they cannot fit in the “hour-glass” image or when they suffer from any kind of facial deformity and same goes for men as well.
The body positivity (bopo) movement was a revelation. Women everywhere were loving their bodies, no matter what shape or size and it was a real breakthrough for the wellness industry. But now there’s a new outlook taking its place: body neutrality. It’s a refreshing way of looking at not just our bodies, but our self-worth in society.
What is body neutrality?
It the process of completely disarming and eradicating the perception that there is meant to be a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’-shaped body. If we allow ourselves to let go of these preconceived perceptions of what our bodies should look like, it opens the possibility that all body shapes are acceptable and welcomed.”
How does this differ from body positivity?
Body positivity took social media by force with a true ‘love yourself, no matter what’ message. But unfortunately, this love affair didn’t last very long. Instagram influencers and the general public were quick to realise that having to really love your body can put a lot of pressure on you, which is where body neutrality comes in. Body neutrality stays well clear of diets and instead encourages people to eat intuitively. “Intuitive eating” rejects any diet mentalities you may be living with, for example restricting entire food groups because you think they’re unhealthy or having a strict set of rules around what you eat. Intuitive eating helps you make peace with food and really start to tune into your own hunger and honour it. It takes away deprivation and negative thinking around food, as well as the endless control pattern we often find ourselves in.
What do you need to do?
You can begin with daily journaling on the pre-conceived ideas you’re currently carrying around food and eating. By recording what we’re eating, you can really gain some awareness of what the constraints are that you feel towards food. The next step is learning to listen to your actual hunger each day. If you used a scale from one to 10, where one is not hungry at all and 10 is starving, you learn to listen to our bodies calling to you when getting to around four, and that’s when you need to eat. Whatever your body asks for, you feed it with love, trust and respect. Lastly, you then learn to listen for when ‘enough’ is calling, again using the scale from one to 10. One is not satisfied and ten feelings stuffed, you learn to listen to the ‘I’ve had enough’ signal from your body and make a commitment to honour that, promising yourselves, you can have what you want again when you are next hungry.
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Dawor Deka