Tag: body neutrality

Body Neutrality: What is it and how is it different from Body Positivity?

Body positivity has been around for years now, and it deals with challenging society’s view on the “ideal body type.” It refers to the assertion that all people deserve to have a positive body image, regardless of other’s opinions. 

Body Neutrality is, however, a relatively newer term coined somewhere in 2015 by bloggers, celebrities, etc., to disconnect the relationship between physical appearance and self-worth.

It is a philosophy that one should focus on what their body can do for them rather than what it looks like.

“The body positivity movement urges people to love their bodies no matter what they look like, whereas body neutrality focuses on what your body can do for you rather than what it actually looks like,” said Chelsea Kronengold, the associate director of communications at the National Eating Disorders Association.

While people that practice body positivity might say, “I love my legs, cellulite and all; they are beautiful.”

A person practicing body neutrality might say, “I love my legs because they help me run.”

Body neutrality is difficult to navigate when we have been taught that physical beauty can create happiness. But suppose a person recognizes a more petite physique or nose job won’t instantly make them happier. In that case, they can find body peace both before and after they change their body.

“When people become overly invested in changing their bodies to change their experiences of the world, it becomes a really dangerous sort of thing that perpetuates itself,” Wassenaar said. “Because oftentimes I find that you can’t ever change your body enough to make yourself happy.”

Dr. Wassenaar has also talked about how diet and fitness plans that require restriction or pushing our body past its boundaries are not body neutral. Those plans force a person to hold the diet or fitness plan’s specific rules above their body’s natural hunger or physical activity cues.

Body neutrality helps one recognize and prioritize how they feel in their body. This might mean moving your body because it feels good, and you enjoy the movement, and not to “burn off” the food you’ve eaten. It also means you listen to your body to know when to stop or take a day off.

Body Neutrality doesn’t encourage indulging in unhealthy choices; instead, it means that meals usually feature fresh, whole foods, but you also eat intuitively. That one does not have to resist the urge or suppress their cravings or “make up’ for a heavy meal by limiting yourself to salad the next day.

The Advantages of Implementing Body Neutrality In Your Life

Body neutrality is a relatively new idea for many people. It is the discipline of embracing your body in its current condition for what it can achieve rather than focused on how it appears. As a result, some individuals may be confused why they must try it, or even whether they should.

There are several advantages to practising bodily neutrality, which vary from physical to emotional. One of the positive aspects is that just shifting your attention away from exercise that feels like punishment or for weight reduction goals, and instead engaging in exercise activities you love, can reduce your chances of overworking or injuring your body.

Although body positivity was originally seen to be the best approach to build connections with our bodies, body neutrality, a newer concept, is now thought to be a better method of connecting with our physical selves.

Some of the advantages of implementing body neutrality in your life are:

  1. Become Less Judgmental

It is really tough to avoid criticizing our bodies. We are continually inundated with pictures of “perfect” bodies in the media, and most people—often including those whose own figures are on display and digitally altered—believe that their own bodies fall short of the ideal form. If you try to stop judging your own body against those of someone else or against an aesthetic in your head, it’s logical that you’ll stop judging other people’s looks as severely.

One of the most beneficial aspects of this is that as we become less judgmental about our bodies, it becomes much easier to be less judgmental towards yourself and others generally. Even though it comes to issues other than bodies, practising body neutrality may cause you to be less critical of yourself and others.

  1. Become More Empathetic

When we become less harsh and judgemental of someone else, we start to open ourselves up to their complex and diverse experiences. Instead of passing judgement on others, we may cultivate our sense of empathy.

This might be in pertinent aspects, like not thinking of an obese person as having an unsuitable physique, or in non-related ways, such as attentively listening  to a person’s experience or narrative before making judgements on them, or deciding what your impression of them is solely based on their looks.

Cultivating more empathy allows you to connect with others more effectively and profoundly. It helps us to be more open since we have a better understanding of how sensitive everyone else is. And it causes us to behave from a gentler interior place, rather than a competitive attitude.

  1. It  Lowers Stress Levels

There is little doubt that chronic stress may have a significant detrimental impact on our lives. Prolonged stress is defined as feeling anxious about your body on a regular basis. Since your body is constantly with you, an emotional issue centred on your body has no end point on its own. Individuals might battle for years, if not their whole lives, with how they appear.

Once you choose to embrace your body for what it is capable of doing and stop concentrating about how it should be changed, your levels of stress are likely to decrease. This makes it simpler to feel content and at ease. Furthermore, when you are under reduced stress, your body produces less cortisol (the body’s major stress hormone), which results in good consequences such as increased energy, good sleep, and improved digestion.

  1. It Enhances Your Intuition

One important aspect of body neutrality is eating what your body desires. To be able to do so, you must first connect with your body on a personal level. Many individuals are accustomed to selecting foods based on what they are taught by nutritional specialists, or even celebrities, as the “correct” items to eat, so eating intuitively might feel like a significant life shift.

Once you have learnt how to connect with your intuition in respect to your health and food, you unlock the way to hearing and listening to your instincts in general. It can be beneficial to your mental health since it can make you feel much more secure in your decision-making abilities.

  1. It Improves Your Mood

If you spend any of your time worrying about your physique, chances are you’re not in the greatest of moods. And then from there, it may well be difficult to immediately put oneself in a great mood, even when everything else in your environment is technically fine.

Less judgement, reduced stress, and improved intuition as a result of bodily neutrality are all excellent mood enhancers. Body neutrality practise may lead to all of these benefits, and as a result, you may find yourself in a positive mindset more frequently than you’ve ever anticipated.

Body neutrality is not a one-time event. It may be a long process, just like any other personal journey. However, the advantages might be enormous. From reduced stress to increased happiness, the mental wellbeing advantages of body neutrality are compelling enough to warrant a try.