What’s one thing that you give your body everyday? Maybe it’s a certain food, a particular article of clothing, or a Starbucks Pink Drink (my personal favorite).
Do you want to know the one thing I give myself everyday? And no, I’m not talking about food, supplements, or anything health-related. I’m talking about respect, and why that’s the most important thing to give your body everyday.
What is Body Respect?
I know that I’ve talked about this topic here on the blog before. If you’re new around here or need a little refresher, you’re in luck! Let’s chat about body respect again, and what exactly it is.
Body respect is the act of acknowledging your body, and appreciating the things that it can do for you. It’s respecting that you’re able to walk, have meaningful relationships, eat your favorite foods, and live a life that you’re hopefully enjoying and proud of. It has nothing to do with the actual size of your body or your physical appearance.
It’s knowing your worth, and treating your body in a way that reflects that. Respecting your body is the pillar and base to building a loving and trusting relationship with yourself. Any relationship, whether with your body or another person, needs to have respect involved.
Practicing the act of body respect allows you to have consideration for you body, and to give it what it deserves. For example, I respect my body, so I know that I need to give it food, regardless of how I feel about my actual body image. Body image and body respect are not tied to each other. You could be experiencing poor body image, but still respect your body.
Body Respect vs. Body Love
The term “body love” is thrown out a lot, but there are some issues with it. The body love movement wants everyone to love their bodies, regardless of any other external factors. I’m sorry, but that’s just not realistic. Of course in an ideal world we would all “love” our bodies, but it’s not that simple.
Looking at it in the lens of body respect however, we’re able to realize that we don’t need to love our bodies to respect them. I can look in the mirror and pick out a million things that I don’t like about my body or would like to change. I’m definitely not loving my body in that moment…BUT, I am going to respect my body, and still do things that bring me joy.
The cool thing about body respect is that it can eventually turn into body love. That’s not the goal that we should go into this process thinking about, because it can put a lot of pressure on you. But, the more we respect our bodies and appreciate them, we can start to love them.
Love is a relative term and something that ebbs and flows, so we’re not going to love our bodies all the time. We are human after all! That’s totally normal. Some days, I love how I look and feel great in my body or clothes, while other days I just want to curl up in sweats and stay in bed. Both are normal, and both are okay.
The Impact of Respect
The impact that body respect can have not only on your mind, but your body, is incredible. Let’s put this whole train of thought into action…
Let’s say you just woke up, look in the mirror, and are not satisfied with your appearance. We’ve all been there, so I know you’re going to want to hear what happens next. Our first thought could be to go to the gym, “burn off” what you ate last night, restrict your eating, or maybe just go on a binge because “why not.”
Those are all valid feelings, and understandable given the diet culture world we live in. I want to offer some other options that may make you feel better while respecting your body. Disassociating your body image with respect, we know that our bodies need food everyday to function. I’m going to respect my body and give it breakfast, even though I don’t love how I look.
Maybe I know that my body feels better after taking a gentle walk. I’ll respect my body and go for a walk rather than an intense HIIT workout. I also know that I feel best in comfy clothes rather than wearing something tight, so I’ll do that as well. See where I’m going with this?
Body respect is something that we should be giving ourselves EVERY DAY. Some days it will feel harder than others, but I promise that it will benefit your body and mind tremendously.
I hope that this has helped you understand what body respect is, and why it’s the one thing we should be giving ourselves everyday. You are beautiful, and you deserve a life of respect and appreciation!
xoxo
More Helpful Posts:
- The Problem with “Body Love”
- Thinner Doesn’t Equal Happier
- Why I Don’t Count Calories
- How Social Media Affects Body Image
