Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about body neutrality. As someone who suffered from an eating disorder for more than a decade and has had body dysmorphia and a really shit body image for my entire adult life, body positivity was close to impossible for me to wrap my brain around. However, body neutrality focuses on appreciating what your body can do instead of what it looks like. This approach may not work for everyone but it’s working for me.
In a move that feels very Goop/New Age/Boss Babe-like, I’ve started writing down a few body-neutral affirmations a week. I know that I’m essentially using affirmations as a rebuttal to all the negative self-talk in my head, but it still feels awkward, cultish, and more than a little cringe.
All of that aside, two of the affirmations I wrote down this week to focus on are:
I have had this skirt for five years. I found it in a thrift store and had to buy it because sequins(obviously) and yellow is my favorite color. It’s been hanging in my closet for five years because it was too big when I bought it and I didn’t have a tailor I trusted enough to fix it for me. It’s now a perfect fit. This revelation is something that would have sent the old me into a spiral of depression and self-loathing.
