On Body Neutrality From A Boudoir Studio To You
Body neutrality is the ability to appreciate and recognize what your body can do for you and others. It is the realization of the function it provides in all its forms."
You know, I think we all get caught up in this idea of "love your body" so much that we don't even realize there are other options. Let us be the ones to tell you that you don't HAVE to push "love" on your body. You don't have to force yourself to love something, especially something as insignificant as how your body looks. I don't know if you've noticed, but it can be relentlessly exhausting! It can feel like you have to perform every time you leave the house, be someone you aren't, and at the end of the day, if you failed, you get even more mean to yourself for not achieving an unattainable goal.
The goal shouldn't be "love your body, your body is beautiful, your body is perfect!" every second of the damn day. The goal should be "my body does exactly what I need it to do right now and that's all that matters." Body neutrality is so much more nuanced than people give it credit for, and it is so much more than appreciating the physical of ourselves. It's about listening to our bodies and giving it what it needs. Sometimes that's a whole day of sleep and getting nothing else done! Sometimes it means indulging in all your favorite things and not feeling guilt for it. It can be getting up at the butt crack of dawn to go on a hike with your friends and complaining the whole time because what kind of friends would ask you to do this? but then you get to the top of the mountain and you guess it isn't so bad.
All the things that would ordinarily make you feel shame, guilt, embarrassment... but somehow don't anymore... that's body neutrality. How we get there is different for everybody, though EJ suggests a mantra of "who actually gives a f**k?!" Because the secret is... NOBODY DOES.
