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Body positive: the reason why people who accept their body are happier
Psychology
The ‘body positive’ movement intends to invite the total acceptance of bodies, whatever they may be.
Concepts such as the ‘bikini operation’ or the diet at the beginning of the year to ‘lose the Christmas pounds’ are increasingly outdated. And it is that, if for a time he was crushed with the idea of a very marked canon of beauty in which thinness and the lack of ‘imperfections’ are rewarded, little by little, through social networks, but also with word of mouth, people are ‘reappropriating their body’.
Yes, it is okay to have a belly, or stretch marks, or one eyebrow higher than the other, or short or long arms, or fine hair, or thick hair, or a large chest or a small chest. And that, which seems more than obvious,
but for a long time it has not been, it enters into the ‘body positive’ movement, which was born with the intention of inviting the total acceptance of bodies, whatever they may be. Explains Aída Rubio, director of the psychology service and health psychologist at TherapyChat, that this movement seeks the naturalization of bodies and their disengagement from social prejudices, as well as pursuing the idea of managing to keep our body out of value judgment, which at the same time end comes from the ‘shoulds’ and the standards of perfection established by times and fashions. “It is, in short, a movement that speaks of emotional health, of full acceptance of an important part of each one’s identity, of gaining security, and of defining oneself by their internal characteristics and not by prejudices” , sums up the professional.
Accept our body to be happier
In order to put into practice what the psychologist explains, from the psychology platform they leave several keys that can be worked on to improve individual acceptance.
1. Accept yourself. There are things that can be changed throughout our lives and things that cannot. Trying to control what is not in our power is like hitting a wall, one that generates a lot of frustration and prevents us from moving forward. If we talk about the body, there are also things that can be changed and shaped, but others that cannot. Living wanting to change them will not make you love yourself more or be happy, on the contrary, it will bring you suffering. But if you take what you have and accept it, you can grow in other ways on a personal level.
2. Attractiveness is an attitude. Sometimes we don’t talk about whether people are pretty or ugly, but about their attractiveness. Sometimes there will be people who may seem very beautiful to us, but who are not attractive to us.
3. Think about the positive qualities of your body. If for a long time the gaze on your body has been directed to the negative, surely you have done a ‘lavish’ training to only see the bad things. Do the exercise of identifying the good things you see in it.
4. Your body is not only aesthetic. Thank your body for what it has allowed you to achieve in life and what it gives you in your day to day life. Your body is a very complex machinery that allows you to enjoy the day to day and gives you freedom, so do not turn it into a prison.
Attitudes to banish
On the other hand, there are certain harmful attitudes that, without realizing it, affect our self-esteem. One of them is the comparison. This, a deeply ingrained trend, is difficult to avoid. Although it is complicated, it is important make an effort not to compare ourselves with what we see on social media or television. On the other hand, putting aside self-care, such as not eating healthy, not sleeping well or not spending time on ourselves can end up having consequences on our physical and mental state and, therefore, on our own image.
As for the criticisms, so established in today’s society and in social networks, Aída Rubio points out that “beauty is not objective, but subjective.” «You are, you exist, you breathe and you move regardless of what others say. You also have a certain appearance, regardless of the vision of others. The opinion of others neither defines nor changes who you are, neither for better nor for worse. If you are clear about this, you will not empower the other to attribute their words to you, “concludes the professional.