What Is Body Neutrality? A Simple Guide With Practical Tips

By Xena Wooley

Everyone has heard of Self-Love and Body Positivity, but have you heard of Body Neutrality? Read on to learn more about how you can develop a healthier relationship with your body when loving it feels too hard. 

Sometimes, feeling “Body Positive” towards yourself may feel challenging, and that is okay. In a world permeated with diet-culture, normalized body dissatisfaction, and society’s forever changing perspective on what the “perfect” body type is, it is understandable to struggle with your body-image.

When referring to body-image, this entails our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to our body. We are essentially taught to be critical of our bodies with the constant exposure to edited images of celebrities in the media, and ads for diet and weight-loss products everywhere you look. The diet/weight-loss industry in the US makes BILLIONS of dollars every year, so it is no wonder why they want us to be dissatisfied with our bodies.

The message of the body positive movement is to view your body in a favorable light. This is not a bad thing; however, people can start to feel a sense of shame and failure if they are unable to love their body at all times. This is where body neutrality comes to save the day. Body neutrality removes the pressure to love your body, while it can also be a great stepping stone to finding love for it.

Body Neutrality means having a non-judgmental attitude towards your body and viewing it in neither a positive nor negative light. The aim of it is to accept and respect your body for how it is in the moment, regardless of its appearance or function. This can encourage people to tune into their bodies’ needs and to treat them with kindness. This can especially be helpful for those who are struggling with chronic illness or disabilities, as the concept of “loving your body” can feel even more complicated.

In the international research journal, Body Image, strategies to attain body neutrality have been outlined into 6 categories (Pellizer & Wade, 2023). I’ve included these categories with examples of how you can practice each of them. These strategies can be implemented into daily life and are connected with evidence-based interventions that have been proven to improve mental wellbeing, such as techniques included in the popular therapy model of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

Nurturing and Respecting Your Body

• Nourish your body with foods you enjoy without overly rigid or strict dieting

• Set eating and fitness goals based on health, not weight or shape

• Only buy clothes that fit your body as it is now

Body Talk

• Catch yourself when saying or thinking something critical about your body and follow up that criticism with a body-neutral statement (e.g., "My stomach looks so gross in this outfit" to "My body allows me to experience the world around me")

• Redirect conversations with others that are about negative body talk

  
  

Body Gratitude and Functionality Appreciation

• Focus on what your body does to keep you alive

• Write a letter of gratitude to your body

• Write a list of body functions you appreciate

  
  

Practical Strategies

• Curate your social media feed. Unfollow content that triggers comparison or unrealistic beauty standards

• Reduce checking your weight on the scale, or get rid of the scale altogether

• Tape positive reminders on your mirror to combat negative self-talk, such as:

  • Experience over appearance

  • My worth is not defined by my weight or appearance

  • My body deserve respect

    
    

Mindfulness and Radical Acceptance

• Practice meditation on awareness of body thoughts, sensations, and needs

• When negative thoughts come up, remind yourself that you accept your body as it is right now

Acknowledging Areas of Self-Worth That Aren’t Centered on Appearance

• Identify the qualities that make you, you! Write a list and keep the list handy

• Focus on other areas of your life, such as pleasurable experiences, friends, and family

Fighting back against the cultural norm of disliking your body is important. Research has found that a constant dissatisfaction with your body correlates to a variety of negative outcomes, including depression, low self-esteem, the development of eating disorders, poorer quality of life, and problematic health behaviors such as smoking. It is completely normal to feel body positive or negative some days, and to feel body neutral other days.

Developing a healthier relationship with your body is about progress, not perfection. It can be a process to deconstruct and fight back against the harmful cultural messages we’ve internalized our entire lives, but it is worth the fight once you start to find so much more inner peace, happiness, and freedom.

The topic of body neutrality is an exciting new avenue of research, and it is showing promising results on improving people’s body image and overall well-being. This is why I encourage you to take action if you’ve found yourself stuck in the never-ending cycle of criticizing your body.