Are You Settling for Body Neutrality?

In this episode of The Body Image Revolution, we're breaking down why body neutrality isn’t the empowering end goal many make it out to be. I’ll explain why settling for neutrality affirms diet culture, and how you can love what you see in the mirror instead. Let's create a reality where loving your body feels natural and sexy AF. You deserve more than just "meh"

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Transcript

Rebecca Sigala: 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to The Body Image Revolution. This morning I grabbed my phone and started scrolling, which is something that I'm really trying not to do because I want to go through my morning routine before I even touch my phone so I can start to be more present in my body. But Hey, today it led to this podcast. So I'm grateful. I was scrolling and I started searching for self love and body love type of reels and I kept coming across this idea of body neutrality, which is something that I've spoken about a lot, and I've also seen for many years in this space, but every single time I see it, it's just sad. It's like portrayed as this ideal. And I want to explain to you why I'm not so into this idea and why it's actually holding you back from fully embracing your body. My approach differs from so many coaches and healers that help women love their bodies more. And I've actually never even heard of someone with this specific approach, so you're definitely going to want to listen in and I want to know what you think about it. So feel free to reach out to me on Instagram. That's where I hang out the most and you can always email me as well. So there's this idea of body neutrality, which means that our bodies are not good and they're not bad, they're just neutral. It's a type of acceptance versus loving your body or loving the way that your body looks. While I do know and I can recognize that this is a major step for some people, especially someone who is coming from a lifetime of hating or trying to control their body. I've definitely been there. Body neutrality is not ideal and it should not be the end goal. For a few different reasons, and I'm going to share them with you. But before I do that, I want to let you know that if this is where you are, feeling neutral about your body or not loving it. Then I want you to know that it's totally okay. And it's actually great. We need to have a starting point. And if it's not even your starting point, if being neutral about your body is you coming such a long way, that's amazing too. We need to have those steps and those milestones. We're not going to just wake up one morning and simply love ourselves and love our bodies. I think the most important thing to know about body neutrality is that it's a reaction to the pressures that women face. On one hand, diet culture is telling us that we need to be as thin as possible at all costs. And then on the other hand, the body positive movement or the toxic parts of it is telling us that we are not allowed to have negative feelings about our bodies and that we should be, just grateful and positive about our bodies all the time. Neither of these are attainable or healthy or ideal. So then we, as women are put in this position, again, of feeling like we're never going to measure up. That there's always some unattainable goalposts that we won't be able to reach, whether that's a physical or emotional one. Women just feel this pressure to be perfect."Perfect". Because I don't think that's a thing. Body neutrality is a big fuck you to all of that. It's like, leave me alone. Just let me breathe and fucking exist in my body. I don't want these voices anymore in the back of my head, that's telling me I'm not enough, no matter what I do. And I get it. Oh my God, I totally understand this. But the truth is ascribing to body neutrality is not the opposite of diet culture. It's actually affirming diet culture. It's saying, yep, diet culture. You were right all along. There was something wrong with my body. There was something wrong with loving my body and it's just not possible. I'm never going to be able to love it. But instead of hating it, like you're telling me to do, like diet culture is telling us to do, we just pretend that it doesn't matter. And that is a recipe for never having the unwavering body confidence that I know you deeply desire. It's a resignation. It's settling for a relationship with your body, that is just okay. When in actuality. Diet culture is the one that's wrong. The toxic parts of the body positivity movement are wrong. And this is the even deeper truth. You were divinely created and are a part of nature, just like beautiful trees and plants and animals and the gorgeous sunsets. You are uniquely made. You are made in the image of God. And yep, you are beautiful. Your body is art. Divine art made by the creator of the world. And even if you don't believe that, you know that you were not born hating your body. It's not natural. It's not a natural feeling to hate our bodies. We were born feeling curious, excited, happy with our bodies. And then somewhere along the way, diet culture, the media, your parents, that bully at school told you something different and it made you think that there was something wrong or needed to be fixed about your body. It made you feel that, you were unlovable and unworthy as you are. So then, so many of us, including myself, started chasing our worthiness by never being satisfied with our bodies as they are, and attempting to change them, many times at any cost. So it makes sense that so many women don't want to deal with this shit anymore. And that's exactly how body neutrality was born. But I stand for something different. I stand for a world where loving your body isn't so damn hard. Where women believe it's possible to fully embrace their bodies as they are, because it totally is, I am a testament of that, and so are my clients. And what I actually help women do is stop allowing society, whether that's diet culture, the body positivity movement, any movement out there, define how we feel about ourselves. And to do that, we've got to unlearn what we've learned about bodies, about fatness, about beauty. And we need to redefine what it means for us so that we can wake up in the morning and see ourselves with new eyes, see the world with new eyes and see other people with new eyes. The way you feel about your body, it matters. It does. It's important to love the way you look. It's literally the only chance that we've got to change the way the next generation sees their bodies. Think about this, for example. Think about how you'd want your daughter or son to feel about theirs. Do you want them to be like, eh, it's okay. And just never believe that they're beautiful and avoid mirrors and disconnect from their bodies because body neutrality says that it doesn't matter. Or do you want them to look in the mirror like they did when they were babies, smile and laugh and dance and be in touch with their bodies and what they need. Enjoy physical pleasure and be excited to be in pictures and just love their bodies so freaking much that it inspires people around them to be kinder to themselves too. Come on. If we were really honest with ourselves, we know that loving our bodies is what we really want. So do not settle. There is still some time left to apply for my mastermind, The New Sexy, which is a three month intimate experience. And it starts in September. This is going to be the last thing that you'll ever need outside of yourself to feel sexy as fuck for the rest of your life. And it's going to take you from where ever you are right now, to loving what you see when you look in the mirror It's not just about feeling grateful for what your body can do, but actually appreciating and loving the way that you look so that you can light up the world with your confidence and so that you can pass on this positive body image so easily. In this mastermind, it's so cool because when these women come together, this is the fourth round of The New Sexy, we create this new reality where yes, women are loving their bodies in ways that they really never thought possible. From not wanting to be caught dead in a bathing suit to confidently wearing whatever the fuck they want, including bikinis, on the beach. From being shy and not wanting to undress in front of your partner to having the most uninhibited mind blowing sex with the lights on girls. From feeling blah and neutral about your body to having a deep loving relationship with your body that will last a lifetime. I'm leaving the link to my free discovery call in the description of this podcast episode. This is where you're going to gain a ton of clarity about where you are right now and where you're headed. And if The New Sexy is the right step for you. After you sign up, it's going to lead you to an application for The New Sexy, and I really want you to pour your heart out there. Tell me exactly how you're feeling right now, because I want to support you in this. I care so much about all my clients and about you. Yes, you, I see you. I've been where you are and I want to help you have that unwavering body confidence, no matter what. I want you to feel alive and sexy and emboldened to chase after all of your big dreams. So don't hesitate, book the call now. I know, I know, I know. I know there's so many things that you could do before you do something for yourself, but girl, that is exactly what's blocking you from feeling sexy in the first place. So, do it now and I'll talk to you soon. Bye everyone. I hope you have a great day, a great week, and I will see you on the flip side.