Do I have to love my body?

Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% FOR loving your body, it's definitely much better than loathing it. However, be careful that loving your body doesn’t turn into another thing from the perfectionist "to-do" list. ⁣

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In therapy, we often come to the topic of what it means to love your body. Almost with a hint of apology, the client would tell me: "but I really can't love my belly fat." The fact that "it says you should" love our body and you don’t manage to, thus becomes another reason for self-criticism. ⁣

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On the other hand, when we work on accepting the body as it is at the moment, we give ourselves a permission to live and be with what is, and then, if we want, to change. Change then comes from a place where desire, will, strength and joy live, instead of need, compulsion, criticism and punishment.