Things you should never say about someone else's body, according to experts

This week we have been surprised by a sudden rise in temperatures, and of course, we are once again wearing light clothes, we are once again showing ourselves more... and that well-known pressure on our bodies also returns. What should be just a change of season, becomes for many people a difficult time, where physical comparison appears more strongly than ever.

Social networks, although they can sometimes be a ive space, are also full of images of "ideal bodies" that do not reflect real diversity, as Sara Manzaneque, an integral coach expert in grief, attachment and inner child work, tells us. According to a study published in PubMed, social media comparison is directly related to increased body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. And this does not only affect women: more and more men are also suffering from trying to fit into very rigid stereotypes of beauty and musculature.

Although body acceptance is increasingly present in public discourse, it is still a pending task. It hurts us all, because we all, to a greater or lesser extent, try to fit into a mold that we have not chosen, that has been imposed on us by a system that values aesthetics more than well-being, as Sara Manzaneque reminds us

Phrases we should banish

That's why today we want to speak clearly about something that we should all bear in mind:

• "You've lost weight, you look great!" It seems like a compliment, but it reinforces the idea that only when we change our bodies are we valid.
• "You're thin, what are you going to complain about?" The struggle with self-image doesn't understand sizes. Any body can be going through a difficult process.
• "That doesn't suit you". Clothes don't have to flatter us in the eyes of others, but make us feel good about ourselves.
• "You have a summer body". All bodies are summer bodies. You just need warmth and a desire to live.

According to body image expert Lindsay Kite, co-founder of Beauty Redefined, "real liberation comes when you stop seeing yourself as a visual ornament and start experiencing your body from within, valuing what it does for you, not how it looks from the outside."

Four tips to accept your body

1. Recognize what your body does for you. Your legs carry you, your arms hug you, your eyes allow you to see the world. Stop looking from criticism and start looking from gratitude.
2. Take care of your digital environment. If you follow s that make you feel bad about yourself, unfollow them. Surround yourself with diverse, real, unfiltered content.
3. Speak kindly of yourself. Do not say things about yourself that you would not say about someone you love. Practice self-comion.
4. : taking care of yourself is not the same as punishing yourself. You can want a better version of yourself without hating who you already are. Self-care comes from love, not rejection.

Body acceptance is not at odds with the desire to take care of oneself. But we cannot continue to add extra suffering because of a gaze that is not our own, but one that the system has imposed on us.

This summer, concludes Sara Manzaneque, try to live in your body as a living space, not as a showcase. Because all bodies are real. All bodies are valid. And yours is, too.