4 Body Image Mantras for the Female Athlete
My body image has improved so much in my 30’s, and those mental shifts actually have nothing to do with my weight or my appearance. Something I’ve realized this year is that positive body image isn’t believing your body looks good, but rather, it’s knowing your body is good, regardless of how it appears. This is something I internalized from the book More Than A Body: Your Body Is An Instrument, Not An Ornament by Lexie & Lindsey Kite.
As a young girl, a collegiate softball player, and woman navigating life post-sport in her 20’s, I didn’t like my body. In fact, I felt quite a lot of shame toward it. I’m tall, I have curves, I have large breasts, and I don’t always fit everyone’s definition of what an athlete, specifically a softball player, would or “should” look like. But I’ve slowly challenged my own negative thoughts toward my body, discovered the roots of them, and I’ve realized that feeling shame and guilt for existing in this world isn’t the life I want for myself. It isn’t the life I want for you either. If you’re with me, remember these 4 mantras on those days when it’s hard not to be critical of the one body you have.
Your body is allowed to and meant to change throughout your entire life.
Your relationship with your body starts before you’re even born. Just like you as a human are meant to and allowed to grow and evolve, so is your body! My body is different than it was when I was competing at Texas A&M. It might be less muscular, but it’s still durable and resilient! And it allows me to ski, bike, and play outside in the mountains! It has changed. And that’s more than okay.
Your body is meant for living, not looking.
You are more than an object to be admired in this world. Your body is your home, and it allows you to live every single day. The things is does automatically to keep you alive… those things are absolutely worth celebrating.
Athletes come in all shapes & sizes!
Body diversity is one of the coolest, yet underrated parts of being an athlete. My body is different than others, and that is totally cool with me! What was neat about playing softball as a young girl and in college is that sport is very body diverse! I was a catcher and a utility player, and I love that my body was and still is strong and fast so I can play multiple positions like center field (in the local women’s recreational league).
You don’t have to love every single part of your body, but it is important to learn to accept your body, its parts, and the function of those parts.
As someone who struggled with body image starting in middle school, I find it unrealistic to say that body positivity is the answer to better body image. Instead, what has worked for me is body neutrality and body acceptance. I don’t have to love having large breasts as an athlete, but I can accept the function of what breasts are made for and work on speaking in a kinder way about that body part. 2 things that have helped me respect and accept my body are 1) responding to its basic needs (food, water, sleep, social connection), and 2) wearing clothes that fit my here-and-now body.
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