But sometimes, these magazines have true nuggets of wisdom buried in the articles about how to control your disgusting body, and this month's issue of Fitness magazine had just such a bit. It said that a recent study found that spending time in nature improves your body image. They suggest that without mirrors and other things that can lead to obsessiveness over appearances, you're able to silence your inner critic better.
Having worked at an outdoorsy summer camp for the last month, I can speak to this being true. Further, it helps that when one is in nature, one is rarely wearing work pants that require you to button them up (sometimes quite tightly) and suck in your gut, but is more likely to wear workout clothes that let you move freely without being perpetually aware of how tight your clothes are.
But I think there's another reason that being in nature works so well to heal your body image wounds: it makes you get lost in something bigger than yourself. It's hard to worry about how big your thighs are when you're standing among the redwoods.
It's not always possible to have this kind of escape, though. Living in Philadelphia, there's tons of parks but I don't always have the chance to get to one and wonder around and appreciate the flowers (or I do, but it's night time and I just don't trust Philly parks at night). What to do then? I try to get lost in something. Anything. Something that makes your heart beat faster, whether that's comic books or writing or watching videos of cats online, takes you outside of your petty body concerns and into the better part of yourself. The part that knows that you're bigger than your body.
Much love,
The Sheriff
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