“If you don’t take care of your body, where will you live?” ―Kobi Yamada1
Your body is your home wherever you go. You literally can’t live without it. And since you’re stuck with it for the duration, you’d be wise to figure out how to feel at home in your body.
This is difficult for many people. We don’t like how we look. We’re too fat or too thin, too tall or too short. We have chronic pain or persistent indigestion. We’re not pretty enough. We’re not strong enough. And, of course, advertisers love to fuel our insecurities and highlight our discomforts so that we might buy their “solutions.”
But feeling at home in your body isn’t going to come from achieving some unrealistic ideal appearance or figuring out how to never be in pain. It’s going to come from caring for your body the way you care for your home.
Make Your Home More Comfortable
Think of the satisfaction you feel after cleaning your home: looking around with pride at a tidy space, freshly vacuumed floors, and gunk-free countertops, and knowing that you made that happen. You not only feel proud of yourself, but you also feel more at home in your home. You worked hard to build a comfortable nest for yourself. You made it a nice space to live in.
Now imagine the similar sort of satisfaction you’ll feel – only stronger – as you take good care of your body: eating well, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and knowing that you made those good choices. You’ll not only feel proud of your efforts, but you’ll also feel more at home in your body. You’ll have made your body a more comfortable place to live.
A Home, Not a Mansion
Now, some people take care of their place in order to keep up appearances. They buy a big, fancy house. They remodel it to look more modern. They maintain strict cleanliness as though it were an art gallery rather than a place to live. I doubt these folks feel very at home in their own house.
A healthier model is the functional home. It’s big enough for your needs. The furniture serves a purpose. It has been organized and remodeled around living not appearances. It’s clean enough to be comfortable and tidy enough for productivity. The decorations are meaningful to the people who live there, but never more important than the people themselves.
Likewise, feeling at home in your body isn’t about being sexy. I’m not talking about looking good, though that might be a natural side effect of physical self-care. If you’re thin, it’s because you’ve been consistently exercising and eating well. If you have muscles, it’s because you’ve prioritized functional strength.
Perfect Isn’t
Think about how you feel when you go to someone’s house and it’s like a museum. Pristine. Perfect. Unlived in.
Do you feel comfortable? Of course not.
The same would be true if you tried to keep your body perfect, with no allowances for blemishes, random hairs, love handles, and the like.
Even if you could maintain something approaching perfection, you would never feel comfortable. You would never be able to relax. You’d always be looking in the mirror and seeing the tiny ways you were falling short.
So if you want to feel at home in your body, don’t aim for perfection. Eat well most of the time, exercise regularly, and prioritize good sleep. You won’t get these things right all the time, and that’s fine. Every step toward better health counts.
Built to Last
A good home is made with careful, deliberate construction. You can’t rush a remodel and expect the results to last. Duct tape is rarely a legitimate substitute for a true repair.
And just as you want your house to be able to withstand storms and earthquakes, you want your body to be able to weather illness and injury.
Trying to lose 30 pounds in 30 days or get a six-pack in time for your next vacation is an unsustainable approach. Think long-term and commit to taking care of yourself for the rest of your life. Focus on building habits and patiently let the results take care of themselves.
Fix the broken things in your home and make it a better place to live. See the doctor about that nagging issue. Do your physical therapy homework.
Remember, the aim is not appearances but genuine health: functional strength, longevity, and a better quality of life.
Self-Acceptance
Feeling at home in your body is ultimately about accepting who you are right now. This might seem contrary to my message of self-improvement, but it isn’t.
It’s much easier to accept your imperfect self when you know you’re working to become better. A guy in his early 30s without a serious career won’t feel self-conscious around his more successful friends if he’s currently going back to school. A woman who is overweight will have better self-esteem if she’s actively going to the gym three times a week.
Recall that self-love is cultivated through self-care. Taking good care of your body sends a message to your brain that you love your body and, by extension, that you love yourself. Then, in turn, you will naturally take better care of yourself because you love yourself.
Few things will make you feel more pride, more satisfaction, than taking good care of your body. It’s the one home you’ve got for the one life you get to live.
1 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7973239-be-good-to-yourself-if-you-don-t-take-care-of