Body Image in the Summertime: A Gentle Reframe
For many, summer is a time of sunlight, vacations, and carefree moments. But for others, it also comes with a familiar, uncomfortable pressure: to change, fix, or shrink their body.
From “bikini body” ads to social media highlight reels, summer can stir up a deep sense of not-enoughness. If you’ve felt self-conscious, anxious, or hyper-aware of your body during this season, you're not alone — and you’re not broken.
As a therapist, I want to offer a few gentle reframes that may help you approach your body (and this season) with a little more compassion.
Your body doesn’t need to earn summer. You don’t need to look a certain way to go to the beach, wear shorts, or enjoy a popsicle in the sun. There’s no checklist your body has to meet before it’s allowed fresh air or fun.
Discomfort doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. It’s okay if body image thoughts show up. They don’t mean you’re vain or shallow — they usually mean you’ve been exposed to unrealistic ideals for a very long time. Notice those thoughts with curiosity, not shame. What might happen if you let the feeling be there… and still chose to participate in your life?
You’re allowed to take up space — physically and emotionally. Summer often comes with social situations: pool parties, vacations, group photos. If you find yourself wanting to shrink or hide, ask gently: What am I afraid might happen if I took up space here? Then offer yourself the opposite — permission to be seen, to exist, to belong.
Focus on how it feels, not how it looks. What would it feel like to swim without worrying how you look getting out of the water? To laugh in the sun without adjusting your clothes every few minutes? To dress for comfort rather than self critique?
You don’t have to love every inch of your body to treat it with kindness.
If summer feels hard, know that you’re not alone. Body image work is deep, layered, and deserving of time. Therapy can be a space where you begin to create a new relationship with your body, and the thoughts around it.
Take what you need this summer. Leave behind what doesn’t serve you. And know that your body is never the problem — the culture that taught you otherwise is.
