Tracee Ellis Ross shares gratitude for 'the softness of my body'
Tracee Ellis Ross is grateful for her body and all it represents, even if she's gotten a little "soft" during the pandemic.
The Blackish star shared a recent video of herself shot in selfie mode, reflecting on how the pandemic has changed her self-perception and her physical health. "I didn't transform my body and exercise like a crazy woman and turn into a vegan and as a result, my body feels different,” she noted. “I sat more than I’m used to, I didn’t do the same amount of cardio…I wasn’t in the gym.” With quarantine nudging her toward a more stationary lifestyle, Ross turned to food and drink for comfort.
But after recalling a conversation with a mom friend who struggled with post-pregnancy weight, Ross vowed to treat her body with compassion. “She decided to write her body a thank-you note."
“And I realized that the softness that I am experiencing in my body, a little bit of extra weight — all of us have our own version of that — is actually something to say, thank you for.” That softness, she said, is a sign that her body has been “incredibly wise” and protected her from COVID-19. “Or, if I was a body that got COVID, keeping me healthy…and fighting through a virus. That with all the sharpness and harshness and violence and fear that has been around, that perhaps the softness of my body is a blessing. That it has been able to nurture me in a way that my mind could not.”
According to the Pattern Beauty founder, her male and female friends also experienced low body confidence. "I really encourage and invite all of us to receive the wisdom of our bodies right now," she said, "and allow the softness, the weight, the whatever that looks like, and be grateful."
Ross added, "This is a time for us to offer compassion everywhere — to our bodies and to each other."
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