Love yourself: Tracee Ellis Ross is choosing 'gratitude and compassion' for her body over judgment

Your body may look a little different after spending more time indoors than before - and that's okay. If you're in need of a pep talk, Tracee Ellis Ross is here to remind you that all bodies are beautiful.

The past year has been a stressful one, which is why the Black-ish actress felt compelled to turn the camera on and encourage us to "[choose] gratitude and compassion for the body over judgment." Going to the gym and maintaining a healthy diet has been a struggle for many people since the start of the pandemic, but Tracee reminded us that weight gain is perfectly normal.

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The actress even admits that she wasn't actively working out, which led her body to change, and she's completely okay with that.

"I didn't transform my body and exercise like a crazy woman . . . and, as a result, my body feels different," she said. "I sat more than I'm used to; I didn't do the same amount of cardio that I like; I wasn't in the gym because of the circumstances that we are all living in."

It was actually food that helped her cope with everything going on. She described it as "my comfort, my solace, my spontaneity, or my joy, or my treat."

Change can be hard to adjust to, especially when it has to do with our physical appearance, but Tracee used her weight change as an opportunity to thank her body for its "wisdom" and protection and asked her followers to also accept their "softness."

"My body has been incredibly wise," the actress said. "With all the sharpness and harshness and violence and fear that has been around, perhaps the softness of my body is a blessing. It has been able to nurture me in a way that my mind could not ... I really encourage and invite all of us to receive the wisdom of our bodies right now and allow the softness, the weight, the whatever - and be grateful. I made it through this year! In some ways, I've gotten deeper. In some ways, I've gotten bigger. In some ways, I am forever changed. But I don't think my physical body is the most important thing to come out of this very difficult time . . . This is a time to offer compassion everywhere, to our bodies, to each other."