Body Positivity
Do you ever scroll through social media and feel you are constantly bombarded with images of people claiming to have the "perfect body" or have the "dream look" and think that you will never look like that? Or find yourself constantly comparing how you look to others?
This is something that I constantly find myself thinking about and a topic that comes up in conversation time and time again. We live in a society where we are surrounded with images off the "ideal body" or the "perfect physique", but who defines what the perfect body is? As a fitness instructor, body positivity is something that I feel very strongly about and feel that this constant barrage of images causing us to have negative views of our own body is wrong. It is also something that I have struggled with myself, and in all honesty still do struggle with from time to time.
Many of us have this idea in our heads of how we wish our body to look like and make it a goal to achieve this specific image of ourselves, and in reality the only thing stopping us from achieving this goal is ourselves. When we think about the term "body positivity" and how we dream of looking, the only person we need to please is ourselves. At the end of the day, if we are happy with the way we look then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Instead of making drastic changes to create this ideal image of yourself, create small and easily achievable changes to enhance your already amazing self. These small changes start from simply changing the way your mind works. As my PT said it's all about the "power of perspective". If we view ourselves as good looking and we are happy with how we look, then the rest will be easy.
The human body is such an amazing thing and capable of so much, so instead of hating your body and not taking care of it, love the body you have been given and treat it well. At the end of the day, we didn't get a choice in the body we where given, but we do get a choice in how we treat it. Be the change you wish to see in yourself. Make yourself happy and embrace what you’ve already got. Create your own perfect form and redefine what people claim is “normal”.
By redefining "normal" and embracing the body we have, not only will we begin to feel better about ourselves, but it will also have an impact on how we view the world and also how others view us. To feel good on the outside we have to start by feeling good on the inside, and that is the part that is sometimes forgotten about when we are looking at the body. Taking care of our mind will help immensly when it comes to taking care of our body and creating the image we have always wanted.
Emma Watson once said that "Feeling beautiful has nothing to do with what you look like.", and I couldn't have put this better myself. Feeling beautiful and good looking has nothing to do with the way we physically look, it's about how we portray ourselves and how we feel on the inside. So remember, if someone walks past you in the street and shouts to you "hey ugly, you will get no where", which has happened to me many times in the past, ignore them. Feel proud of who you are and feel proud of the body you are in. Words are one of the most powerful things we have, and can do more damange than anything physical, but they can also do such amazing positive things to ourself. Always remember that ...
"Your words have so much power. Every day, if you tell yourself, ‘I love you,’ if you give yourself one word of validation, it will change your mind."
Before you leave the house everyday, stand infront of the mirror and say to yourself "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE AMAZING".