Why Body Positivity is for everyone!

Written in associating with Betterhelp 

The past year has been a real game changer for the media and seeing more diversity (although still not enough) in advertisement, magazines, tv etc with people celebrating their bodies and taking to social media to share their story and normalise the notional that their is no such thing as the perfect body and to love the one you have no matter what shape or size and I personally feel it's been a really positive moment and one everyone can join in with.

Saying that a lot of people have the impression that Body Positivity is only about weight and it's not at all, it's really about so much more than that! Nearly everyone goes through some kind of internal battle with themselves or has unfortunately been the subject of mean words. I know this has been the case for myself which is why I am a supporter of the Body Positivity movement. Yet I have had a few messages over the past year when sharing Body positivity related content saying that I don't fully understand what the movement is about or what people are going through and this is simply the case, as I said every person has some kind of battle they are dealing with and no matter how big or small it's all relevant.

Growing up in South Africa, which is fairly tall population and being only 4ft10 meant that I stuck out like a sore thumb along with wearing pretty androgynous clothing as a youth and teen (and still now) meant that I have had at times some means words thrown at me. I've always been pretty good with standing my own ground and trying to not let words affect me badly except but truth be told at times it did on occasion and also meant I had a bit of an obsession with flat forms for a while to make me taller.  The thing is mean words can have a real affect on your mental wellbeing especially when it's over a period of time so celebrating your body for what it is, telling the world we are all different and don't all look like 6ft models with perfect hair and spot free skin because even that is not a reality in itself.

When I was younger I was also left out of certain social events because of my size - while most of my friends around in their teens looked a lot older and would get into over 18 venues easily I however did not I find this hard and yes there were times I wanted to change my body and appearance but now I love being petite and a tomboy because I have worked on myself and have learnt to value my wellbeing, mental space and my body and I feel over this past year I have taken even further steps in my acceptance and love for myself.

With more and more people suffering from low self esteem, mental health issues, depression and anxiety, it's really important to instil a positive way of looking at ourselves and also realise that not everything we read or see online and in social media is not always a true reflection of someones life but rather just the best bits and should be taken with a pinch of salt. We should never be made to feel less than or less worthy and it's really important to work on that and also speak out if you are feeling vulnerable  or bullied in some way. However the damage can often be done earlier in our lifetime and it's about working through that, websites such as Betterhelp has some fantastic advice on things like anxiety, self esteem and feeling better about ourselves.