Body Beautiful - Promoting Positive Body Awareness

in Natural Medicine4 years ago (edited)

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Ah the media, how they play such a huge part, in promoting what a woman should look like. Focusing on one body type, that they deem as perfect. Putting so much pressure on women to look a certain way in order to be perceived as beautiful. You don’t need me to tell you how damaging this is!

The media and entertainment industry, have always had a hand in determining what body shape is deemed attractive. Down through the ages woman put a lot of time and effort into how they present themselves. The pressure has worsened as time has gone by, with some women going to extreme measures in order to be perceived as beautiful.

What has been horrible to witness, is how some women treat their sisters in such disrespectful ways. Women hating on one another, if they look a certain way or if they don’t look a certain way, putting down women who don’t make an effort. There is constant pressure from all directions for women to meet certain standards and yes, we can start to blame the media and point fingers.

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The media certainly places certain women on pedestals, but what’s more important is what we are telling ourselves. We can’t prevent or stop the media, that is something that is out of our hands, but we can control when we tell ourselves and what we tell our children. We control what we tell our friends and how we choose to talk about our bodies, around other people. We get to choose the language that we use.

These are all the things that we can check-in on. These are things that we can pull other people up on, like our friends and the people in our community. It’s all well and good to be pointing fingers at people in the media, at certain public figures that have been cast in those roles, those who have been placed on pedestals and say how they’re such bad influence and that they should know better!

How quick we are to pass judgement on these people and how quick we are to forget that they’re just victims of the same system.

We have so many woman who are altering their appearance, undergoing surgery to completely change the natural shape of the body. Because they believe they have to look a certain way, in order to be accepted into certain social circles or an order for them to be appreciated and loved, in order for them to be successful.

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It’s okay to be vocal and to say that this is not appropriate and that this is damaging, but what’s more important is the stories that we tell ourselves, that we tell our children, that we are telling one another!

We need to focus more on up lifting one another, not pushing one another down and certainly not creating competition between ourselves.

We need to start promoting positive body awareness, encouraging girls and women to embrace whatever shape they are. To turn this around so that the focus is on living healthy. Lets start looking at what people are putting into their bodies, let’s look at what people are consuming on a daily basis. let’s start to look at how this affects us physically, mentally and spiritually.

Now is the time to come together as women and men and stop body shaming, stop putting so much focus on our appearance and instead talk about the importance of having a healthy body and mind. We can't stop the media from doing what they do, but we can change how we respond and how we act!

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It starts with embracing the bodies that we have. At focusing on the many amazing things that they can do. We need to talk to our children, our friends children about how amazing bodies really are and what they are physically capable of when we look after them. What we can achieve when we are healthy, when we are happy, let that become our main focus.

Let these become the stories, that we tell ourselves. Let’s express our gratitude towards our bodies and take the focus away from how we physically appear. let’s build up happy, strong and empowered people!

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I particularly like the idea of focusing on what we're putting into our bodies. I've gone through so many different phases of my natural body type being either in or out in the community I was in. But trying to respond to that never worked for me. Yet when I was probably best matched to my situation, with a body type that happened to be embraced in the circles I was living in, I was super unhealthy! I lived on nothing but burgers, pizza, cake, ice cream, cookies, sugary cereal, etc. I was low energy, depressed and anxious, but everyone thought I looked great.

Now I'm about the same size, but very focused on a healthy keto diet that's all organic. I would rather see someone eating healthy than any other choice a person could make. It really is the building block of all wellness.

 4 years ago  

yes indeed we are what we eat, but first we have to heal ourselves so that we stop neglecting ourselves. It is all about self love xx

Great point about the circles we're in having vastly different ideas.

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This may sound odd to many, but I get shamed CONSTANTLY because I'm fit & in great shape, I'm slim, and I still have small perky (natural!) boobs at 56. Just wait till menopause they laugh, with sadistic delight. Been & gone and I feel better than ever I reply. You should have nursed your baby and then you'd know how we feel with your boobs to your knees!. I did nurse my daughter for 2 years and 3 months I reply. And their jaws drop. Cos it makes them uncomfortable. I have a friend - a yogi who's super trim, slim and fit at 62 and runs 10km a day. I've heard people say, behind her back, "it's not natural!".

I do wish the body positive images weren't all about fat women tho.

Great issue that you raise. If we all saw the spirit and the inner-Beingness FIRST, then this shaming simply wouldn't be possible.

 4 years ago  

Oh gosh, I can't say I've experienced that! Sounds like people lashing out over their own insecurities. Being small breasted certainly helps us avoid the sagging over time. I feel very lucky in that respect.

I'm pretty happy with being small breasted too! But it should all be about HEALTH and FITNESS and not about LOOK and SHAPE. Being "body positive" obese and headed for a heart attack is in no one's interests. So very often the body positive movement leans towards an endorsement of poor health and poor lifestyle choices.

I wish we'd all stop looking at not just the way PEOPLE look, but things and animals - and relate-react to their function, their gift, their contribution to the world.

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 4 years ago  

yes body shaming goes both ways, I have a friend who has always struggled to put on weight and she has really suffered through the years. I wrote a follow on to this as I really feel like this post opened up a can of worms and started a really important conversation. Thank you for your wonderful input and for shedding some light on the different types of body shaming xx

Hi @trucklife-family, your post has been manually chosen by Hive Supporter and upvoted with 86%.

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 4 years ago  

thank you for the support x

What a beautiful, positive post!

 4 years ago  

Thanks so much @metzli xxxx

I think everyone should watch their weight and health and promoting obesity is not the answer . Refined Sugar has killed our sanity .

 4 years ago  

I agree completely we need to eat better, but sometimes there is a lot of healing to be done before some people can get to that stage, as all they know is neglect xxxx

How wonderful that there are people who like you can give us such interesting topics. Loving yourself first is one of the best ways to receive love. No one can give what he does not have. To be a being of love and receive it, love has to start with oneself.
I loved your post.

 4 years ago  

thanks so much @benavides54 for taking the time to read it and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it and got my message, it really has to start with self love and then self care flows out from that xx

 4 years ago  

We could do with moving away from judgement on our body's appearance and instead just love ourselves enough to care about what we're putting into it and how we're treating it. I was talking with my eldest the other day and a positive new trend with regards beauty is focusing on good skin and hair, which can only ultimately be achieved with good nourishment.

 4 years ago  

I agree completely, self love is key, I wrote another post to talk more about this and I love that new trend xx

I really liked your position. we must love our body as it is and take care of it

 4 years ago  

exactly thanks Nick xxx

 4 years ago  

I don't support beauty contests or sites that sell models who spend their lives eating lettuce... but I also don't support the idea that a fat body is healthy!

They are simply both extreme and wrong!

We should concentrate on eating healthy, doing exercises or activities that keep our bodies moving, and if a person is fat we should not applaud them with the new slogan "love your body as it is".

An overweight body is not a flag of pride that we should carry, it is better to help our brothers and sisters by recommending healthier recipes, accompanying them to do yoga or any activity that helps them to stay active. (That is, without being critical or judgmental) just by understanding that there is a problem that we are all part of, being skinny is not synonymous with health either.

 4 years ago  

I agree, it is all about promoting health, but so many suffer with poor body image because of neglect and abuse, so the first step should always be self love and acceptance and from that self care will evolve. I wanted that to be my message and wrote a follow on post to dive into it deeper. Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment xxxx

It never stops, I guess. As a kid I got bullied because my weight and I grew up to have bad relationship with food. I've been in so many body shapes and even when I reach my healthy weight, it wasn't enough. Now, I am just focusing on eating healthy and taking care of my body. For me personally , being obese feels bad and I won't ever be in that situation ever again.

Thanks for sharing this beautiful post. I love the image that says: "Hello body. You look lovely today, and i promise to treat you with love." I think it's so important the way in we see and comunicate with our bodies.

Hugs. ♥