LEARNING TO BE KIND!

LEARNING TO BE KIND. 

I recently did a talk on self care versus self punishment. This is an area that speaks to me greatly having spent years acting and punishing myself and my body. I was incredibly insecure and kept thinking that my only self worth as an actor was based on how I looked, fuelled by an industry that has always placed unrealistic demands on actors, particularly young and impressionable women. 

Now as a PT I feel I have a responsibility to help others become comfortable in their own skin and own mind. How do we do this? I am still learning and I am not perfect but when I look at the body dissatisfaction stats it saddens me that so many of us are consumed by our appearance.

Everyone is striving for a perfection that just doesn’t exist and so if I can work with someone to make them feel a little bit more comfortable and happy within themselves then I feel like I have achieved something.

Body dissatisfaction stats from Mental Health UK (see link below): 

1 in 5 adults felt shame over their body

1/3 felt low or down about their body

19% felt disgusted because of their body

37% of teenagers felt upset because of the way they look

31% felt ashamed in relation to their body 

Over a third of adults felt anxious or depressed because of their body image

1 in 8 had suicidal thoughts because of their body image

1 in 5 adults say images used in advertising had caused them to worry about their body image

This absolutely needs to change, I have two young daughters and the thought of them one day questioning their own self worth because they may or may not fit into this ideology of perfection is just not OK! 

We need to reevaluate what is important to us, the way I have learned to stay focused and look inwardly is by shutting out the noise of social media when I need to, being mindful of who I follow and what I see, the age old saying is true, comparison is the thief of joy and we need to start living more with ourselves in the present instead of trying to recreate someone else’s highlight reel.

Link: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/body-image-report/exec-summary