Last week I was a guest speaker at a womens 'Empowerment Conference' organised by the lovely Ali Moore.
I feel really strongly about the messages I was sharing on the day - that shape, size and age is not (and shouldn't ever be) a barrier to looking and feeling good about yourself. I also believe that body confidence and self-esteem starts (or is eroded) at a young age and I'm keen to dispel the myths of the 'beauty ideal'.
I work with women from all walks of life and with their own personal reasons for losing self-confidence, and although I only play a very small part in helping them start to regain that confidence, feel very privileged to be trusted to do that.
Figures taken from a *recent survey highlight that 9 out of 10 women globally miss out of key life events like friend's weddings, social occasions and work situations because they don't feel good about themselves and the way they look.
64% of women in South Africa say they had high body esteem – whereas only 20% of women in the UK agreed! With those kind of results you can understand why clients say to me they are ‘struggling with lack of confidence’.
It's time we made a move to embracing what we do like about our bodies and focused on the amazing things our bodies enable us to do.
So with that in mind I have three top tips to start the ball rolling on growing your own body confidence and learning to love it all - lumps, bumps and stretchmarks alike!
1. Be kind to yourself
Constantly saying to yourself how much you 'hate' your arms, legs, stomach, helps no one. It merely enables you to feel lousy about yourself and means you are more likely to start comparing your body to your friend's, or a celebrity, or your sister..
Change that internal voice in your head and start thinking about areas of your body you do actually like. Your hair, your eyes, your hands - it doesn't matter what it is, but it's the first step to finding something positive about yourself.
Love your lips? Find a great lipstick that highlights them even more. Love your neck? Wear an amazing necklace that draws the eye to it.
Once you've realised how gorgeous those areas are, move on to your next favourite area and realise how great that is too - your ankles, your nose, your arms. Again, it doesn't matter what it is, but it's the process of finding some of your favourite parts and starting to rave about them to yourself that's important.
That positive thinking will genuinely spread to other parts of your body to help give a boost to your self-esteem.
2. Wear clothes for the shape you are, not the shape you think you should be (or want to be)
This is again about re-framing how you see your body. Many women are insistent they will not try on that pair of trousers because they don't like what size the label in them says.
But what if they fit beautifully? What if they're the perfect length and fit and actually you look completely amazing in them?
Stop worrying about labels and 'size' and wear clothes that fit perfectly and suit you. That in itself will help you feel fantastic and help you realise how gorgeous you are.
3. You're more than a body
What are you good at? What brings you joy? Are you funny, strong, caring, independent, loving?
Are you learning a new skill or teaching your child a new skill of their own? Do you dance around the house, run, love to read or travel?
Whatever it is you love that makes the most of your personality and your skills this is a sure-fire way to give yourself a self-esteem boost.
As always feel free to comment below - I'd love to hear from you with your own tips for body confidence, or if you're struggling yourself and whether you feel you can start to try some of the tips here.