Sometimes, a woman just needs to hear she is worthy. And that worth is intrinsic, having nothing to do with what she looks like or does for a living or sacrifices for her family. In this world of impossible physical and personal standards that we live in, it often takes inhuman strength to hold onto our collective self respect and treat our bodies right.
At times it feels like a barrage of bullets coming from all sides. Messages of how we should be coming from magazines, movie stars, and men’s mouthes.
Articles with headlines like “Lose That Baby Weight Fast”, “25 Ways to Look Younger Now”, and “How to Get a Bikini Body in 4 Weeks” take up far too much bandwidth.
So this weekend, I invite you to buck the godawful trend and ponder the following:
-Don’t Take Anything Personally: Your life seen through another’s lens will never be clear. Only you have the whole picture. Consequently, their comments can never really hold that much weight because they hold very little truth. Only you can truly know what is best for your own body. Take advice from others with a grain of salt but remember to keep your own vision clear.
-Exercise as the Ultimate Act of Self Respect: Caring for our bodies is a sacred act. Exercising to create bodies that allow us to feel better and experience life more fully will always be more satisfying than exercising to fit a societal ideal.
-Building Confidence is Like Building a Muscle: Years of internal programming can be hard to undo. If you find yourself falling down the rabbit hole of body shame, simply keep pulling yourself out. As with strength training, the more you practice the more efficient you will become.
For more fitness ideas head over to the Joyful Gym Rat page on Facebook!
The most confident bitch I know…and totally shameless….