Body Positivity | Journey from Body Image Conscious to Healthy Body

Hello Pom-Poms!

If you have ever looked in a mirror and thought of that belly fat which is hard to get off... raise your hand, if you have a face full of acne because your hormones can't find their peace...raise your hand, if you are the one who judges your body...raise your hand. Oh! Yes, I have raised my hand in each and every part so why the hell am I taking the topic of body positivity up for discussion?

Because Girls and Boys, with time I have embraced every flaw and made them my own. I can't say, I have turned a saint who doesn't think of bodily abnormalities and flaws...I am hella crazy for staying fit and disease free. I indulge into pampering sessions myself every now and then but do I think about that scar below my left eyebrow...NAAH! Do I make buns of my belly fat (Yes! I have belly ) in front of mirror...NAAH...not anymore.

What does Body Positivity mean:

Not to be cautious about everything happening(outwardly) with your body, to have a more liberal approach towards treating your body of its issues or rather not thinking of flaws as issues altogether. It is to have a little firm outlook towards your body and to focus on improving an overall health rather than giving your mind and body the torture of thoughts and wrecking it via shortcuts or extensive plans. Body Positivity Movement(term) is a recent one but the concept have been promoted through  ages in terms of various practices like Yoga, Meditation, treating your body like a temple and various other practices mentioned in the Vedas (I am from India and Vedas are important part of my culture so referring them is quite apt).

Need of Body Positivity:

With evolution, many things have evolved...position of man and woman in society, beauty objectification, beauty mark-ups throughout the ages, concept of beauty from various scriptures, ideal body types and lord-O-lord does the list end here...No but do we have control over the colour of our skin, over the changes in inward bodily functions, over the cellulite and melanin, those freckles, can we help that even how hard we try not to eat our taste bud ain't our best friend or even if we have chips a day, we bloat.

Answer to all of it is NO.

What you CAN do is to moderately balance our thoughts towards living a healthy life, nurturing the body you already have and turning it into our own perfect version not because somebody else set that parameter but because you wanted it so. Its high time you say NO to all the bad practices you have been doing with your body and start working towards it positively.

My Experience:

You are not alone in this, I have been through the same path at one point in my life. If you have seen my other posts then you may already know that I am not with bulges, I am a small petite kind but growing up I saw flaw with every part of mine. It was like nothing about my body was making me happy just to name few issues throughout childhood>I was called skinny (by none other than my own relatives), my face wasn't the perfect kind, girl with okay complexion, one with wide giant nose and this all made me think the same way about myself...nothing changed when I was a grown up, I kept finding faults with myself like my face is full of acne, I sweat like a pig, this huge belly in regards with my otherwise small posture, my effed up hair ad god knows what not. This was a continuous thought process as I saw myself everyday, I lived with myself everyday.

Guess what with time the pimples went away, the belly is here to stay, I can't grow any longer, whom is my nose bothering, I love my complexion and I rock every look I put on. So who so ever judges me...Judge all you want but I am done judging myself. I am at much peaceful place now(mind wise) because I accepted my body so every time I pass by that mirror, I don't cringe...I feel POWERFUL.

Change Starts from Within

No one but you is your biggest critique, its you who decides what healthy for you....the long session of thinking about that scar on your thigh or some real awesome time doing something productive. The one you enjoy the most is your answer. No one but you can make yourself feel happy and awesome about the dusky beauty that you are or you can get busy with those layer of fairness cream.

Pom Poms, world is already not making it easy for us with their judgements and remarks, why exactly you have to go through all that within yourself...shut those voices down in your head or on their faces. Be the best version of yourself and prove every prejudice wrong. For this you don't have to fight the battle but to do the exact opposite, find your peace within. Embrace your body with all the love and affection make your mind feel positive.

Moderation is the key:

Body Positivity doesn't mean that you cut yourself off of everything but it is to have everything in a healthier form and in moderation. Don't be mis-guided with the motto here it helps you to stay healthy and tells you to leave all that malice practice like skipping meals for diet, loosing your hair for continuous hair texture treatments, calling yourself not beautiful, falling in the hands of scammers who claim to make your skin tone brighter. Try everything, indulge in every detail but with flexibility of skipping the things which are harmful and not beneficial for your body.

Healthy mind with healthy body:

Body shamming over the period has trained your mind to think and take all harmful decisions for your body, its high time to cut that cord of thoughts and now treat it as a happy soul. Healthy mind always promotes body positivity, you can take help of meditation, yoga and various soothing exercise or creativity forms to relax your mind. Here I mentioned many ways for a healthy mind as its always not necessary to meditate, you can choose your own happy zone which helps you have positive vibes...it can be a dance form, some art, some decoration, reading something, indulging in exercise...You find your own thing.

Shut down the Voices around:

I know its real easy to preach but I have experienced it and telling you from my own experiences, the more you shut down the negativity around you the more you will be happy with yourself. Let nobody else tell you that you are fat, let no one else tell you that you have a face that doesn't suit you...let nobody effect you in a way that it makes you think less of yourself. It will take some time, motivation and boost but ladies/gentleman let me a reminder of this beautiful thought that,

"When nobody is around, you live in your body and there is no happy place than it."

Let no one make and I mean it no one make you feel otherwise.

Surroundings Matter:

Where at one point its necessary to shut down those negative voices, its really helpful for yourself to be with happy people, the ones who see you as who you are and not for how you look. It doesn't mean that surround yourself with the ones who talk sugar but be the ones who promote healthy environment so that it helps you improve yourself.

Be a perfect version of Yourself:

 No matter how imperfect you are, be the best of you. 

 I am not saying work hard to be the perfect one but be the perfect version of your body and soul, be in a positive place where you feel content of yourself in terms of your body image than it will be hard for others to bring you down. Remember, those ten who point finger at you go back home and look closely at their flaws too...they are not the happy souls themselves.

Promote Body Positivity:

Working on yourself is not sufficient, be the promoter of body positivity from inside and out. I have seen people who talk about body positivity but that all it is...a talk as they are the ones who judge when girl with facial hair passes by them, they comment on someone's dressing sense but the ones who judge can never be a promoter of anything positive, free your mind from irrelevant judgements. Promote body positivity so that more people get encouragement to feel confident in their skin, so that they don't go through the same feeling as you...so that they ain't depressed.

Makeup and Exercise-Your version of it:

Workout because you love your body and not because you hate it  

                                                                                                  - Katie Goulet

Just like that apply makeup if that's what you want  and not because you have to hide some scar because of what people might think of it.

Make exercise and makeup your booster, not a mandatory compulsion and you will achieve a much positive body image.

DON'T DEFINE BEAUTY IN LIMITED TERMS

Every one has different parameter of beauty judgement, open your mind...take a more vast approach towards body positivity and don't judge at all. I know that's humanly impossible but we have so much to judge already like our career plan, which place is good, which option is suitable...WHY JUDGE ANOTHER HUMAN BEING for anything. Be more liberal with your thoughts towards yourself and others too.

Share some WISDOM and Comment below if you have gone through body shamming and your approach towards body positivity.

Much more power to you lovely souls, stay POSITIVE and choose HEALTH.

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