Take your power back!

Tonight I went to a presentation put on by Beauty Redefined  It was SO good! If you haven't checked them out you should cause they are awesome and I love what they do! They talked a lot about Media's unrealistic expectations not just on women but on men too. It made me sooooo angry at the media and all of the FAKE, UNREALISTIC, NOT REAL images they bombard us with everyday. Beauty is so one dimensional in the media and Beauty Redefined is all about embracing your beauty and redefining it for yourself instead of trying to look like something the media says you SHOULD look like. One of the therapists at Center for Change has a pair of underwear framed in her office (clean I hope :) That says "Don't SHOULD on yourself" ha ha I thought that was pretty clever.

They also talked a lot about women being objectified and how women treat themselves and let others treat them like they are an OBJECT to be looked at. They said TAKE BACK YOUR POWER! Focus on how your body moves and what it allows you to do instead of how it looks. We are more than a clothes hanger dangit! GRRRR the media makes me so mad. But thats the great part about Beauty Redefined. They get you all mad about how destructive the media is and then they teach you how to REJECT HARMFUL MEDIA IN YOUR OWN LIFE. Here are some of their suggestions:

1: Ditch the magazines! They are fake. Remember NO image of a woman in media is real. Don't look to magazines for standards of health. They aren't concerned about your health, they are just trying to sell you their products. The beauty and diet industry is afterall an 86 billion $ a year industry.

2: Limit your media. Maybe go on a media fast once in a while. Notice how different you feel about yourself and pay attention to what you tune into when you tune out of media.

3. TURN OFF THE NEGATIVE SCRIPT IN YOUR HEAD. You are in control of your thoughts. Work on not thinking badly about yourself or your body. Think of some positive affirmations you can use to combat negative thoughts when they come your way. Memorize quotes, songs...anything that helps change the script in your head.

4. Don't hold yourself or others to unrealistic standards. Focus on the good in others and it will help you focus on the good in yourself

5. Instead of complimenting others on their appearance, compliment them on their character and attributes. Example: instead of saying "you look amazing" say "you are amazing"

6. Don't hold back from doing something you love because you are self concious about how you look.

7. If you respect your body your more likely to take care of it and make better choices to be active and eat nutritious food. If you don't respect your body or feel it is disgusting (like 6 out of 10 women) you are less likely to get off the couch and get moving. So START with respecting your body.

8. Its true that you are your own worst critic. When women are shown pictures of various body sizes most women overestimate the size of their own bodies.

So Join the fight! We need more examples of REAL women. Do it for the coming generations of young girls who have to live in this appearance obsessed world! They need us to be REAL! Take your power back! You can do it through your daily actions, words and especially example.