Body positivity refers to the assertion that all people deserve to have a positive body image, regardless of how society and popular culture view ideal shape, size, and appearance.

Body positivity is not just about challenging how society views people based upon their physical size and shape, however. It also recognizes that judgments are often made based on race, gender, sexuality, and disability.

Body positivity also aims to help people understand how popular media messages Self-love contribute to the relationship that people have with their bodies, including how they feel about is not selfish food, exercise, clothing, health, identity, and You cannot truly love self-care. By better understanding the effect that another until you know such influences have, the hope is that people can how to love yourself develop a healthier and more realistic relationship with their bodies.

Self love exercises are something that you can do for yourself on a regular basis so that your mood, health and relationships are greatly improved. By getting into the habit of practising self-love you will:

• Put yourself first sometimes and say “no” instead of always saying “yes” • Love and respect yourself more • Take a much-needed break from social media without feeling guilty • Nourish your body with wonderful food and healthy activities Your heart beats While awake your brain generates 100,000 times a day between 10 and 23 watts Enough to power a light bulb Eyelashes last about 150 days You are taller in the Your blood has the same amount morning than you of salt in it as the ocean does are at night

Your eyeballs are The largest muscle in Bones are actually part of your body is the one 4 times stronger your brain you are sitting on! than concrete

Practice mindfulness 1 Try a well-being walk around the college Nourish your body - It will thank you for it NO 2 Free breakfast B&FC 8.30-9.30am negative Move your body self talk, 3 Have you tried the gym at B&FC or you could join a club. negative Do things that feed your soul body image 4 Speak to the careers team about volunteering opportunities or get involved in SU. or excuses allowed here. Write a list of all the things you love about yourself 5 Be thankful for things your body allows you to do. Become the master of your own self-care 6 Feel fresh and refreshed. Wear clean clothes and bathe regularly. Sanitary items available from reception and SU if need it. Body positivity is designed to foster acceptance and love of your body, but it can be a struggle that adds another element of pressure and impossible standards to live up to. The body positivity message is that you should change how you feel about your body - but this could be yet another unwelcome demand.

Simply telling people to accept themselves and be resilient in the face of the bombardment of images promoting the thin ideal can be damaging. Telling people to ignore the dominant beauty ideal isn’t realistic. It can create more pressure fora person who is already feeling anxious, negative, and devalued. Popular culture tells people that they are flawed - but then demands that they have a positive attitude about it. Not feeling positive about your body can then lead to shame and guilt.

First, body positivity frees us all from hating ourselves because we don’t look a certain way or have a certain shape or take up a certain amount of space. That freedom leads to other ideas like being allowed to dress in a way that makes me feel good versus what others might or might not like.

The term ‘body positivity’ seems to be getting a lot of air time lately. But what does it mean, and why does body positivity matter?

Body positivity is a movement that says that all bodies are beautiful. It breaks down to the belief that you should be comfortable in your healthy skin. Contrary to some beliefs, body positivity is not encouraging or embracing obesity; however, body positivity does say that as long as you’re healthy, your weight should not cause you to be seen as less of a person. Body positivity matters because we see more and more unrealistic portrayals in the media.

If you’re feeling nostalgic, think about some of the television shows that were popular in the 70s; All in the Family and MASH gave us characters who weren’t stunningly beautiful.

Those shows had characters that much more closely resembled the audiences who were watching. ...but every now and 2018’s most popular shows include The Walking then I wake up and Dead, where ex-main character Lori Grimes I like what I see. maintained her blown-out hairstyle in a post-apocalyptic world, and Grey’s Anatomy, It happens more often about a hospital filled with gorgeous doctors than it used to now. Around 70% of women aged 18-35 edit their photos before posting them to social media. 50% of men in the same age group do the same.

Social media has both positive and negative effects on body image.

People who are addicted to social media may experience negative side effects such as eye strain, social withdrawal or lack of sleep. If you spend your time researching problems or arguing with people, you may experience stress, which can have a negative impact on your health.

Researchers found that social media engagement with attractive peers increases negative state body image. The findings showed that young women feel more dissatisfied with their bodies as a result.

There are many influences on our understanding of our own body image including parenting, education and intimate relationships but it is clear that advertising and social/mainstream media have a role to play.

Adele... is a popular singer who, despite receiving criticism from Karl Lagerfeld on being a“ little too fat,” has said she does not feel pressure to be thin and advises young girls to appreciate their bodies.

If you suffer from a negative body image it is important that you choose your role models wisely. Wome like Adele will help you to understand that everybody feels insecure about how they look at some point in their life, and that by supporting one another people can overcome their fears and better accept themselves. Collectively, they also illustrate that a range of bodies can be beautiful. Taylor Swift... has admitted to suffering from negative body image issues. She has stated that once she realized that these issues were normal, she was better able to become more self-accepting.

She explains that reading the stories of other people who also felt inadequate helped her to understand that everyone can feel negative about themselves at times, and that learning to love herself just as she was would be the best long term solution.

James Corden... In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2016, talk show host James Corden opened up about how he dealt with his confidence in school. He explained: "If you're big at school, you've really got two choices. You're going to be a target. If you go to school and you're me, you go, 'Right, I'm just going to make myself a bigger target. My confidence, it will terrify them.' That's how I felt in school."

Corden also touched on his frustrations on the way Hollywood represents larger people. He said: "I could never understand when I watch romantic comedies. The notion that for some reason unattractive or heavy people don't fall in love.

"If they do, it's in some odd, kooky, roundabout way - and it's not. It's exactly the same."

Ed Sheeran... The chart-topping singer told Planet Radio in a 2014 interview: "I was never really happy with my image and then I realised it was because I was eating fried food and drinking beer every day. You don't have to kill yourself by getting into shape. Just eat right and don't drink every day."

Commenting on body image pressures in the music industry, Sheeran said: "There's enough fat people in the industry and there's enough skinny people in the industry and there's enough ginger people in the industry.

"There's enough of everyone in the industry, and usually the ones that aren't attractive are the ones that do the best." “Social media is a widespread platform with loads of different controversial messages on body confidence. some magazines will paint you a picture of what they think society tells us is the definition of a perfect body but others send a positive message saying that its ok to be the size you are as long as you love and accept yourself” – Instagram influencer Patricia kasinska

Livvy K visited B&FC to discuss Mental Health with Rachel and Zara...

“We all have insecurities, we all have things we don’t like about ourselves, from our personality, our life or what we look.

Everyone is so quick to pick themselves apart and find the qualities they don’t like by comparing themselves to others. But the people we so desperately want to be like also have their own insecurities and want to be more like someone else! So don’t fall into trap because you’ll never truly be happy with yourself and the life you live if you’re constantly looking for validation from others and trying to change something that most of the time isn’t possible . You get one body and one life. you can choose to either live a life where you are constantly unhappy and attacking yourself or you choose to love and fully embrace everything that you are and everything that makes you YOU ! Don’t let yourself make the wrong decision you are beautiful and you are worth it!”

Produced by L1 Well Being from Society Health and Childcare in collaboration with B&FC Students’ Union 2019/20 Jessica, Chelsea, Marica, Lydia, Teigan, Sarah, Rachael, Kelsie, Linda, Eboni, Nicole, Paris, Dara, Shannon and Toiresea