Love Your Body

Would you describe yourself as beautiful? In Dove’s latest film, Choose Beautiful, they travel to San Francisco, Shanghai, Delhi, London and Sao Paulo to prove that beauty is a choice – and the power of this choice is in your hands…

What if we told you that “fat” is not a feeling?

That’s what performer and body empowerment activist Caroline Rothstein says in this strong video about how trauma, beauty standards, and oppression teach us not to love our bodies. Learn from her eating disorder recovery, and get her key to choosing to love her body – and respect other people’s bodies, too.

We are big fans at 4GGL of Gala Darling, founder of Radical Self-Love Bootcamp, and here we offer her stirring TedTalk, in her own words: 

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[/symple_column][symple_column size=”two-third” position=”last” fade_in=”false”] In MindBodyGreen, Madelyn Moon writes that she had been obsessed with dieting and weight almost her entire life. She escaped a self-deprecating mindset and limiting lifestyle.

Her advice is: 

“Block out what the media tries to tell you is ‘perfect’ and instead look at everything you already are and have. Be grateful for your balance and body, because it’s all you, through and through.”
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The process Madelyn took was long and detailed, and it certainly didn’t happen overnight. She offers a few things she began to do once she realized things needed to change in her article, “I Had The ‘Perfect Body’ & I Still Wasn’t Happy.” 

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“Learning how to love my body and myself has been the greatest challenge of my life, and the most important and valuable,” says Shannon Kaiser. 

“My body was to blame – until I got to a place of realizing I could go through life at war with myself or I could become friends with me, all of me. Which meant accepting my body as it was in every moment.”
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“I saw my body, the one I have now – with its aches and pain, stretch-marks and curves – is exactly what I need to be alive, fully human and awake in life,” says Shannon. Her idea shifted everything for her. “Life is too short to be at war with ourselves,” she says.

“My body is a tool to help me live my life fully. Today, I can proudly share I am healthier and happier than I have ever been because my body is now my best friend.”

– Shannon Kaiser

4GGL thanks Dove and  Everyday Feminism and Gala Darling  and Mind Body Green and Shannon Kaiser for the info in this story! 

Dove launched one of the biggest conceptual ad campaigns of the decade and their 2006 video, “Evolution,” went viral before “viral” was even a thing. Dove still feels like it has a role to play in ongoing discussions about beauty and body image. “We’re going to try to change a generation,” Sharon MacLeod, vice president of Unilever North America Personal Care, told HuffPost. In 2004, Dove created a fund to partner with organizations like the Girl Scouts, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Girls Inc. to organize activities including discussions about online bullying and photography projects capturing the beauty girls see in the world around them.

Everyday Feminism  helps people stand up to and heal from everyday violence, discrimination, and marginalization. They want to live in a world where every person (and we mean every single person) is treated with respect, directs their own lives, and reaches their full potential.  Since its launch in June 2012 by Sandra Kim, the site has quickly become one of the most popular feminist digital media sites in the world, with over 4.5 million monthly visitors from over 150 countries. In the last year, 30 million+ unique visitors have read their articles more than 60 million times!

Gala Darling says: “I used to be in turmoil, creating constant chaos for myself. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be happy; misery was my identity. When I stumbled upon radical self love, my life was transformed, and I saw with new eyes. These days, I am devoted to helping other women fall in love with themselves, too.”

MindBodyGreen is a conversation about health. Their mission is to revitalize the way people eat, move, and live! They offer tips, tools and ideas to make your life better and to inspire you to keep doing the awesome things that you’re already doing.

Author Shannon Kaiser has a mission to add massive value to your life by giving you tools and inspiration you can use to improve your life right this instant. She is a guide to help you fall in love with your life and fearlessly live to your full potential. Visit her at Play with the World >