Every month we're featuring a Body Gossip story - and this month Body Gossip are inviting you to consider those things about your appearance you don't really love, and then just shrugging and saying MAYbe that's OK!
This story by Henrietta Nagy encourages just that.
Body Confidence story
I am a six foot two inches tall woman.
Height has always influenced a large portion of my life. It fundamentally determines what I wear, where I shop, who my friends are and the list could go a long way.
In my entire life, I have been taller than the average. It started at nursery when I already over
towered all my classmates. Due to my height, I found it increasingly difficult to fit in, to belong and to make friends. I spent a large amount of time on my own, only occasionally engaging with other kids. I was very much bullied at school and was called all sorts of names.
Cutting a long story short, something truly magical happened when I was about thirteen years old.
Over a short period of time it became more and more clear for me : I would no longer be willing to be a victim of my height but would triumph the bullying, the criticism and of course my own lack of self-confidence.
I started to take some practical steps to feel happier about my body image. Every day for about twenty minutes, I would walk with a book on my head, making sure my back was straight and I held my head up. I enjoyed my new posture and this regular routine resulted in my posture improving dramatically. I started to pay close attention to the way I carried my body, my image and the clothes I would wear. I fundamentally changed my dressing style making sure that I looked and more importantly felt truly feminine in the clothes I was wearing.
I developed the strength not to believe the negative comments I received from others but let them go. Of course, I had good and bad days but I have already started my journey, one step at a time. Surprisingly, the more comfortable I felt about myself, the more compliments I started to receive.
Over the years my body confidence has grown even more up to the point where I now run my own Body Confidence Coaching business (www.henetta.co.uk). My commitment is to help women think confidently about their looks and develop a deep sense of inner confidence.
One of my Body Confidence top tips include:
Take a real look at other people and forget about air-brushed super models! Make a promise that you will not buy any fashion/ women’s magazines for the next 1 month. If you do not like something about your body, make a plan and change it or make peace with it today!
Next time when you are in town, take a walk in a busy street and notice how beautifully different we all are. Remember, there in nobody in the entire universe who looks exactly like you.
I hope that you have found my story inspirational!
