As we continue to experience societal pressures telling us to look a certain way, be a certain weight, have ‘pilate arms’, use filters, and the list goes on… women can find themselves lacking confidence in who they are. Additionally, only one in five women feel confident in their appearance.
Adebayo, who struggled with body confidence when she was younger due to seeking external validation from others, told PA the first step to feel confident was realising how powerful her body was. To build inner confidence, Adebayo would look in the mirror in her underwear, hold different parts of her body and appreciate it.
“I would look into my eyes and say ‘I love you’. Even if I had spots on my face and didn’t like the way I looked. I would still say I love myself,” she says. “Over time, those mini positive affirming actions change your perspective of how you feel about yourself.”.
What Adebayo calls “body neutrality” means instead of linking our physical appearance to our self-worth, we can show gratitude and appreciation for our body’s abilities and functions. Comparison is the thief of joy. “Everybody’s body is different and there’s no such thing as a perfect body,” Adebayo says.
She mentions that in a world of social media, we have to be hyper conscious to realise that a high percentage of images we see have been retouched and edited. “It’s important we don’t look at ourselves in the mirror and compare it to an image online,” she says.
