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I (Nikki) was deep in downward dog during a yoga class yesterday morning…

when I glanced at the girl next to me.

I couldn’t help but notice how quintessentially beautiful she was.

She was thin and tanned, had long straight hair, a pretty face, and big boobs.

Exactly what society has taught me beautiful looks like.

Naturally, I found myself comparing my body with hers.

I couldn’t help but notice my paler skin, tubbier belly, and wider hips.

What happened next surprised me.

Instead of feeling jealous, I actually felt love towards her.

I appreciated her beauty.

And instead of feeling bad about myself, I felt love for my body too.

I appreciated how it serves me.

And I acknowledged myself for getting back to Yoga after a week’s hiatus.

I could feel my back a bit tighter on the walk over which reminded me how integral movement is to my wellbeing routine.

This response is definitely testament to my years of meditation and personal growth work.

With spring well and truly among us,

no doubt you have come across the countless ads to ‘get your bikini body’ on.

There’s cleanses and diet programs advertised all over the show which claim to be about health, when in reality they do more to damage our self-worth than enhance our wellbeing.

A survey by the Butterfly Foundation in 2017 found that 73% of respondents wished they could alter their appearance, and 60% had restricted eating because of how they felt about how they look.

That’s where the body positivity (or BoPo) movement came in.

It was about broadening our definition of beauty and loving our bodies no matter how they look.

And it’s done wonders in challenging the whole ‘beautiful stereotype’, yet the issue is that it still puts the emphasis on beauty being important.

The truth is that there is SO much more to life than striving to be beautiful.

And, let’s face it – some days it’s hard to love our bodies or perceive them as beautiful.

Enter: the ‘body neutrality’ movement.

It encourages us to accept the body we are in and focus on its achievements rather than its appearance.

On what it can do rather than how it looks.

It’s about redefining our value according to who we are in the world, what we stand for, and what difference we can make, rather than how tanned our skin is, how thin our thighs are or how big our boobs are.

It sounds great, right?

But how do we actually get to an authentic acceptance and appreciation of ourselves?

Meditation and growth work certainly help.

And we designed a course which fuses together the best of both.

Our Centred Edge program is all about challenging your preconceived notions, exploring where they come from, and learning techniques to break old patterns and create new constructive ones.

Six weeks in studio from 29th Oct.