How to be comfortable in your own skin ♡

With it being mental health awareness week I thought now would be an appropriate time to open up a little bit about the struggles I've had with my own mental health and feeling comfortable in my own skin.

I'm sure we all have days where we look in the mirror and don't like what we see, and even begin to find things we don't like even if we never noticed them before.

Looking through old photos, even from a few years ago I do notice that I have gained some curves and I may be a size or so larger in clothing, but I have also noticed that I am so much happier with my body now than a couple of years ago.

I remember looking at myself when I was that size thinking 'I'm fat, I need to not eat today so that I drop a few pounds quickly'. And I didn't even realise I was doing it until first year of university when it became a bit more obvious to those around me. Now I was never so skinny that just any stranger would notice and pick up on it, but I guess that's what makes these things more tricky.

Now I'm not too sure when my mindset shifted, but I'm pretty sure it's when I started really thinking about what mattered in life, I gained some new friends and started socialising more and worrying less about what I looked like.

I think the key to accepting your body for what it looks like is being thankful for all that it does for you. Looking in the mirror and even if you don't like what you see, saying 'thank you' to your body. It sounds silly but it really works. Once you start talking to yourself more kindly, then eventually your brain views your body in a different way.

I'm currently undergoing my own fitness journey, and the key to a fitness journey is to not be hating on your body as it is now, and thinking 'oh I'll just lose a few more pounds and then I'll love my body'. It's about loving your body now and thanking it for all the amazing things it has done for you, what it has gone through and survived, how it functions every single day to keep you alive, how it is the only one you will get in this lifetime. It is about enjoying the process and not beating yourself up if you don't look exactly like the airbrushed models in the magazines. Every body type is beautiful and successful and even if you want to make a change to how you look, you are perfect exactly the way you are right now.

We are all made to be originals, not copies. Once you realise that you are unique, you are exactly where you are meant to be, and you are beautiful just the way you are, lumps, bumps, scars and all, you will be one step closer to loving and being comfortable in your gorgeous body.

Seriously practice talking to yourself and notice the difference it actually makes. Trust me. And if anyone who is reading this is having any difficulties my DM's are always open, just drop me a message ♡