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Our bodies are wonderful works of biological machinery that can do some pretty amazing things! We can walk, run, paint, write, drive, climb, bike, hike, swim, craft, observe, create, explore, travel, and so much more simply because of our body’s ability to accomplish feats small and large. Or even simply just doing things for the sake of enjoyment, like being able to reach for that glass of pino gris at your favourite vineyard in Gisborne or stroll along the beach in the Coromandel.
So why are we so tough on what we think about our bodies?
We can relate though, and it can be tough to always love ourselves, especially as we age. No matter where we look these days, society inundates us with “expectations” of what people should look like or strive for health and appearance-wise. To be honest, unless you are a professional athlete or celebrity, the time and money involved in looking the part for these expectations that are plastered all over ads, movies, and magazines are unachievable, yet they still make us feel pretty self-conscious nonetheless.
But we CAN and should feel great about our bodies, and there are endless ways to help our bodies look and feel good for us. Here’s our guide on embracing your body, no matter your age, and some tips to achieve attainable and healthy goals.
Ditch Other People’s Expectations
Social media, magazines, tv shows, and movies all create a complex and often negative construct that affects our moods dramatically, or lead us to take steps to attempt to achieve popularised body images that are often manipulated or due to body alterations. And a lot of this happens self consciously. Studies show that even if we know an image is doctored, most of us still feel the need to strive toward this digitised false representation of beauty and body standards at the detriment of our mental and physical health.
The first step to embracing your body is to ditch other people’s expectations. Everyone’s body type is unique and different, so pursuing healthy alternatives, diets, exercises, and skincare routines catered to your body type with help you achieve positive results for yourself. Why try to be someone else when you can be the best version of yourself? This could mean exorcising your social media of accounts that negatively impact your self-confidence, throwing out those beauty magazines, and opting for positive impact influence in your media.
Do Something Daily That Makes You Feel Good!
Once you’ve ditched the negative expectations that bombard us daily, it’s time to do what makes you feel good. Not all of us can run 10 miles a day or swim laps for an hour. That doesn’t mean you can’t take up doing some kind of exercise that can help maintain your overall health as you age.
Our bodies are well-oiled machines, but just like our cars, we need to maintain them. Maybe you like to go for a long walk through the neighbourhood, great! Maybe you enjoy yoga or meditation, fantastic! Or maybe even just walking the pup every day a little bit longer each week, all of these are great ways to feel good physically without having the mental and physical burnout of trying to do what a 20-something top athlete can.
To Stop Judging Yourself, Stop Judging Others
Sometimes it’s automatic and occasionally we don’t even realize that we are doing it, but being judgemental intentionally or unintentionally can have more effect our you than you realize. Of course, this ties into our first point above too. When you’re judging someone else’s appearance, be it about age, weight, height, fashion, or whatever – that’s automatically setting a precedent for expectations on yourself whether you know it or not. And it’s creating a value system for others and yourself based on bodies. When learning how to love the way we look and feel worthy, you have to expel criticisms about others as well.
Remember You Are A Marvel of Nature
All women are different shapes and sizes with varying skin tones, musical structures, range of motion, curves, moles, scars, birthmarks, stretchmarks – you name it. And that’s what makes us so unique! Our bodies are our own and they are powerful in their own way. Remembering that you are a marvel of nature is a big step to embracing your body, because there isn’t another human being like you. Like forests, there’s no exact copy of a tree, is there? Philosopher Alan Watts said, “Regard yourself as a cloud in the flesh… Because you see, clouds never make mistakes. Did you ever see a cloud that was misshapen? Did you ever see a badly designed wave? No.” And same goes for you.
Be Pro-Aging instead of Anti-Aging
There seems to be a myth that grew out of the anti-aging movement of late that ever-lasting life is a thing we can have. As if we can halt time completely and never age, that our bodies will never change if we use certain products and do certain diets. Yet, instead, this has given birth to a movement of modification and injections however young or old. Fillers, tummy tucks, face-lifts are becoming a much more normal part of aging than healthy daily routines, unfortunately. In our minds, this is age escapism, but there are much better ways to actually age gracefully.
That’s exactly why we embrace a pro-aging mentality versus anti-aging. Pro-aging is all about what we’ve discussed – embracing your body no matter your age and doing right by it better, naturally. Just like daily exercise can do wonders for your body’s longevity, proper natural skincare can help your skin retain its vitality longer. It’s not about shortcuts, and it’s not about trying not to age – quite the opposite. That was the exact thinking behind our Collagen Restore Collection which was scientifically formulated to help your skin age better by supporting collagen production and skin barrier function in the right ways.
By combining rosehip oil’s unmatched collagen-boosting traits and powerful antioxidants with East Cape’s mānuka oil’s unparalleled anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, our Collagen Restore products protect your skin against the elements that can contribute to rapid aging. These synergistic skincare products combine some of the best natural ingredients for aging skin and can help reduce fine lines and wrinkles, aging spots and hyperpigmentation, and reduce elasticity loss (which are all signs of underperforming skin barrier function) so you can skip the artificial treatments and uplift your body’s natural functions.
Embrace your body, and embrace the incredible benefits of supporting it naturally with the plant-powered and science-backed Collagen Restore skincare lineup today!
