The Body Image workshop, teaching teenage girls how to overcome their body insecurities, accept their bodies and feel confident with their current body shape so they can love and celebrate themselves for who they are and flourish at school.
Currently there is a huge epidemic of eating disorders, body image struggles and lack of self confidence in young teenagers.
“Tallulah was great - the girls were able to relate to her and her journey. The students were really engaged throughout the workshop and were able to take away some great messages about the importance of positive affirmations in positive self-talk and body acceptance as well as harnessing their own superpower of taking care of themselves. The students were overheard on leaving the workshop …… ‘I really needed to hear that’ and ‘We know about all of those things, but it was really good hearing it in this way"
MRS SUE BRUCE - FETTES COLLEGE
WHY?
Back when I was 14, I developed body image insecurities. All my friends were so skinny. I felt so insecure next to them with my bigger squishier tummy and spots on my forehead.
I had a very negative relationship with food and spent too much time worrying about my body, what I was eating and how much exercise I should be doing.
Rather than enjoying being a young, fun and outgoing teenager. This killed my inner confidence, I hated myself and thought I was never going to be good enough. Ouch!
It wasn’t until I had a perspective shift and realised I was being my own worst enemy that my life changed forever. I learnt the power of self-love and now I’m here to teach these young teenagers the importance of ACCEPTING, RESPECTING and LOVING themselves.
PURPOSE
The goal of this workshop is to provide an alternative way of thinking and give these teens the tools to accept and acknowledge their bodies for all they are and to ensure prevention of an onset of eating disorders at an age where these girls are most susceptible to body image struggles.
1.
1.
Positive Self Talk
How to tackle negative thoughts, using the power of positive self-talk, so that they have a tool to help them take control of their negative thoughts which are detrimental to how they feel in their bodies. This builds their confidence and self-esteem
2.
2.
Building Relationships
The importance of building a positive relationship with their bodies and why nurturing this relationship is a key part of accepting who they are, so they can feel confident in themselves and realise their uniqueness is their superpower. Understanding they are perfectly imperfect.
3.
3.
Community Support
Letting go of comparison and highlighting the value of working together as a team, respecting and supporting each other and being there for one another in a setting that can be isolating and lonely, due to the competitiveness and expectation to look/be a certain way in a school environment.
What's Covered:
The Benefits:
With 70% of girls and 40% of boys reporting body dissatisfaction, now is the time to spread this message and show them they are not alone in their body image struggles.
My workshop gives the pupils confidence to speak about their insecurities and encourages them to seek support. This benefits the school as they will be able to provide help for their pupils, reducing the likelihood of more serious issues arising (eating disorders).
I teach them about the importance of their thoughts/mindset and highlight how to tackle negative thoughts. I give them the tools to help change a negative thought into positive self-talk.
So they can have freedom in their mind to focus on things that are exciting for them in their school life. This benefits the school as the pupils will thrive in their academic studies, in sport and socially because they won’t be distracted by negative thoughts.
My workshop gives the pupils confidence to speak about their insecurities and encourages them to seek support. This benefits the school as they will be able to provide help for their pupils, reducing the likelihood of more serious issues arising (eating disorders).
I teach them the power of body acceptance and owning their individual uniqueness which is a key concept to conquer the comparison game. Comparison is a huge cause of body insecurities in girls, especially in a boarding environment and at an age where they are going through so many changes in their bodies.
My workshop gives the pupils confidence to speak about their insecurities and encourages them to seek support. This benefits the school as they will be able to provide help for their pupils, reducing the likelihood of more serious issues arising (eating disorders).
I talk about the negative effects of social media and how it impacts their confidence and self-esteem, especially when they are constantly comparing themselves to influencers online.
This creates serious body dissatisfaction for this age group as they believe they should be meeting these unrealistic beauty standards! I give them tools to take control of being overwhelmed by what they see online.
I teach them about self-love and what this means and how important it is to accept and love yourself for who you are, so they feel confident to be themselves. Something I did not learn about until I was in my twenties but wish I had known more about at school because it would have given me the courage to be myself.
This creates serious body dissatisfaction for this age group as they believe they should be meeting these unrealistic beauty standards! I give them tools to take control of being overwhelmed by what they see online.
I share my own story with body confidence and how I overcome my own struggles. This shows them that they are not alone in their struggles and highlights that it’s ok to be vulnerable if they are dealing with body insecurities.
My story will give them the confidence to reach out for help, if they need support.
The underlying focus will be reminding them they are not alone in their struggles and highlighting the importance of working together as a supportive team, looking out for and respecting each other in an environment that can be difficult to handle and at times overwhelming.
“Tallulah was great - the girls were able to relate to her and her journey. The students were really engaged throughout the workshop and were able to take away some great messages about the importance of positive affirmations in positive self-talk and body acceptance as well as harnessing their own superpower of taking care of themselves. The students were overheard on leaving the workshop …… ‘I really needed to hear that’ and ‘We know about all of those things, but it was really good hearing it in this way’.”
Mrs Sue Bruce - Fettes College
In the process of being built...
The Ripple Hub will be a web-based platform accessible on desktop. It will focus on promoting body positivity, self-acceptance, and mental well-being. It will give the students a positive/supportive space to come to, so they don’t feel alone in their struggles and have resources to ignite their confidence and make them feel good.
The teachers can signpost students to the platform and use the platform to educate themselves too.