Taryn Brumfitt is determined to shift the way we think about our bodies. She’s the fiercely passionate thought leader behind the Body Image Movement, a best-selling author and director of the inspiring social-change documentary Embrace. Thanks to our friends at Suncorp and their Team Girls program, Taryn recently led a Masterclass Online for a timely discussion about the importance of self-love, self-care and embracing your body. As Taryn said, “in these uncertain times, we need to lower the bar.” We need to stop the memes about Corona-kilos, and we need to make our homes judgement-free zones. We’ve all felt wobbly in the past few months, so it’s never more been important to engage in self care and positive self-talk. Taryn shared her advice on looking after ourselves, changing the narrative of body image, and creating sparkle activities to bring joy into your day.
Taryn Brumfitt on self-care…
“Build yourself a self care tool kit – take a bath, put your feet on the grass, meditate, make scones, have a sneaky orgasm, get into nature.”
“Spring clean your social media. It should be nothing but inspiring people that make you want to be a better person in the world.”
“Move your body for pleasure, not punishment. Listen in to what you feel like doing. Moving is joyous! Exercise should not be a task you feel you have to do.”
Embracing your body as a super power…
“There is nothing soft about the love your body message. It is powerful. It is warrior.”
“Your body is your home, and it’s the most spectacular place to live.”
“I love my arms that huge my children. I love my legs that allow me to run a marathon. I love my eyes that allow me to see people. I love my ears that allow me to hear music. I love my shoulders that allow me to carry heavy weight. I love my nose that can smell beautiful essential oils. I love my brain that allows me to dream and concoct fabulous ideas.”
Cultivating a positive body image at home…
“Make a pact with your friends to end the negative conversations about weight loss or weight gain. Make it irrelevant. Removing discussion about other people’s bodies and your own body opens so much space for far more fabulous conversations.”
“Kids are sponges. Don’t talk about weight loss in front of them. You’re setting them up for the diet culture we don’t want. Think about the appearance based-dialogue that comes up in your home, and consider ways to pivot those conversations. Make your home a judgement free zone.”
“Judge less and love more. We don’t know people’s stories.”
Creating joy every day…
“Sparkle activities push you outside your comfort zone. They bring you joy and give you a rush. If you’re answering with, ‘that’s not for me, I’m too old…’ then you’ve just identified a sparkle activity, that’s where the magic is. It could be sleeping under the stars in your backyard, skinny dipping, getting a tattoo or riding a camel.”
Getting off the miserable negative body image treadmill…
“You weren’t born into the world hating your body. This is a learnt behaviour, so you can unlearn it. It’s never too late. Neuroscience tells us that our brains can change until the day we die.”
“28,000 days is what we have on the planet if we’re really lucky. How are you going to spend them? You are too smart and too fabulous to be weighed down by how you feel about your body.”
