"Today, we want to say screw you to the contouring and spandex. To tummy trimmers. To weight loss pills and pushup bras. To every horrible, uncomfortable, unrealistic standard of which we feel we have to live by. We are mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and friends. We are women. We are strong. Unified. Bonded. We are unapologetically confident from here on out," "Here’s to us being us!
My aim, Is to create a positive supportive space where women can build their confidence. To celebrate and embrace the journey they have walked as well as the other women.
I had the privilege of capturing these 4 amazing and inspiring women who jumped out of their comfort zones. The women in these photos represent many different body types and life experiences and all took part in the session for many different reasons.
THESE ARE THEIR STORIES
Elisha
Age 45
Self employed Mum of 2 teenagers 19 & 18 have been living in Long Jetty for 22 years best place to live!
As I get older I thought I might care less about my appearance but have found I care more!
But what I have also realised is that like most women we are our worst critic....we all have our own stories & pieces of ourselves we would like to change. This was the perfect opportunity to get out of my comfort zone & meet other women who felt similar to me
I loved meeting the girls they were all so friendly & Haylee put us at ease....It is the coolest thing I have ever done for myself!
The best part was I wore my best friends Kimono whom I lost to Cancer a few years ago she was with me the whole time she would of loved something like this......
Jade
My husband encouraged me to participate in this body positive experience because he knows the struggles I’ve encountered even before I knew him and he thought this would be a good way for me to see myself in the way he sees me every day.
I’ve always struggled with my weight and body image issues – the world does not make it easy to be anything other than “model worthy” with the stereotypes and inability to escape the outside world with the news and social media constantly being on in our lives in one way or another.
I've tried for almost 20 years to improve myself and my health but have struggled immensely and I have not always been kind to myself or my body. When I had my son almost 17 years ago I used pregnancy as an excuse to abuse food and while I had periods of focusing on my health, I always slipped back into old habits which all came to a head when I saw myself balloon to almost 150kgs. I was so ashamed of myself and what I had allowed myself to become and the bad example I was setting for my son so I took the plunge and made the difficult decision to undertake weight loss surgery to save my life. To date, I have lost 58kgs so far and I am so proud of where I am now both health and confidence wise, however this has created a new burden for me that still affects the way I see myself and my body. I have a lot of loose skin that causes grief, shame and affects my mental health every second of the day despite the fact that I am HELLA PROUD of what I have been able to achieve so far.
This body positive session was such a daunting thing to participate in because of my loose skin, but doing it has allowed me to really step out of my comfort zone and with the help of Haylee and the other ladies, it did help me to feel incredible and be proud of the body I have and am still creating for myself. All of our stories are so different but I think they all really compliment each other and when women are building each other up instead of pushing them down, the world is such a better place to be.
Brooke
Tayla
