In history, women all over the world have taken precautions when dressing for their day. Why? Because for some very sad reason, our bare bodies have been overly sexualized instead of seen as natural in today’s society. Unfortunately, over the years, our bodies have been censored by the government, social media and sometimes even by ourselves. To me, this is a problem. Not because we see nipples on a man more often than we see a womans nipples, even when she’s simply feeding her child, but because our bodies are nothing to be ashamed of and we should be able to make the decision to cover our nipples on our own. We should not face consequences for being human.

A woman is commonly expected to cover up her breasts when she is nourishing the body of her young, which makes no sense to me. This is what we were born with breasts for. Why are we being punished? Why are our bodies too much for society to handle? Historically, women have been arrested or charged with public indecency, disturbing the peace, or lewd behavior for baring their breasts in public, even in states that did not have a law against their actions and exposure.
Isn’t that insane?! I think it is.
In 2012, filmmaker Lena Esco started a campaign in New York City called “Free the Nipple”. It would be an understatement to say that this campaign was a complete game changer. Between hashtags and celebrity support, the campaign changed the way a majority of the world viewed the female nipple. It opened up doors that we didn’t even know existed. Women all over the country were going braless and freeing their nipples in unison for this cause. To see women of all races and backgrounds come together to support a cause, was absolutely moving. My job revolves around self-love and acceptance, so when I saw so many women supporting one another and their natural bodies, I jumped for joy!
The campaign taught me that more people are accepting of the bare female body than we were made to believe. Which got me thinking. If people all around the world are accepting of your body, you should be, too. We should accept our bodies regardless of how we previously felt about them. They are a work of art. They are the vessels that we live in until the day we perish, so we should treat them more kindly. We should treat ourselves with compassion and loyalty. I stay loyal to my body by not pushing my limits. As long as I love my body, that’s all that matters.

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and complemented yourself? I do this every single day. It gives me motivation to be my best self and honestly, doing this saved my life. Self love was not always my lifestyle, but after making it a part of my daily routine, so many aspects of my life improved. I was healthier, happier and a more supportive person to myself. I used to cover up my body because I simply didn’t love it. I found little things to pick myself apart over, which is a big reason I chose the career that I did. I’d often times stop my friends from criticizing themselves, even though I was the guiltiest one. I would bully myself into believing that my body was something to be ashamed of. I was SO wrong.
Once I put my self doubt behind me, I flourished. I was meant for self love. I guess you could say that self love is my calling. I knew from the moment I made my first client smile at her own bare body, that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to share my passion for self love with the entire world. I wanted my clients to know and understand that our bodies are natural and they deserve love. No matter how we once felt about them. Our bodies are BEAUTIFUL. Not because of all that they are capable of, but because they are OURS. Once you take control of how you view your body, everything else will become clear. You don’t need to hold yourself up to some ridiculous beauty standard that wasn’t even in existence up until a hundred years ago. Think about it. These unrealistic expectations of our bodies were not around until just a hundred years ago. We can’t change the way society feels about our bare bodies. However, we can change the way WE feel about them. There’s power in self-love.