We are in the era of the body confidence movement, encouraging us to love our bodies, wear what ever we want and flaunt what nature gave us and be happy with it. This may surprise you but that’s not what our definition of “show up as you are” is.
As much as we admire and respect the body confidence movement, we just aren’t there yet – maybe it skipped our generation? Maybe we just aren’t that confident yet? We know we aren’t alone because our Amazing Jane community tell us they feel the same way. Part of us would love to not give two hoots but the other part is screaming “this tummy isn’t ready for a crop top thank you very much!”
So what do we mean by “show up as you are”?
We have spent all our working lives working with women in the health & fitness industry. We’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve heard women say, “I’ll start exercising when I lose some weight” or “I’ll start exercising when I get a little fitter”. Really what those women are saying is “I don’t feel comfortable walking into that place at the moment”. Even with the knowledge that “that place” can help them, their insecurities outweigh their desire to make a positive change.
Our message is to just "show up as you are", because once you are through the door to “that place” you have over come a huge barrier and that should give you a huge sense of achievement. Add to this the other statement we have heard numerous times over the years “I wish I had started sooner” and that should confirm that most people have never regretted a workout or doing something active.
Tips to get you ready to show up as you are
It’s about finding the right place with the right people. If you fancy trying a dance class or a walking group, take a look at their social media pages. Look at their photos and reviews and see if there are people you can relate to, whether that’s age, shape, size or something else. If you still don’t feel confident enough to join a group for activity you could download a walking app such as the NHS Active Walking app, or use a step tracker, and set yourself small but achievable goals.
Remember it’s ok to feel nervous or anxious about trying something new – it’s normal.
Remind yourself that you don’t need to be 100% ready, you don’t need to feel brave, and you don’t need to be good at “it”.
Think about what you’ll wear.
It’s about feeling comfortable even when you are out of your comfort zone. The clothes you wear need to make you feel better about yourself. This is exactly why we started Amazing Jane! You could throw on the biggest t-shirt you can find, that covers you from neck to knee (yes, we’ve seen this thousands of times over the years too!) but we are betting that you’d still not feel great.
We designed our clothes with you in mind – so grab some leggings that are going to smooth & support you and team it with a tee or tank that will fit well around the chest but them skim over those other bits you want to disguise.
Now this might sound like a sales pitch but it’s an actual science called Enclothed Cognition. It’s linked to the way clothing influences our mind.
Dressing in a certain way has been scientifically proven to have a positive impact on emotional wellbeing. Wearing clothes that make us feel good can improve our self-confidence & performance. The ethos of Amazing Jane is to empower women to lead healthy, active lifestyles by using the power of clothing to encourage you to get into the right mindset for being active - which can often be the biggest hurdle.
So take the step, make the move. Choose courage over comfort and show up as you are.
