The third annual Love Your Body Week kicked off on Monday, Fed. 19. Held by Elon Campus Recreation and SPARKS (Students Promoting Awareness, Responsibility, Knowledge, and Success), this week is filled with events to promote self-love and remind people to be confident in who they are and proud of showing up in their every day life.
Last year, Ari Levine was actively involved with Love Your Body Week. As a sophomore, holding more responsibilities in other organizations, Ari was unable to be as directly involved. However, Ari has been indirectly involved during this week and also every day in promoting the message of Love Your Body Week. She was able to incorporate self reflection and encouragement to others.
Name: Ari Levine
Major: Communications Design
Home town: Beverly, MA
What is love your body week? Love your body week is an event put on by campus recreation and SPARKS to provide awareness on body image and eating disorder issues, education in regard to nutritional information and how to improve your exercise regime, and positive influences on simply loving yourself for who you are.
How did you hear about or get involved with love your body week? Last year I was way more involved than now, but it was a really impactful experience getting to plan such an inspiring event. Campus Recreation and SPARKS do a great job running this event and promoting it to such a large audience. I think our Elon community really benefits from this week being held on campus.
What does love your body week mean to you? Love your body week means a lot to me. It kind of acts as a reminder to emphasize more of my own self care. As college students we tend to forget to take care of ourselves and it leads to the deterioration of our physical and mental health; so I really think this week emphasizes like taking a step back and just appreciating who you are.
How do you participate in loving your body? I’ve definitely learned to participate in daily acts of loving myself, or improving my self care, or helping others that need more positive reassurance in who they are, but I have been too busy this year to participate in the campus events that correlate with this week.
How would you convince people to celebrate love your body week? Do something for yourself! Eat what you want to eat, change your habits, go to the gym, really just do anything that makes you feel genuinely comfortable in your own skin even if its for a short amount of time. Just take a minute to remind yourself that you’re the only you in the world and thats absolutely amazing.
Do you have any advice for people who may struggle with loving their body? Its a process, but there is positive results when you can choose to overcome your struggles. I try to tell everyone I come in contact with that “Positivity is Powerful” and honestly if you can fully convince yourself that; you will teach your brain to fully see everything in a beautiful light- including yourself. Love yourself!