There is no doubt that Instagram affects our mental health; we spend hours on it daily, perfectly curating our feeds and admiring others’, using it as an escape from our everyday lives. You only need to a follow a handful of influencers or celebrities for your entire feed to become saturated with photoshopped images of unachievable body types, superficial messages of what ‘beauty’ is, and those hugely damaging and super annoying ‘fit tea’ ads.
It’s important for us to take matters into our own hands when it comes to this love-or-hate platform. Unfollowing accounts that don’t benefit your mental health is the first place to start. Filling your feed with positivity is a good second. And we’ve got five empowering accounts you might want to start with…
- Sophie King, @kingsophiesworld
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Artist Sophie King’s Instagram feed is the perfect combination of arts-and-crafts aesthetics and inspirational quotes. Warning: it might not just make you feel positive, but inspire you to get creative too.
P.S. She also has merch.
- GURLS TALK, @gurlstalk
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Founded by model and activist Adwoa Aboah (@adwoaaboah), GURLS TALK is a ‘safe space to share and listen without any judgement or stigma.’ Their Instagram account discusses issues from young motherhood, to grief, to equal representation. And they also have a podcast!
- Lizzo, @lizzobeeating
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Singer Lizzo is changing the music industry as we know it, and she’s not doing it subtly. Her Instagram feed embodies everything that she is: confident, sexy, and downright outrageous.
- Alice Skinner, @thisisaliceskinner
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This account is the definition of #girlpower, and Skinner’s illustrative talent is equally as captivating as her message. Prepare for lots of period positivity, saving our NHS, and equal representation.
- Rachel Brathen, @yoga_girl
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Rachel Brathen, better known as Yoga Girl, became a social media sensation with her captivatingly beautiful yoga videos. She now documents her life in Aruba with her impossibly cute daughter Lea Luna, talking candidly on all things vegan, health, and happiness.