Today we got to chat with body positive activist, motivational speaker and 5x TEDx Speaker Nikita Sharma.
How have you struggled in the past to appreciate or love your body and how have you overcome that struggle?
I’ve had a constant love/hate relationship with my body. Meaning to say that, I’ve hated it when I’ve seen it through the eyes of the world and I’ve loved it when I’ve seen it purely through my eyes.
Life got real hard when I tried to start fitting into societal standards of having the “perfect skinny body”, not realising that that wasn’t even my body type in the first place.
Nevertheless, I tried. I pushed myself real hard. So hard that I developed an eating disorder. I would keep a calorie intake count every single day and if I had even a crumb more than what was “allotted” for the day, I’d curse myself immensely!
Being in the field of modelling, I’ve faced some really harsh body shaming which led me to look at myself as merely a piece or an object which was to be perfected until no flaws remained.
I almost completely forgot that I was first and foremost a human being.
After years of over workout and struggle, I injured my lower back pretty seriously due to the strain.
It was then that I realise that I pushed myself too much. I couldn’t stand on my own two feet. I couldn’t get up from the bed without someone else’s support.
That’s when I said to myself, “ENOUGH”.
After 1.5 years of rehab, I allowed myself to grow into the person I truly wanted to be and I’ve never looked back ever since. Life has been a blessing oh yes, but most of all, it’s been a learning.
What do you love most about your body?
What I love most about my body is the fact that it does so much for me every single day. It makes me who I am. It changes every single day and it is more beautiful every single day. The scars I hold speak about my story and my battles so far in life and I think that’s poetry within itself.
What message do you have for other women who struggle to appreciate and love their bodies?
My message to other women struggling with the same issues is that you need to stop judging yourself from the lens of the world and start looking at yourself solely through your own eyes. See yourself for what you truly are. Make it a habit to wake up and look at yourself in the mirror every morning and instead of judging each beautiful curve and crevice as a “flaw”, give yourself a big tight hug.
Why do you support SMV?
I support SMV because I feel like we need platforms like these to speak about the things that truly matter. We need such platforms for bringing forward the words of truth and the words that make us all look and feel equal and equally beautiful.
SMV does a great job to making everyone feel more like themselves and feel like they belong! ❤️
Don't miss Nikita's TEDx Talk
If you want to follow Nikita say hello on instagram @nikitasharma_official
