>Recovery Discovery
As part of Body Image Awareness week, the UNF Women's Center and Counseling Center sponsored a forum last night to raise awareness about negative body image, recognize what influences the way you see yourself, discover the beauty within...and to learn what it feels like to finally begin to see their bodies in a positive way. The goal was to bench off Mirrorless Monday and learn ways to love what you see in the mirror.

Students started to fill the room in the new Student Union.



And some professionals from the community.

We had to get more chairs!!!

We started off with the question...define beauty and filled a page with what's inside, honesty, truth, and all that encompases beatuy within.....Then we asked how our culture defines beauty....

....and filled 2 pages from whiter teeth, wrinkle free, buff and fit, to skinny and a six pack!

We moved on to view America the Beautiful which we plan to show full feature in the fall. One person shared most outstanding thing from video.....'he said a six pack was important....but he didn't know why".

We talked about body image and eating issues and what would be important for someone to recover? To live in an environment that promotes internal beauty, or external beauty?
After discussing the process of recovery, several members of the audience shared their stories. Brave women doing brave things!!! Such an inspiration, and very humbling.

We ended with the short video Tri Delta - Fat Talk Free Week
which we plan to do in October and asked the audience to make a commitment to end Fat Talk Post-it notes were provided to fill the Fat Talk mirror.

I think that says it all!

Recovery is Beautiful!