Exams and results: taking steps to tolerating difficult emotions
However your results go today, keep in mind that it’s perspective and resilience for what comes at us in life is what matters. Both of these things we have control over.
Choosing a life without an eating disorder meant confronting why I needed it in the first place – Guest Blogger
“Life is supposed to be a journey from one happy event to the next, right? The glossy side of social media tells us the story that we are only living our “best lives” when we don’t have to contend with difficult emotions…” James Downs, mental health campaigner and expert by experience in eating disorders, generously shares his thoughts and experience as our latest guest blogger for Orri.
“And I said to my body, I want to be your friend.” – On Friendship
The saying goes that you can’t properly love someone until you love yourself. For those reading that are suffering with an eating disorder, you may be familiar with a feeling of disconnect from others; a certain distance you feel between yourself and others. It may have nestled in between your closest friendships, or, in the dynamic between family members…
Lockdown lessons and affirmations for this latest chapter
Let’s take a moment to recognise something important: you’re here, reading this blog, having made it through lockdown to (almost) the other side. For many of us it’s been tumultuous. We experienced shock, fear, disbelief, calm, quiet, anger, confusion, anxiety, grief…a whole LOAD of emotions in the space of 4-5 months. So, as we begin to come out of this tumultuous space and enter a so-called “new normal”, what have we learned? What’s going to stay with us?
Orri’s Response: ‘I was terrified to put on weight’ – the ‘culture of fear’ in British gymnastics (BBC News)
No one, particularly those at a young age working in such competitive, gruelling industries, should be subject to a “culture of fear” that encourages individuals to question their sense of self and worth as a human being. Pavier’s story of retiring at age 17 after becoming “a shell of a person” demonstrates the severe impact on an individual’s mental health when their bodies are micro-managed.