– Vanessa Fernandez, Artist-Producer
For someone who used to think taking care of herself was selfish, Vanessa has wholly embraced the art of self-care over the past several years by going vegetarian and quitting both smoking and drinking. She talks about her journey towards body confidence and why her physical changes had more to do with her mind than anything else. The 36-year-old shares, “I feel that I have a pretty strong body, and I’m in good shape.”
What did you think of your body when you were growing up?
“As a kid, I was very nerdy, awkward and a little bit chubby. So, I feel like I had a lot of self-loathing when I was younger. I was good at singing and I was creative, but I always felt like I wasn’t as pretty as some of the other girls. When I was a teenager, I felt like my cousins would get a lot of attention from guys because they were beautiful, but I was the shy, quiet, crush-from-afar type. I think that contributed to this sense that I wasn’t good enough in a physical way.”
How did you learn to take care of yourself properly?
“I was a smoker for over 20 years and drinking was something I used to do when I was stressed. I had already been aware that these things were absolutely not doing me or my body any justice. I wanted to cut out this feeling of craving something to fulfil my happiness. So began the process of me caring about my mind, caring about my body and taking active steps to practise self-care. I’m okay with the way I look because I know there’s so much more to me than what you see physically.”
What advice do you have for those struggling with body confidence?
“I think you have to do whatever you can to be really in touch with yourself. There are lots of different ways to reach that goal, but really knowing who you are, and knowing what’s important to you, what’s of value to you, and what value you can bring to other people, are good to think about. True confidence begins with awareness. If you truly listen to yourself, to your heart and your mind, you’ll know that you’re not necessarily going to be perfect and it’s okay to be sad about this. The important thing is to try and work towards ridding yourself of feelings or things or people that don’t serve you and your higher purpose.”
My body is… “an extension of my mind.”
