Empowering women on International Women’s day

Today is international women’s day and I am using it as an opportunity to shout about 5 of my favourite inspirational women to follow on Instagram. As women we are often taught to compare ourselves to other women and feel jealous, to feel like we are in a competition against them. There are countless examples in the media, here are just a few…

‘Is Cardi B the new Nicki Minaj’

‘Kate Middleton versus Meghan Markle’

Why does there need to be a competition? Why can’t two women exist in the same space without being pitted against each other? There are so many male rappers so why can there only be one female?

Marketers also take part in this, knocking women down to sell their products.

Want smooth legs like hers? Buy this cream.

Want to be thin like her? Watch her fitness videos.

Want to be successful like her? Work every hour imaginable and don’t rest.

And then when this inevitably doesn’t work we despise her and feel jealous. This is ridiculous you don’t have to be like her as you are you not her. She is existing as a woman and you are existing as a different woman you don’t have to be the same.

But sadly it’s everywhere. To the point when another woman’s win feels like our loss. We might not like it but it’s there in our brains as society has taught us that there is only room for one. Luckily, that’s not true as there is enough space for every single woman to be successful without having to compete with others. We are stronger together so celebrate each other, lift each other up this international women’s day.

So here I am celebrating my 5 favourite women on Instagram…

1. Cat Meffan

To those of you who follow me you’ll know that I am a little obsessed with Cat. She is a yoga teacher and founder of online wellness platform the Soul Sanctuary. On her Instagram, Cat shares photos from her yoga practice, beautiful poems and advice and of course pictures on her cute dog Norman. Plus she has loads of free yoga flows on her YouTube channel. (@catmeffan)

2. Em Clarkson

Em is an absolutely wonderful person to follow on Instagram. She shares her life (always with lots of humour), funny reels, body positive posts and feel good Friday- celebrating everyone’s successes from the week (what a way to boost positivity!). You can’t look at her content without smiling and she makes me laugh so much! She also has a wonderful podcast called Should I delete that- which I love. (@em_clarkson)

3. Carly Rowena

Carly shares everyday wellness tips, bits of her life, fitness and motherhood. She is a personal trainer and shares workouts on her YouTube channel. But I love following her the most for the real down to earth conversations around life, self love and mental health. Carly shares an inspirational quote every single morning which I really love. She has also written a children’s book called My beautiful body in case anyone is interested. (@carlyrowena)

4. Lottie Murphy

I utterly adore Lottie and kind of want to be her in another life. She is so cool and lovely and her Instagram is such a fun place to be. Lottie is a Pilates instructor and a massive bookworm. She shares book recommendations, Pilates classes and pictures from her daily life (which looks so lovely and includes a lot of almond croissants). Lottie is such a positive energy and reminds me to be kind to my mind and not take myself to seriously. She also has a YouTube channel where she shares lovely Pilates classes. (@lottiemurphy_)

5. Where’s Mollie

Mollie is a travel blogger and wellness inspiration. She shares lots of pictures from her lovely life on the road, at the moment she’s in South America, as well as beautiful poetry and inspiration on connecting to yourself. She is the founder of travel blog, We Are Global Travellers and wellness platform, Adventuring Within. I love how she really lives life to the fullest and actively searches for joy as it inspires me to do the same. (@wheresmollie)

Who are your favourite inspirational women to follow? Let me know is the comments so that we can celebrate more women this international women’s day.

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