Scrolling
down my news feed on Facebook, I came across an absolutely
brilliant story about Isa-Bella Leclaire. Born with a rare genetic
condition, she takes the challenge to fight for body diversity.
Isa-Bella inspires boys and girls of all ages to embraces their
appearance. Her body-positive message went viral all across social
media and made it's way around the globe. She has since been featured
in Seventeen magazine, People magazine and appeared on a segment by
TLC.
Isa-Bella
Leclair, an Uottawa student from New Brunswick suffers from Parkes
Webers Syndrome (PKWS). Some of the signs and symptoms of PKWS are
Arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) and lymphedema. According to the
Canadian Cancer Society, lymphedema is swelling that occurs
when lymph fluid can’t flow normally and builds up in the soft
tissues of a limb- which causes her right leg to expand to
approximately 40 pounds. Her condition does not label her in any way,
when you first meet Isa-Bella, the first thing you notice about her
is her compassionate and loving attitude she has towards the world.
Q&A
with Isa-Bella Leclair
Q1
ND: What
does “body positivity” mean to you?
IL:
The way I perceive “body positivity” is knowing what you deserve,
and loving yourself, not only your body but also, loving how you
portrait your body. If you want to be happy, the first step is loving
yourself: you need to love your body and acknowledge that
everyone's body is different and love all those differences.
Q2
ND: How
can others celebrate body diversity?
IL:
Celebrate it! Accept that everyone's different. One of my favorite
quotes is “Ugliness is just a failure of seeing” from the
book The humans written by Matt Haig. If you see
something and find something not so “pretty”, just seeing
it in another way, seeing the differences as more than just
“differences” and seeing the positive in it, can really help.
Q3
ND: How
do you live a positive life?
IL:
Find something you love and that inspires you. Put your energy into
something you love. Also, surround yourself with people you love and
try new things you never thought you would be able to do. Challenge
yourself! Acknowledge that your body is just a carve that dries upon
your thoughts and really, everything you do in life, stems from
your thoughts. Just having positive thoughts is the first step to a
positive life.
Q4
ND:
How did you develop self confidence?
IL:
I've had a physical disability since I was born and I grew up in a
family that believed that everyone was different and that was normal,
and everyone was beautiful. But when I got to high school, some
people didn't grow up, the same way as I did and already had an idea
of what was “beautiful” and what was “normal”. I had to
acknowledge that some people didn't grow up the same way as I did and
as a person who's different, it's kinda your “duty” to change
their thoughts. So, I took the challenge, not in a negative way, but
a positive one.
Q5
ND:
When do you feel the most proud of yourself and your body?
IL:
It's when I'm not 'healthy' that I feel sad, because there's no one
taking care of your body. I feel most proud of my body when I wake up
in the morning, I don't feel tired and I feel all energized. Or, when
I find new things I can do with my body that I didn't know I could
do, like new sports or engaging in new activities.
Q6
ND:
In what ways do you take care of your body and keep it healthy?
IL:
I have a 'sleep schedule'. Everyday I go to sleep at the same time
and wake up at the same time. I've been doing this for 2 years now,
and so, my body is used to it. I go to sleep at 10 and wake up every
morning at 7. Sleeping is very important. I also drink a lot of water
and just being careful of what you eat. Eating whole foods is good
for you but you shouldn't deprive yourself from other foods. If you
eat something and you don't feel good afterwards, it should be a sign
that your body doesn't like that. You should eat foods that make you
feel good and energized. Doing physical activities, it doesn't have
to be an extreme sport. I can't do extreme sports because of my heart
but I started doing yoga, which is really good because you can go at
your own pace. Going for walks and taking a breath of fresh air
are also very good ways. Avoid stress, school can be stressful for
some people, but make sure you're studying something you love and
know why you're studying that.
Q7
ND:
What advice would you give to someone who is self-conscious about
their appearance?
IL:
It doesn't just change from day to night, you don't just wake up with
self confidence. It is something you need to work on just like
anything else. You need to practice and build it up. Start with small
steps, just waking up in the morning, smile as you wake up and put a
song that you really like. Starting your day on the right foot. Even
if there's things that bring you down and you look at yourself and
feel bad. Trying not to compare yourself is also a very important
thing. Trying compassion instead of comparison is really good. Not
seeing others as a competition.
Your
body is something that you're stuck with all your life, you have all
your life to take care of it and acknowledge every part of it as your
own and make it your own. When you meet someone for the first time,
you can tell if someone takes cares of themselves. Even if you're
'different' and don't have that 'magazine', 'model' look, if you feel
comfortable in your own body, it will show.
Q8
ND:
Do you think that as a society we are too body focused?
IL:
Yes, for sure. It's not only the body, it's really everything. When
you look at your life, even as a child, you know kinda how it'll be:
you go to high school, then you graduate, you go to college, then you
get a job, start a family then die. This is what you should do. It's
not good that people raise their children thinking that that's the
way it should be. You should have the freedom to do anything you'd
like. You're not born with a image of how someone should look, or how
something should be. It's really brought up to you, through our
culture. It's good to brake these bonds and traditions. With the new
generation, we see that more, people who don't stick to one job,
people that adventure. Also, in magazines, there's a lot more
diversity, like in Covergirl, there was the first boy model. There's
a lot more curvy models and models with disabilities, which is
really cool. Just braking labels and telling yourself why it's that
way, questioning why you do stuff and if that is the right
thing.
Go
check out the article Isa-Bella wrote for The Lymphie Life
: https://thelymphielife.com/2015/06/12/i-always-end-up-still-feeling-good-about-my-body-how-one-woman-with-parkes-weber-syndrome-stays-positive/
Written by Naomi Duggan
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