Alongside Mental Health Awareness Week (11-17^th May 2026), at Nottingham High School, we are bringing back Love Your Body Week, a celebration of our individual physicality, attitudes and awareness of our bodies and minds.

Below, Ms Luxford, Miss Coles and Mr Samra share their perspectives on what Love Your Body means to them:

The idea of Love Your Body Week is born out of the pressure we seem to face in our everyday lives, to conform to looking a certain way to be accepted in society. Both girls and boys, men and women, are bombarded with images and adverts trying to make us all feel we should look ‘better’, but really this is underlined by big industries trying to capitalise on our insecurities.

 

Why not shift our perspective to all the things our bodies can achieve instead? As I have become an older adult, my aim is for my body to function well and maintain my health so that I can live longer to be with my friends and family. I want us all at Nottingham High School to start appreciating the little miracles we don’t notice on a daily basis of how our bodies effortlessly perform, and in some cases excel, and for us to celebrate and feel grateful for all our achievements!

 

Ms Luxford

Working in Mental Health, I can't help myself but to consider the impact of our attitudes towards our bodies on how we feel about ourselves and perceive the world around us. This year, with the theme of 'Action', we have combined Mental Health Week with Love Your Body week as an opportunity for us all, staff, parents and students, to reflect on how we view ourselves and how this influences the thoughts we have and decisions we make.

 

Growing up in the 2000s, there seemed to be lots of focus on our bodies as a project to be fixed, or something to be edited. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to think of a more grounded, realistic approach to our bodies. We often hear the phrase ‘love your body’, but sometimes in some moments that can feel out of reach. We might not ‘love’ everything about ourselves all of the time, and that is okay. Learning to accept ourselves, without judgement, and focus on neutrality towards our bodies can help to lift an enormous amount of pressure to be ‘perfectly confident’.

 

Love Your Body week provides us with an excuse to thank our bodies for what they are, and consider the way we view ourselves. I recently heard Emma Thompson speaking in an interview: ‘Don't waste your time, don't waste your life's purpose worrying about your body. This is your vessel, it's your house, it's where you live'. The idea of our bodies being our ‘home’ is something that stuck with me – a vessel which enables us to laugh with our friends, run for the bus when we’re late, eat cake, and experience all of the emotional ups and downs that life brings.

 

Miss Coles

Watching recent events like the Winter Olympics and Paralympics earlier this year reminds me of the vast breadth of capabilities we as humans have as physical phenoms. But these reminders aren’t reserved exclusively for elite athletes, as I often feel the same, if not more, levels of admiration seeing our students prevail in their agility and ability during lunchtime clubs, improving their skill level on the playground at break, and becoming stronger and more efficient movers during P.E. and Games lessons.

Movement is a tremendous privilege most of us are fortunate enough to have. From crawling, walking, running, jumping, climbing, lifting and twisting, I am continuously amazed at how we traverse the tasks of daily life and leisure. To me, Love Your Body means honouring how you as an individual move through the day. It’s feeling the joy in how your body type might lend itself to certain activities, exploring new physical skills, and discovering our potential through movement. Love Your Body is respecting and being proud of what you can do as an individual, and enjoying the benefits that coincide with an active lifestyle.

While we think of adults as the teachers of children, young people can in fact inspire older generations in the importance of regular movement, using our bodies in dynamic and fun ways through play, and finding happiness from activity. We can often forget this as we become less mobile yet more busy into adulthood, but playful and consistent movement might just be one of the best ways to remind us to love what our bodies and minds are capable of.

 

Mr Samra