All products featured on Self are independently selected by our editors.
However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
(Spoiler alert: I havent always appreciated my muscles and curves.)
Image courtesy of CNN
I remember her snide expression as she asked the coach, Why does Brookesweat so much?
Out at the shot put circle with Mia and JQ, I felt liberated.
I wasnt fretting about how I looked or sounded.
That confidence, though, wasnt always with me, and at times my body consciousness would creep in.
I had long-standing feelings from elementary school, when the boys bullied me for being so tall and sturdy.
Suddenly my physical appearance was tied to my job success (or at least it felt that way).
Let’s be realTV is a visual medium.
It was difficult to feel like my worth as a reporter was connected to the way I looked.
(For the record, I don’t thinkanyoneshould be judged on their appearance for their job.)
Yet I also worked all kinds of awful hours in those early days.
Translation: Joining a gym was not a priority.
In my second TV job, I lived next to a high school whose track would taunt me.
While I was sporty as a kid, Idreaded those mandatory runs in P.E.
So I decided then and there that I would learn to run.
Slowly but surely, I realized how strong I felt afterward.
Several years and moves later, I landed my dream job at CNN in New York.
Yes, my job was intense.
Yes, there was a lot of pressure to perform.
And yes, at this point in my career, there were a lot more eyeballs on me.
Just like my shot put days, SoulCycle made me feel strong and liberated.
After a back injury sidelined me from SoulCycle, I was gutted.
These were my people.
This was my community.
How would I ever find this kind of sweat/soul session again?
I was craving anothergroup workout.
I noticed that I sometimes thought of my body as something that wasnt for me.
It was instead for being pretty or thin, or worth watching on television.
But it wasnt forme.
This kind of thinking wasnt healthy.
I describe it asHIIT, church, and therapy all in a 65-minute workout.
And much like my shot put days, the act of using my voice can be incredibly empowering.
So many women put their body at risk every day to simply feed and house their families.
So many women live in bodies that dont receive the respect and honor they deserve.
Brooke Baldwin has anchoredCNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwinfor the last decade.
Her first book,Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power,was released on April 6.
