Reflections, a body positivity and eating disorder awareness student group, began their Love Your Body Week with a series of panels, discussions and other events Oct. 28.

Reflections focused programming on promoting inclusivity within the body acceptance movement, starting the week with a “Yoga for All Bodies” lesson, Oct. 28. Organizers strove to create an “inclusive experience for all levels of ability” and debunk the idea that one should exercise to change one’s body.

According to Reflections member and Love Your Body Week co-chair sophomore Layna Paraboschi, the group chose to emphasize an active lifestyle and body positivity.

The second event of the week was a discussion-based workshop, held Oct. 29. Led by Campus Life Graduate Assistant for Leadership and LGBTQIA* Involvement Ilia Esrig, the discussion included topics such as the lack of representation of people of color in the beauty industry and how to make the body appreciation movement more inclusive of all gender identities.

“When people say to love your body, it’s not exactly inclusive of people [whose bodies don’t] reflect the body that they identify as,” Paraboschi said.

Love Your Body Week also included programming designed to equip students to love their bodies. Marie-Laure Firebaugh, clinical research coordinator at Washington University School of Medicine’s Center for Healthy Weight and Wellness, gave a talk on how to support a friend struggling with an eating disorder or negative body image, noting ways to identify symptoms and talk about the issue.

Sophomore Amy Lin, who attended the event, found it to be a helpful conversation.

“I think it was very informative,” Lin said. “…How you shape conversation was intriguing, like how she said you associate foods with ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ and I’ve never really thought about that.”

Junior Noa Steiner shared Lin’s sentiments, noting she was not previously aware that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

“I think it highlighted how we pick and choose what we consider to be important issues, and I think this is one of the ones that we recognize it hurts people but we don’t always recognize it in full,” Steiner said.

Reflections will host a panel on disability and body respect today, Oct. 31, featuring Washington University School of Medicine Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Kathy Kniepmann, Youth Transition Coordinator at the Starkloff Disability Institute Sarah Schwegel, a St. Louis non-profit which works to support people with disabilities in the workplace and other aspects of their lives, and sophomore Payton Rule, an accessibility advocate who has a neuromuscular disorder called Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT).

“I think there’s a lot of stigma and stereotypes associated with disability in general in society, so I really hope that we can just bring more awareness to the topic of disability and kind of break down some of those stereotypes about what a body should be or how people with disabilities view their own self-image,” Rule said.

Rule hopes to stress that people with disabilities can participate in popular physical activities such as sports, and said “We’re not really defined by our limitations of our bodies.”

The week will culminate in a day-long photoshoot in the Harvey Media Center, Nov. 1. Participants can sign up through a document accessible in the Love Your Body Week Facebook event description for 15-minute slots during which they pose, either alone or with friends, with heart-shaped signs displaying a variety of messages, including “I am more than a body,” as well as a whiteboard so that participants can choose their message.