‘Love Your Tree Campaign’ to Celebrate All Body Types

The Eating Recovery Center is kicking off Eating Recovery Day on June 19th will a new campaign called “Love Your Tree” that will last until the end of the year. Love Your Tree is a creative arts campaign designed to encourage children and adults to think outside the media’s narrow definition of beauty and celebrate the natural diversity of healthy bodies in our world.

The idea behind “Love Your Tree” is to keep in mind that there are as many body types as there are trees in the forest, and all create a different type of beauty. The campaign is inspired by writer and activist Eve Ensler and her play called The Good Body. In her play, she used an image of a tree to challenge society’s narrow definition of beauty. 

According to the Eating Recovery Network, Licensed Art Therapist Julia Anderson was inspired by the message in Ensler’s play. In 2006, Anderson and her team of mental health professionals developed the Love Your Tree program to anchorage diversity of bodies and self-acceptance.

“Eve, look at that tree? Do you see that tree? Now, look at that tree (pointing to another one). Do you like that tree? Do you hate that tree ’cause it doesn’t look like that tree? Do you say that tree isn’t pretty cause it doesn’t look like that tree? We’re all trees. You’re a tree. I’m a tree. You’ve got to love your body, Eve. You’ve got to love your tree.” (Excerpt from The Good Body, 2004 by Eve Ensler). 

The program is entirely based around art and creativity; to get involved in the campaign, The Eating Recovery Network is asking people to make their own #LoveYourTree poster. Participants are encouraged to explore and express acceptance and gratitude for all bodies, including their own. The posters are meant to share this message. As a prompt, the organizers are asking participants to use the message “Like a tree, my body…” to express their feelings. 

“Art is a powerful tool that makes it easier to express oneself. It serves as a safety net for people who may not be comfortable communicating their feelings in a verbal way. The Love Your Tree campaign helps people of all shapes, sizes, socioeconomic status, and race develop positive body image, improved self-esteem, and enhanced media literacy skills, all of which can serve as protective factors against the development of mental illness,” said The Eating Recovery Network.