These 12 Empowering Swimsuit Pics Prove There Is No One Bikini Body

“I’ve stopped being my own toughest critic”

“In high school, I was pegged as anorexic because I couldn’t gain much weight, barely had any curves, and stood petite at 5-feet tall. It continued throughout my life: when interning at a corporate office in college, I returned from lunch with a slice of pizza on my desk adorned with the message: ‘You need this.’ I was already a painfully shy wallflower, and got used to shrinking into the background in every aspect of life—from work projects to relationships. Fast forward to my 30s, and after having gone through a transformational coaching/self-development program, I learned that I’ve been my harshest critic to date. The key is no one has the power to make you feel ‘different’ or ‘not enough’ unless you let them, so choose love and watch the right people, the right energy, and the right opportunities enter your life. You just have to be open to receiving the beauty around you and within you. That’s why posing in a bikini—after not even owning one after age 15—is empowering. I get to embrace my true self and be free of any judgement, including my very own.” —Christie Kylene. Are you your own worst critic? Here’s how to be kinder to yourself.