Empowering Girls

Being a girl is hard. Really, really hard. “Girl power” has become a rallying cry and popular hashtag, yet girls are more anxious and stressed than ever. Throw in a global pandemic and you’ve got a perfect storm of conflicting messages and mountains of unsettling stress.

What is girl empowerment and why does it matter?

Empowerment: “the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights.”

Building girls’ confidence and strength (inner and outer) is essential for them to manage what has become their norm: exceedingly high expectations and pressure to succeed in every academic and extra-curricular way; the constant ticker-tape overwhelm of social media; the 24/7 job of managing all relationships even as they keep changing; the endless pursuit of the (unrealistic) body ideal; the attempt to find the balance between “having it all” and “having a life;” and even the ongoing threat of safety.

Empowering girls is important because their lives are exhausting and unhealthy. And not just their real lives; their virtual lives, too. It is crucial that they build a solid foundation of self-awareness so they can move through their messy and complicated lives with strength. This strength needs to be cultivated from the inside out.

UPGiRL programs teach girls how to access and develop that inner strength, and provide them with tools to connect mind and body, so that strength radiates out.

It starts with a deep trust of self.

A listening to that inner voice in your gut. A deep understanding that you think with your mind; you feel with your heart; but you KNOW with your gut.