York's Henna Mistry on tackling low self esteem by bursting a balloon

The 32-year-old former teacher from York was one of several women suffering from self-esteem issues who were invited down to Battersea Power station in London by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) to take part in an ‘interactive art installation’.

That installation involved writing their negative self-esteem feelings onto paint-filled balloons – and then using a slingshot to fire the balloons at a giant canvas.

Once all the women had let fly, the words ‘burst your self doubt’ appeared on the canvas against the backdrop of the colourful splashes left by the balloons.

“It was so cathartic. I cannot even tell you!” Henna said.

Henna Mistry with Nyleeta Logon in front of the burst balloon artwork at Battersea Power Station (Image: PA)

Henna admits she has suffered from self-esteem issues since she was young.

The feelings often revolved around body image – but as a teacher teaching in a York school after the pandemic they took a new form: impostor syndrome.

Henna, who had given up a job as a biomedical scientist working on haematology and blood transfusion at York Hospital to become a teacher, found that after the pandemic, everything had changed.

She’d spent a couple of years teaching in Dubai before returning to York in 2022.

And she noticed that many children seemed deeply affected by the long periods of lockdown, during which they had been unable to attend classes or properly socialise with their friends.

Henna Mistry (Image: Henna Mistry)

“The way the covid pandemic had affected children was quite apparent,” she said. “It was very traumatising for them.

“It affected children in terms of their mental health, how they learn, their attention levels.”

Like other teachers, she found teaching in the post-pandemic environment hugely stressful: nobody had been in this situation before. She began to suspect that she was a bad teacher, and wasn’t helping the children: a classic case of imposter syndrome.

It reached a point where, last August, she quit teaching.

Henna Mistry on her last day as a teacher (Image: Henna Mistry)

She did some travelling, and now works as a manager at a shop in York while she works out what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

But her message to other women suffering from low self-esteem is that you don’t have to suffer in silence.

She has been helped by regular therapy, she says. There is still some stigma around seeking therapy – but it can be absolutely the right thing to do, she believes.

“Being able to talk without fear of judgement makes such a difference,” she said.

Just being able to acknowledge that you have an issue with self-esteem can help, she says – otherwise it’s something that is just stuck there in your head.

Local charities such as MIND and the Kyra women’s project can help women who suffer from esteem issues, she says.

And she herself has set up a community and social group in York - York Girlies - for women between the ages of 23-40.

It’s intended as a safe space for women to make friends, connect, and feel less lonely.

“Whether you are new to the area, work from home or want to expand your social circle, we know that making friends in your twenties and thirties can be hard,” she said.

You can find York Girlies on Instagram at: instagram.com/yorkgirlies?igsh=M29kM2xja3MxcHVy&utm_source=qr