Falling Back..Into Old Beliefs About Your Body?
Namaste Lovelies,
I don't know about you, but I am really feeling the shift of this season and the winding down of this year.
In many parts of the world we have entered the darker time of autumn having just passed through Samhain, the Gaelic festival that marks the beginning of winter and darkest part of our year.
As the days are becoming shorter and nights longer, I have, in the past, experienced episodes of mild depression and lethargy. Some of things that happen when we resist the shift to dark and colder days.
But one of the ways I have begun to live a much more happy and harmonious life has been by deeply honoring the season and it's offerings, as well as live in rhythm with the cycles of my body.
Mother Earth acting like a compass guiding the way through the ebb and flow of change~ our only real constant in life.
Over the past couple of years I have focused on fine tuning a deep understanding and respect for Mother Earth and her seasons, the moon cycles of Father Sky, and paying close attention to my own personal 'moon' cycle in order to achieve much deeper levels of balance and peace within and around me.
This focus has powerfully shifted my relationship to my body allowing me to have a deeper respect for it, understanding of it, and ultimately transform in to the healthiest version of myself I have ever been... as well as become more comfortable in my own skin.
Just the other day I noticed the quiet inner voices arise of "hmm, these pants fit a little differently" and "hmm, this jacket is a little tighter." I have noticed that in the past few weeks as I have slowed down my practice and my life, my body has gotten fuller.
One of my favorite daily rituals in Lola's afternoon 'yahoo' (what I have to say to get her excited and moving... maybe I will start referring to my practice this way too ;) ). It's during these walks outside where I usually tap in to my greatest inspirations for my writing. Consumed by the world around me, it infuses me with guidance.
Like just yesterday, I was walking with her and noticed a squirrel eating from a pumpkin.
I said to Lola, "look at that pudgy squirrel stocking up for winter and hibernation boo."
A-ha!
There is it was.
I too was in rhythm with our four-legged, fur friends.
A small, quiet reminder from Mother Nature on what our bodies naturally, organically do to prepare us for the coming season.
Sadly though, this is not how we look at it.
There is a cultural neurosis for women around their bodies and especially their bellies.
In fact the staggering statistics around body image issues for women prove this.
I also hear it all the time in classes, from friends, and in overhearing conversations. Women's relationships to their bodies requires a powerful shift and change!
I too spent my twenties in a love/hate relationship with my body.
Hormones, lifestyle choices, and stress contributed to extreme weight fluctuations. So much so that once I even had a student ask me "how far along" I was.
Through yoga and study of Nature's innate cycles and rhythms, I was able to reorient myself and change my relationship to my body.
I didn't practice more, harder, or longer though!
Instead I let go of thinking it was a time to 'work out' and instead shifted my perception of it as a time of radical healing and self-care.
Instead of focusing on energy draining practices, shift to thinking about Yoga as a rejuvenating self care practice that will have the side effects of making you look and feel better.
This is my biggest and most potent 'secret' to how I stay healthy, love my body (even my jelly belly!), and continue to feel really good in my skin... even when those quiet voices arise.
When we feel bad about our bodies or bellies, we feel bad about ourselves, and that trickles in to our lives.
It's a vicious cycle that informs our world and contributes to those feelings of lethargy and depression, or because we are avoiding feeling those feelings perhaps manifest as eating poorly or foregoing our practice...
More guilt, shame, or blame arises circling back to feeling bad about ourselves once again.
As women, we hold so much tension in our bellies and it contributes to a false sense of control and power, which tricks us in to thinking we are 'fine' (can you just hear yourself saying that all the time... I'm fine) when in reality we aren't.
When we begin to honor the season we are in, we can learn how Mother Nature is gifting us with opportunities to reclaim our bodies as the Divine miracles and beautiful temples they are.
No matter your shape or size.
Fall is a time that symbolically represents PMS. So we re-learn to rest. We reclaim that right.
We slow down.
Relax more.
Perhaps feel less social.
Moods change like the color of the leaves.
PSM is also a time when we tend to have the most destructive conversations and relations with our bodies.
This time of year can have a tendency to bring the things we aren't dealing with or that challenge us to the surface.
These feelings, things, or experiences are a catalyst for our growth.
As we slowly enter the time of year when we set new intentions for our lives going forward, I invite you to observe your relationship to your body and belly, to the Fall, and to the challenges you experience around them.
Because, as one of my teachers said "living in harmony with our/Her cycles strengthens us, makes us wiser, and heals us.
Denying them weakens our spirits, our bodies, and our connection to life Herself."
Yoga is the practice of acceptance, awakening, and transcendence.
Take a deep breath in to your beautiful belly, soften it, and let the skewed stories we have been force fed dissolve.
Rest in that deep belly breath.
Feel gratitude in your heart for this one body and all she has and continues to do.
Lastly, continue to get on your mat because aligning with your body flows in to your everyday life and offers much greater benefits than doing crunches, running, or aerobics each day.
In respect,
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