Mid January is already upon us, and many of us have set resolutions that may already seem old news. Often those involve improving our health.
So it’s time to ask the question:
Do you love your body?
Ok, how about lukewarm acceptance?
It seems to be a recurring theme with many women I talk to.
I’ll be honest, I’m not really even liking my body much at the moment. After severe surgery in October it looks like a battleground (although as my husband pointed out – at least I won the war).
Things that always came easily to me, strength to carry a case of water up the stairs, endurance to breeze through a 12 hour work day, mobility to shake my hips to the sounds of Pitbull, are all a struggle.
Fortunately I’m on the mend and heading in the right direction and I’ve come to realize there are three crucial elements to being able to LOVE your body:
1) Love where you are. When I look at my journey of the last few months, I feel supported, inspired and grateful. I can sit up on my own (even get off the floor by myself), AND I’m back to teaching classes. Plus while I work on the hip shaking, my shimmy is as good as new.
2) Set your mind and intention on where you want to be. Create a mantra that creates a clear picture of where you want to be (but craft it in the present tense as if it is already true. I’m using “My body is healthy, beautiful and strong. I am pain free.”
3) Create a plan and take action . Three days a week of physical therapy for the next few months, along with returning to regular exercise should improve my hip shaking along with my energy and strength.
True success can’t occur unless all three elements are present, ESPECIALLY the first two.
As for the scars, I hear they build character.