Change The Conversation You're Having with Your Body
Written By: Kate Clark, from Nourishing Minds Nutrition and The Rooted Place
If you asked me 2 years ago why I wanted to become a yoga instructor, I would have told you “so I can make people feel good in their bodies”. Since then, my “why” has taken on a heavier meaning, but it definitely involves that feel-good feeling.
Now, I use my yoga classes as a way to teach others how to create a conversation with their body. To help them understand that we are not this material body, yet, our physical body is imperative to our experience of life itself.
Our physical body is our ticket into this thing called life.
So, can there really be a “wrong” version of it?
No.
There is no wrong version of a human body.
The longer we sit here and argue over which bodies on this planet are “better”, the more precious time we waste away. But I get it, it’s hard not to sit there and spend time thinking about these things; it’s what everyone else is doing! I wasted years on it myself.
The exciting news: you are never “too far in” to turn around.
It is never too late to choose peace instead of war.
Choosing to love your body could be the longest swim-against-the-current of your life. Don’t let that stop you. Why not? Because it will be the most ever-giving gift of all. Listen. Connect. Repeat.
Here is where to start:
Move your body.
Slowly or quickly, it does not matter. Feel the weight of your physical form take on different shapes and speeds and movements. Notice how your feet transport you to new places. Feel the energy that shoots towards the sky as you jump. Understand the power that is recruited form the muscles in your legs to squat your body low and then pick you back up again.
HOW INCREDIBLE IS THIS PHYSICAL BODY THAT IS YOUR OWN?
Wtf are we doing here? We are creating r-e-s-p-e-c-t. We are cultivating gratitude for the small things; a domino effect in our brain that washes appreciation over every part of our body. If we can understand the level of privilege that is present in having, for example, an able-body, we would never complain about our stomach rolls again. We would be happy to just BE here. ABLE to move around and experience life. These tiny little steps of body awareness turn into body acceptance, and then body neutrality, and finally, body LOVE.
But, start small.
Listen to your thoughts and notice your internal patterns.
What seeds are you watering? Are you setting yourself up for failure with expectations that are out of your reach? Are you being realistic in your goals? Are your values stopping at skin-deep?
Creating awareness of your internal dialogue is crucial to changing the way you view yourself in this world. Specifically, how you view your body in this world.
My favorite mantra of the now that I thought was OH SO helpful for this season of reality we are in + this blog post:
Wait and see
Wait and see
Wait and see
I got this from popular Instagram poet Morgan Harper Nichols
https://www.instagram.com/morganharpernichols/ MHN also has an online shop https://garden24.co where she sells her work on physical items, not just beautiful IG graphics. Go support this multi-talented woman!
If you want extra support in connecting with your body, sign up for our FREE mini-course. The Summer Reset is a free mini-course created for you to help you realize this fact: you’re already summer body ready. And what this means to you is, instead of constantly trying to change your body every year summer rolls around, you can choose to reset how you view your body. So you can feel comfortable and gain confidence in the body you have right here, right now. The Summer Reset will help you reset your mindset towards food, fitness and body this summer so you can stop waiting and start LIVING NOW.
