Has your body ever told you a story about yourself? Mine has, but I am not often paying attention.
Sometimes my body tells me stories I don’t like. For example, I had really l-o-n-g labors when giving birth to my two kids. I did not enjoy that. But my experience with childbirth gave me a tangible example of the slow and gradual manner with which I approach change and transition in my life. I did not notice this about myself for a long time. When I did begin to notice it, I often felt frustrated and judgmental that I am like that. However, seeing my internal characteristics reflected physically, through childbirth, helped me to accept this part of my personality and learn to work with myself more graciously and effectively.
This month my body has had a story for me also. Even though I want to lose weight and to get back in shape, I have been unsuccessful at establishing an enduring exercise routine. Yoga is one of the few forms of exercise that I truly enjoy these days. Even though I do enjoy it, and I feel great both during and after practicing, I consistently lose my motivation and momentum and stop after only a few weeks at a time. I come back to it again and again, but never enough at a time to really establish a habit or effect a change in my body.
Reflecting on my physical status, I decided that I was really ready to pursue changing my lifestyle. I decided to start by participating in Marianne Elliott’s 30 Days of Yoga. Marianne is an amazing person and one of my “ordinary heroes,” so you can expect to hear more about her in the future, but for now, I’ll just introduce her as the creator of a month-long virtual yoga program. You can read more about it here.
My intention for this thirty days had to do with integration. My body is in the shape that it is in partly because I am more willing to care for the inside of me than the outside. However, it turns out that my body is attached to me and that it doesn’t work so well to let it fend for itself. So I wanted to use this yoga practice to integrate nourishing my soul with caring for my body. I felt that approaching practice as self-care rather than as corporal punishment would help me move toward that intention.
My interaction with my body has taken me on quite the wild ride this month. I actually sat staring dumbfounded at the computer last night as a quote from C.S. Lewis caused one of the integral pieces of the picture to fall into place for me. I will be posting about this journey in a little series here over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!
“my body is attached to me and that it doesn’t work so well to let it fend for itself”
I looooooove this sentence, and the whole paragraph it’s in.
Integration is an important concept for me, too. I don’t like yoga, but I do like Pilates.
I am eager to hear the quote from C. S. Lewis.
Thanks, Marcy. It’s a good quote, too…but I’m going to keep you in suspense
I learned about myself through labor, too. I get frustrated and impatient if I think things aren’t moving–or moving fast enough. I was quite comfortable in the water during my last labor but completely demoralized because things were going too slowly. I got out of the tub and things suddenly started happening fast–I was happier, more energized, even though I was in a lot more pain. It was an interesting thing to observe, non-judgmentally.
I was just writing something about how we are our bodies. We aren’t just our bodies, of course, but we are our bodies and not just a spirit encased in flesh. Being more in touch with the physical is really important.
Wow, that’s a really helpful thing to learn about yourself. Thanks so much for sharing that story, Annie.
I sympathize with the body talks. Lately, my clothes all seem to be shrinking around the waist. Of course, it’s not a weight thing. It’s a clothes thing.
Ha ha! Absolutely, it’s the clothes. Just don’t go dancing in those clothes.
Ha!! I like this. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one with maniacally cruel and ever-shrinking clothing.
What the…?!! I have to wait to get the quote?!!
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[...] This is the continuation of a story about my experience with 30 Days of Yoga. The story starts here. [...]
[...] puzzled on that last day. As you know, if you have been following this series of posts (starting here), I felt like I got a lot out of the 30 days. However, it had not gone at all like I expected, what [...]