But if you didn't have one
It is so common to talk down, complain or mitigate about the body, yet — what if you didn’t have one?
I know. A radical thought. Yet it doesn’t stop the over-flowing cultural collusion of talking down to fit in.
I recently chatted with Jami DeLuca of Keep ‘em Healthy and it was the easiest podcast chat I have ever had. Why? I got duped into being at ease.
You perform better with a little detachment.
Have you ever noticed this? When something is so very important you can get a little EXCITED and maybe your VOICE goes UP a little and your clarity goes a little down? It happens to all of us.
I left the house one sunny morning so assured of my scheduling and timing — that if it were a movie you would have already predicted how things would shortly flip on their head.
With times blocked, I met a fellow mom beforehand to discuss the ways in which we raise boys (yes, because these are the things moms discuss sometimes) and we were chatting and sharing and sipping on lattes when a reminder went off on my phone informing me the podcast was actually in 15 minutes, not 75 minutes as I had handwritten into my calendar.
[Insert record scratch noise]
I gasped, explained and dashed off, careening home and plopped onto the Zoom. The result was exactly the same as the holistic session I talked about. My preparation mind didn’t have time to deflect so I was there, present, and needed only to speak the truth about work I have been doing for 15 years. It was so much easier than thinking about what to say. I spoke from being present.
A lot of unnecessary brew-ha-ha falls away if we move without our critical mind knowing it. I was able to give fabulous, organic examples of why we ask so many questions in a lomilomi session and how the stories that we carry in our bodies are so much a part of what we give ourselves a chance to be and do have. Jami and I laughed even at the abrupt beginning of the podcast most likely helped with the ease and alchemy. Give a listen here:
*Sidenote, This is helpful for all my service providers to who get something caught in their throat when it is time to speak of their work to consider when they don’t want to be salesy. You don’t have to be salesy — yet you do have to speak on your brilliance.
What does this have to do with having a body?
Maybe acknowledging our body with a little detachment would help, too.
First, when you listen to podcast, think on the way you speak about your body. Do you shrink from the mirror? Do wonder or try to give her what she needs to do her best? Do you think of her and what she is doing so you can read this paragraph, are you on a phone, are you eating, are you standing outside or sitting in the car? Do you just expect her to perform no matter the fuel, the motivation or the support?
Look up. Put left hand to heart and breathe.
See, she is there letting you be, do and have all of these things.
How often do you connect with Her?
I know life is so full and we have so many things to attend to, but without health it is truly difficult to do much of anything else. I think, depending on our season, we often assume a level of health. If we are younger, we can’t imagine the changes. If we are older, we are told changes are inevitable and often times, as I have learned from working with so many people, we ASSUME we have to live with less: energy, eases, and vigor.
I don’t think we have to.
We do have to take variables into account, like time and season. We are not all the same. But that is exactly my point - we are not all the same - why assume that things cannot change for YOU?
If we create a little space between us and our body we might have a better perspective. We might not settle, afraid to ask for any more. We might treat ourselves the way we treat a good friend. We might try micro-movements instead of a social-influenced voice of moderate disdain.
C’mon you know it’s true. But it doesn’t have to be.
Be so caring you can move without anxiousness.
Switch on your knowing, so you can trust what needs to change.
Remember the body isn’t built to “take it;” the body is built to shelter us, and grant chances to create a life we love living.
These realizations can trickle in in the most unsuspecting ways if you let them.
🏋🏽♀️ Here are some ideas to try:
Put a timer on your phone, for twice a day. When it goes off, stop what you are doing, put your hand on your heart, look-up and say thank you to your body.We look up to seek a higher mindset; it’s a shift in perspective; and we spend way, way to much time looking down.
Get outside. Take a walk for at least 15 minutes after you eat dinner.
Stretch at the end of your day. Stretch side to side, drop chin to chest, exhale audibly, try to touch your toes.
🌅Say a prayer of gratitude when you wake-up, and include your body even if you are in the throes of a health journey. Science is catching up with what the ancients and the mystics already knew - -what you think matters, especially to your cells that are listening.
Carry on & don’t forget to dance,
Kate
You got me thinkin!! Thank you :)
❌️⭕️