Some Loving Inspiration
A few weeks ago, I was on instagram doing “the usual scroll” when a certain post from a fellow instagrammer caught my eye. I can’t remember the full message, but the essence of the post was that wanting to lose weight was not good, and you should only want to focus on loving yourself. A few comments in on this post, a young woman strongly disagreed with the user who had posted it. She asked, “If you know you’re unhealthy, are you saying that wanting to lose weight is a ...
It was three years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I had just come home from a hot yoga class. I’d been crying in the class. It was one of those cries where your sadness encompasses your whole body to the point you feel numb, and you don’t have any energy left to give. So when you finally release your sadness, your face doesn’t move much. Hot tears simply stream down your cheeks. For me, being in a hot yoga class was a great thing. It meant ...
I’ve been going to yoga just about every day for almost 3 years now. I still can’t do a flying half moon pose … or lots of other poses for that matter. And you know what? It’s fine. I don’t really care. But, I do care that I show up. That I try, have fun, connect with myself, and walk out of that room feeling less in my head space and more in my heart space. You see, even being a yoga teacher, I’m still a student in every way ...
A few weeks ago, I got married. It was a beautiful day. Even though I wasn’t the best bride in-planning (thank you, now husband!), I had a great time with lots of laughs and some very good stories. A couple of those stories are that the back closure of my dress popped off and I broke a chair – ha! After the wedding, I was joking with a girlfriend that thank god my body image issues are behind me. If they weren’t, my breaking a chair and busting through my ...
Here, I was. On the side of the road. In my hometown. Being pulled over for driving 5 miles above the speed limit (eye roll). As the officer came up to my car, asking me why I was speeding, I apologized. I told him I didn’t realize I was speeding and that I was just trying to make it to my yoga class on time. He asked for my license and registration and walked to his car. He came back shortly, handing over my license and registration. Officer: ...
Just as I was walking back from dinner, my girlfriend shot me a text about a comment someone made on my new Facebook profile photo. “Jane Doe’s {name changed for privacy} Facebook comment? I mean come on. Don’t ask that on Facebook.” I had no idea what she was talking about. I deleted the app a couple months back. But, my girlfriend had me intrigued … and a little concerned. What in the world could have been said? I downloaded Facebook and saw the comment… It was from a woman, ...
When I was 16, I wanted to work at this restaurant called Java Grill. It was a burrito joint that did burgers, smoothies, and coffee drinks. It was a seat yourself, grab your food behind the counter kind of place. It was about a 20 minute walk from my house and I could get tips. I wanted a job and I wanted my own money. So, one random summer day, I went in and applied to be a counter person. Right after I handed in my application, I was told ...
In my late teens and early twenties, I was obsessed with counting calories. I didn’t even see food. I saw calories. In other words, I was entirely focused on calories. So calories were all I saw. In my mid-twenties, I’d obsess whether or not the new guy I was dating liked me back. Here, my focus was on someone else’s feelings (or lack of them) for me. And since I was insecure and fearful of being alone, all I saw were signs that my new romantic interest just wasn’t that ...
A few years ago, the man I thought I’d marry, dumped me like a hot pancake. One unexpected night, he shared the news with me at our kitchen table that he was no longer in love and the next morning he was gone. I wouldn’t see him again until a month or so later when we overlapped briefly in our moving out schedules with a heartfelt, tear-felt “goodbye.” I had thought I was (hands raised, pumping with joy in the air) forever done with dating. After this scenario, that just ...
What do you tell yourself? One of the first things I have new clients do is start paying attention to their thoughts about themselves and their body. How often are you assuming or making up stories? Would you talk to your daughter, sister or mother the way you talk to yourself? When you 1st start tuning-in to the thoughts and stories you’re telling yourself – it can be exhausting and super scary. THIS is part of the process. Remember, you can’t really tackle something unless you’re aware of it. And ...
