Day 16- Taking care of the body

I am doing such a beautiful job of attending to and loving my body this month and then I hit *silent whisper* THE DREADED MIDDLE! I love how the middle always manifests as crisis and turmoil, or rather I am fascinated by it. My favorite thing to notice though is how each time I hit a different "middle" I get a little better at recognizing it, shifting my state of being, and moving through it.

Here's how this particular middle played out for me yesterday...
1. I fried my skin at the beach (of course I do not do this, EVER! I am diligent about my sun block, and yet here I am a boiled lobster).
2. I burned myself yet again when I put my hand in our kitchen sink full of water, right after someone had poured the boiling pasta water into it.
3. Ha, I am a slow learner...I burnt myself ONE LAST TIME when I brushed my arm over an empty burner that had been left on.

Can I just say, OK I GOT IT!!! I AM PAYING ATTENTION! WHAT CAN I LEARN HERE?

The answer was easy. After so many days getting set up for this trip, holding space for our group, for Mo and I as leaders, for caring for and arranging a beautiful first 3 days here....I needed to take some time out to care for myself! BY now I have been at this long enough that I am a much better listener than I used to be, and after 3 burns in one day, my ears were burning (so to speak). Just imagine what it used to take me to perk up!

Today I took the day off from our group and going to the beach and hung back at the house instead, to care for my body! I did this by staying out of the sun, taking a lingering shower, an indulgent nap, a beautiful and meditative walk, time out to hear the quiet.

And guess what? I am refreshed and renewed and I made it through another middle, how awesome! I am getting good at this, next time I will probably only need one minor catastrophe before I wake up. :)

There is no message in the sand today because I took care of myself by staying off the sand. So consider this the point of the day...I love myself enough to say yes to quiet and self-reflection when I am called to it.

OM!

Day 15- Love is as easy as you want it to be

OR as hard, you get to decide!

Day 14- Count your blessings while the tide rolls in...

please, if you don't they will be washed away!

Day 11- Loving my body, Loving the Sun

On Wednesday I head to Vieques, Puerto Rico for our annual Balance retreat. I am so excited to be engaged in this experience while sunning and funning on the beach. There is no better opportunity for me to practice appreciation of my body. Winter in Minnesota gives you plenty of chances to "avoid" with all the clothes and layering required. Within this opportunity lies a challenge as well, because after all, less clothes means more scrutiny. Well, we'll see how this goes, I am ready, willing, and able, to love and accept myself where I am, to see the beauty that lies within and without, to be grateful for my unique qualities, inner and outer, and to check the negative self talk when it comes up!

Day 10- Taking a page out of a dog's mindset

Matt sent me this funny e-mail this week from a day in a dog's diary. How refreshing of course to be so positive and excited about life. So today I looked in the mirror and decided to be so excited about my body....


Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Lisa's Body Diary

8:00 am - oh my eyes! My favorite thing!
1 minute later - My nose! My favorite thing!
1 minute later - My arms! My favorite thing!
1 minute later - My shoulders! My favorite thing!
1 minute later - My tummy! My favorite thing!
1 minute later- My back! My favorite thing!
1 minute later- My hips! My favorite thing!
1 minute later - My butt and thighs!....pause... My favorite thing!
1 minute later- My legs! My favorite thing!
1 minute later - My feet! My favorite thing!
1 minute later- I am so beautiful!

Day 3- Oh so sore!

I've trained hard this week and my body is sore. Interestingly I note that somehow with all my work I don't feel I've done enough. I keep thinking I didn't spend the time in the gym that I needed to. And So for tonight I am silencing the inner critic (thanks again to my friend Arlys for that one) and have decided that since my body is so sore, I need to listen to what she is telling me and rest. Here is me, headed to soak in the bath and appreciate that I can feel these muscles, and more importantly listen to them when they are asking for some time off.

Re-flaming the fire- Day 1

The new year is always an opportunity to ask yourself, "Where am I holding back?, Where can I step forward more boldly?" For me this means asking myself what I really want in my life. When I test out this question on myself I am confident that my greatest desire is to move deeper into healing modalities in relation to the body. I ask myself everyday, with every woman I work with, why do they loathe their bodies? And though this seems like a strong word it is the reality of our culture, women are not only disliking the body they live in, they are actually completely critical about how their presence manifests physically in this world. And I ask myself why? (the average body type is not 6', 120 lbs so why do we feel we must be that?), It isn't helping us as women to feel better about who we are and how we are in this world. I am taking this on for the next 30 days as I prepare to step into the ring again and train for a fight. I am asking myself...what is the ideal body type for me?, What feels best for me?, Do I LOVE my body? and if not why? What are the pieces of me that I believe make me less than perfect physically, and why is it less than perfect? Who decides? 30 days of astute attention to my body, my exercise, my food intake, how I feel about all of it, begins now.