Celebrate movement and beauty

Originally posted September 12, 2011

I took my morning constitutional today. What a beautiful day. September has given way to cooler temperatures. I no longer start sweating the second I step out my front door. What a relief. It rained last night and everything smelled fresh. Some of the leaves are beginning to turn. It makes me so happy. I love fall. Gardens are being harvested, flowers are still out in full beauty, and everything just seems calmer while we wait for nature to move forward. I had the majestic mountains that I love so much to one side of me, and a gorgeous view of the valley and the lake beyond on the other. Life was good. Above us some very loud birds caught our attention as they soared through the air. Cormac leaned clear back in his stroller, looked up, and whispered under his breath "wow." I couldn't agree more. Wow.

But I wasn't just enjoying nature this morning. I was enjoying the feel of the pavement and dirt roads beneath my feet. I love to walk. It makes me happy. I love looking at the scenery. I love seeing new neighborhoods. I love, love, love looking at the houses that surround me. I walked 3.5 to 4 miles today. How blessed I am that I can do that. I'm on Cloud 9 already because I felt this little baby move for the first time yesterday. How incredible, not only can my body walk and move, but I'm blessed to have a little person growing inside of me. What is there not to rejoice about?

Let's switch gears for just a second. Don't worry, I'll bring us full circle. Did you know that this month is National Yoga Month! (Who makes this stuff up? Do you know? I sure don't, but I'm going with it anyway.) As a fan of yoga I am naturally excited about it. Let me tell you a bit about me and yoga. I came to yoga out of desperation. My body was in constant, unexplained pain and I had heard yoga could help. So I got a DVD and gave it a shot. It was so very hard. I couldn't reach my toes. Downward Dog was the hardest thing I had ever done. I couldn't hold it for more than a few short breaths. But after each practice my pain would ease up and I would have a few minutes of beautiful relief. So I kept at it. I was amazed that within just a couple of short weeks I could touch my toes with ease. Downward Dog took more time to feel comfortable (and is still a challenging pose for me thanks to my weak and inflexible shoulders). But what was exciting was what I could do. And how fast my body adapted to yoga. It was like we were made for each other. My body wanted yoga, craved it, and responded well when I would practice. It was love.

It makes me sad when I hear people say they can't do yoga because they aren't this, that, or the other. They are missing the point. Yoga has never been about what you can't do. Yoga is a celebration of what the body can do. So maybe you can't turn yourself into a pretzel, but you can do a beautiful headstand. There are so many possibilities with yoga. And your body changes with each practice. With each practice you can do a little more. Your body wants it. And it's a beautiful and amazing thing to celebrate the things that our bodies can do.

As I was walking this morning I was thinking about how boring the world would be if it were all mountains or all plains. But it isn't. It is diverse and beautiful. And it should be celebrated. The Earth i s a gift that we've been given from God. It should be celebrated. But how much more should we be celebrating our bodies. They are different, diverse, and oh so beautiful. They are gifts from God. Special gifts that He constructed just for us. Each is unique. Each has its own abilities. And each is beautiful and needed.

So celebrate that beautiful body this month. Move in a way that makes you feel fantastic. Try some yoga and this time don't you dare look at your neighbor or the person on your screen to compare what you look like with them. No. Instead acknowledge the greatness that is your own body and movements. You are beautiful. Take a few minutes to celebrate that.

Weekly Challenge

Wow! I don't know about you, but it seems to me that summer took forever to get here. Now that it's here I feel like we're making up for lost time and desperately trying to get in all our summer before it's too late. Just to review, last week we put away our scales and measuring tapes, then we decided that we were going to work out just for the sake of working out and see how it made us feel. I was so excited about last week's challenge, and then I got busy. So busy, in fact that I only worked out once last week. Instead I spent my time changing this:

Into this:

Yes, there is still a ton of work to be done, but this is one project that I have been working on since March, and I'm so excited that I have gotten it to this point. Then we went camping with our neighbors. It was a wonderful time, but exercise fell by the wayside.

I am happy to report that despite my lack of exercising. I did take the time to put my scale away. It was wonderful that way. Last week was. At one point my dear husband told me he thought I was looking a bit slimmer. Instead of rushing off to my measuring tape like I normally do I just enjoyed the moment. I was able to feel good about myself. No pressure. No disappointment. It was great.

So, that brings me to this week. I would like to invite you all to keep your scales in the closet for another week. I think that they can often be a problem and we just don't need that right now. So, keep them hidden. I would like you to join me for another week of exercise for exercise sake. Just because. Let's keep up on that. If you did the challenge I would love it if you would share your experience with me as well. I'm very curious to know how it went. I will be doing it this week for sure to see for myself, but please don't hesitate to share your experience, I would really love to know. It is motivating.

In case you were thinking we were getting off easy I'm adding another dimension to this week's challenge as well. We have focused on our physical bodies a lot the last few weeks which I think is important, but now I feel it is time to move on to something else. This week when you get a compliment you need to take it. That's right, no arguing back. Even with people close to you. Just say thank you and enjoy.

Weekly Challenge

So I didn't make it 6 days of working out last week. I only did 4. But one of the days I didn't workout I was painting a house. Another day I didn't workout I spent a good chunk of the day lifting heavy boxes and bags, so I guess I feel like I did a pretty fair job.

Here is what I learned through last week and what I would like to do for this week's challenge; working out to lose weight does not work. I know that sounds strange, but trust me on this a little. If you are working out with a weight loss goal in mind chances are you will eventually give up in despair. Not always, but sometimes. If you do reach your goal you will then feel as though you no longer need to workout. I know this is not always the case, but I think it often is. Between my experience last week and what I've been reading this week I believe that working out to lose weight does not work.

Last week I weighed myself every day! Every. Single. Day. People, this is not healthy. Sometimes I weighed myself more than once in a day just to see how it fluctuated. Not good. On Friday I was so sad that I hadn't lost weight. I had no expectations for myself that day. I went to my yoga class like that. It was the most amazing class I have been to in a long time. I did things I know I couldn't have done a few weeks ago. It was exhilarating, and I loved it. I came away from that class pondering what was so unique about that day versus the others. What I have concluded is this: working out in order to be healthy and to enjoy working out for it's own sake is wonderful. It is motivating. It is healthy. It is fun!

Have you guessed where I'm going yet? Well, here it is. I want you to STOP working out to lose weight. That's right. I do not want you to stop working out. This week we are going to try to move our bodies at least 4 or 5 days this week. But there is no time we are going for. No huge goal. What we are going for is listening to our bodies. When you begin your workout see how you feel. During your workout listen to your body. If you feel good, push yourself. If you are tired then stop. Or change activities. Just listen to your body. How do you feel after your workout and later in the day? Do what makes you feel good. And most of all rejoice in what you can do. Because you can do a lot.

Oh, and the other thing is that we are putting our scales away. That's right, no more weighing or measuring for a few weeks. Not forever. Just for the time being. Put them in the attic, garage, basement, wherever you can to get them off of your mind. The focus is not on weight at all. Give up on that. Forget about it. Just enjoy being you and being where you are now.

I'm so looking forward to this week's challenge. I hope you will all join me. I think that I have made a huge break through and I hope that others can experience it also. How'd you do last week?

P.S. I'm still planning on working toward my marathon, but this time it is to fulfill a life goal I've had, not to lose weight. So much more motivating.