As a kid I ran around in my little body pretty impervious to the ideas of sickness or health with the exception of a few colds and the occasional days Id play sick to try to get a day off school. (No one ever bought it by the way) As a teenager I was confused by my rapidly changing body. It seemed to morph faster than I could comprehend. Ill equipped with the appropriate tools to manage this changing body I became frustrated, overwhelmed and abusive towards it. I spent a year living on primarily grapes and a little cereal. I pounded my fragile joints running on a treadmill for hours on end, watching calories burn hating my body. I popped laxatives like candy and isolated myself from my happy little world all because I was confused and misinformed. Aggravated and disheartened by the negative press of concerned parents, teachers and friends I gave that cycle up. Instead a flipped to completely neglecting my body. I ate whatever junk it is teenagers eat, I got wrapped up in boyfriends, experiments and teenage dramas. In college I more or less just kinda let my body be. I wasnt purposefully destructive or healing. It wasnt until after college that I began to travel. When I moved to China I ate the local fresh cuisine, I rode my bike down to the river and read books every afternoon. I took yoga classes after enjoyable days of teaching English. It was starting to dawn on me that lifestyle plays a pretty important role in feeling good. On the the most subtle of levels, I was starting to get it. It wasnt until I really dove into yoga and Ayurveda that I began to feel the way I thought I should have been feeling all along. I was finally given the tools and the language to comprehend everything I already intuitively knew. I started to undo the lies media and advertising would love us to believe. I gave up diet crap, I started to eat real food, exercise (because I wanted to, not because I had to), unwind and sleep well. I stopped trying to fix my body, ignore it or out smart it. For the first time, I started to understand it. I retrieved my sense of admiration and respect for my healthy arms that could give hugs, eyes that could see clearly, strong jaw that could chew and smile and a resilient heart that could carry me through a vigorous workout or the loss of someone I love. I finally gained an appreciation for the powerful, miraculous and beautiful vessel, the human body. Everyday I find myself excited to learn more, practice my learnings and share it fervently! Not because I want everyone to live this exact way, not because I think this is the only right way, not because I profess to be an expert (Im still very much a student) but because if I knew what I know now I could have saved myself a lot of suffering. While those lessons were necessary and valuable I have full faith in these lessons. The lessons I share, so thank you for listening.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:57:01 +0000
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