Helping you to love your body a little more

 

 

Which part of your body do you really like?

Image: Philip Martin.com

 Do you have nicely shaped hands, strong legs or straight teeth? Do you have fabulously thick hair or large expressive eyes? Do people always comment on your great skin or your wonderful smile?

And which parts are you not so keen on?  I’m guessing that it ‘s easier to come up with a list! Your funny feet, wobbly thighs, or less than flat tummy are much more likely to pop to mind than the bits you feel happy with. We look at our body as lots of different parts and give them  scores – good, alright, less than perfect, awful. 

We think ‘If only I wasn’t going grey/had a smaller nose/had less unruly hair/fewer wrinkles… Most of us are not happy with what we have!

Working in my job as an Amatsu practitioner I am constantly observing, touching and moving people’s bodies. And the more I do so, the more I can honestly say that I think they are all beautiful and fascinating. Of course, my clients are not usually models or athletes or any of the other types of people whose bodies we aspire to or dream of having. But all of their bodies are beautiful in their individuality and their unparalleled mechanisms and engineering. They are all beautiful in the way they cope with life and the stories they have to tell – the marks, the scars, the bumps, the breaks. A totally unique history is written there.

I try not to, but I can’t help but see people I work on on two different levels.  I see them – their story, their work, their personality, their dreams, frustrations and pain – and I see their body. I see this amazing, mysterious, wise and yes, beautiful body that is asking me ( or anyone else who cares to listen!) for help. I see the subtle but real clues that their body is giving me that may help to unravel the mystery of why they are feeling discomfort or can’t move properly. The fact that a person can’t turn their head or that they wake up with a tight and painful jaw tells me something. The fact that their knees hurt when they go downstairs or there is a pain between their shoulder blades are clues too -my clients’ beautiful body showing where it is going wrong.

We look at the outside of ourselves and judge it. We forget about the inner, miraculous layers that we never see. And I can assure you – those inner layers are truly lovely. Remember them 🙂

 

Distractions

 

Last week I watched a beautiful and moving Italian film called The Great Beauty. In it, the main character lamented that he couldn’t write a book while living in Rome as it was too full of distractions. It resonated with me, so today I wanted to share some thoughts about it with you.

Distractions are often fun. They capture the interest of the part of our brain designed to be stimulated by novelty. They are often short-lived and pleasurable activities. We all enjoy distractions from time to time in our busy world. But what if those distractions, like for the character in the film, are actually filling our day and getting in the way of us achieving the dreams or ideas that really set us alive? 

A few years ago, I realised my life was getting too full. I was working 4 days a week in an office, running an Amatsu business, seeing friends, enjoying a new relationship, travelling and spending time with family. I also wanted to keep up to date with new films, restaurants, courses and talks. I needed to complete Continued Professional Development courses for my Amatsu work but also had a strong desire to spend more time at Embercombe,  a sustainability centre in Devon.  I wanted to practice yoga and meditate regularly, go walking at weekends and swim at least once a week. Guess what? My life was making me stressed – or more accurately, my idea of what my life should include was making me stressed.  So many of the things that I wanted to do seemed really important. I wanted to exercise, sleep and eat well, be sociable and keep learning, but of course each of those things demanded time. But I didn’t want to give any of them up! 

 But as is often the case in this journey of life, I eventually realised there was a lesson that I had to learn. What did I REALLY want? I forced myself to sit down and truly think about what seeds I wanted to plant in my life now, so that they would flourish in the future. Which people did I want to spend time with that really uplifted, nourished and inspired me? What did I really prefer to do when I wanted downtime and relaxation?

It was quite tough, but I realised that quite a few of the things I was putting my precious time towards were simply distractions. I couldn’t do it all, so what did I really want to do. What could I let go of that would allow more space for those things? So, I unsubscribed from the mailing lists offering me deals on things I would never have thought to do or buy otherwise. I only went to concerts or talks that really really interested me. I stopped buying books on all manner of subjects!  I focused. 

Now this may seem contradictory to some of you who have read some of the other posts I’ve written suggesting that you try something new to boost your creativity or inspiration, but one thing I have learnt is that life is contradictory! Although it might be nice sometimes, there is no instruction manual telling us how to live in the best and most fruitful way. Sometimes life is confusing and we have to find our own way to ride the waves of it. So my offering to you this week is the suggestion to look at your life – and what  fills it – with a fresh perspective. 

What will be the things, people and habits that stay with you through a lifetime? What do you really want to have done by the end of this day, week, year?

 How will you feel if you don’t get this piece of work done, see that film, visit that friend or read that book? Will you have missed a beautiful opportunity, will you not even notice or will you even feel a sense of relief? 

Which things would break your heart if they weren’t in your life?

Use your gut feel and your sense of knowing to ask and answer those questions. 

And then sweep out some of those distractions and get on with living towards your dreams! 

Good luck and have fun!