Showing posts with label our. Show all posts
Showing posts with label our. Show all posts
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Loving Our Bodies At Any Size
Ive had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with my body since I was twelve years old. Thats when I began dieting.
Recently, I was going through some old photographs – me at 12, me at 16, me at 19, me at 23 – and my jaw dropped. Wow. I was drop-dead gorgeous. A competitive swimmer from the time I was eight until I was 22, I had broad shoulders, muscular arms, washboard abs, well-defined thighs and calves. But what I felt at the time sure as heck did not reflect reality. See, I felt HUGE. Enormous. Rotund. I hated my body. I was embarrassed by my curves, my breasts.
Much of what I saw in the magazines, on television and in the movies influenced my perception. Born 25 years too late. If only I had grown up in the 1940s and 50s, when Ava Gardner, Jane Russell and Sophia Loren graced the covers and silver screen. Instead, I looked to Twiggy, Susan Dey and Karen Carpenter. And sadly, they all suffered from disordered eating and body dysmorphic issues.
Ask any woman if there is something about her body shed like to change and youll get a laundry list of answers: “I’d like a smaller butt...bigger breasts...tighter abs...longer legs...a thinner waist....” But the biggest complaint youll hear from women is that they "feel too fat.”
I kept myself out of yoga classes for years because, gulp, I didnt have "a yoga body." I had to slay a lot of demons and quell some very loud voices in my head before I finally mustered up the courage to just be on my mat in a room full of other people.
Hello? Curves ≠ Fat. And yet, every one of those beautiful women pictured above are considered "plus-size" models. Larger than a size 6 in the industry and youre plus size, whether youd actually fit into the clothing or not.
My friend Char whos a midwife is quick to remind me that women’s bodies are soft and round for a reason. Hips widen to accommodate the weight of a new life. And what we call "the pooch" – the slight roundness of the belly – stores needed estrogen. Heck, we have the ability to create and grow life, for heavens sake!
Dont get me wrong. Im not saying that "skinny" girls dont have their own hang-ups about their bodies. Its just that, well, since changing my relationship with food, Ive gone through quite a shapeshift the last 18 months – from being morbidly obese to shedding 140 pounds – and Im just learning to feel comfortable in my own skin.
The inimitable Gala Darling has been running a series of articles on Radical Self Love and shining the spotlight on body image.
I thought Id share some terrific tips from Ms. Darling on how to practice loving our bodies (at any size):
♥ Learn to use your body in a new way. Take a sex course or trapeze lessons. Wake yourself up to the myriad of ways in which you can surprise yourself.
♥ Take a life drawing class. You’ll develop an appreciation for different types of bodies, which might just make you love your own a little bit more.
♥ Throw away your scales. For real. Why do you need them? Baby, you don’t.
♥ Start to view food as fuel as opposed to some kind of enemy. Get educated about what you’re eating. Learn about additives and high-fructose corn syrup. Find out what you are really putting into your body. More importantly, learn what it does to your body – from the physical to the psychological effects. Knowledge is power.
♥ Drink more water! As well as being amazing for your skin and your insides, we often think we’re hungry when we’re actually really dehydrated. If you’re a compulsive snacker, making the switch to water can make a huge difference.
♥ Whenever you have a negative thought about your body, run these four questions through your mind:
♥ Realize that wanting to look like a Hollywood starlet is a very narrow and Western ideal. Hollywood is not everything and that version of “beauty” isn’t beautiful to a lot of cultures. Don’t be afraid to be different. Breaking the mold is how you get things done.
♥ Learn to accept yourself as you are. Your nose, the crinkle in your forehead, the curve of your belly, your long toes, all of these things make up the person you are. They add to your juiciness and uniqueness. This is who you are. No amount of self-loathing, worry or doubt will change those things. Love the one you’re with!
♥ The world is so big. Big enough that we can have 30,000,000 different types of beauty and they are ALL cool, ALL valid and ALL fabulous.
So do I love my body today? Absolutely. Feeling at home in my own skin...thats gonna be an ongoing process...but, I sure do love and appreciate this skin – stretch marks and all.
Tell me: How do you embrace and celebrate your body?
Recently, I was going through some old photographs – me at 12, me at 16, me at 19, me at 23 – and my jaw dropped. Wow. I was drop-dead gorgeous. A competitive swimmer from the time I was eight until I was 22, I had broad shoulders, muscular arms, washboard abs, well-defined thighs and calves. But what I felt at the time sure as heck did not reflect reality. See, I felt HUGE. Enormous. Rotund. I hated my body. I was embarrassed by my curves, my breasts.
Much of what I saw in the magazines, on television and in the movies influenced my perception. Born 25 years too late. If only I had grown up in the 1940s and 50s, when Ava Gardner, Jane Russell and Sophia Loren graced the covers and silver screen. Instead, I looked to Twiggy, Susan Dey and Karen Carpenter. And sadly, they all suffered from disordered eating and body dysmorphic issues.
Ask any woman if there is something about her body shed like to change and youll get a laundry list of answers: “I’d like a smaller butt...bigger breasts...tighter abs...longer legs...a thinner waist....” But the biggest complaint youll hear from women is that they "feel too fat.”
I kept myself out of yoga classes for years because, gulp, I didnt have "a yoga body." I had to slay a lot of demons and quell some very loud voices in my head before I finally mustered up the courage to just be on my mat in a room full of other people.
Hello? Curves ≠ Fat. And yet, every one of those beautiful women pictured above are considered "plus-size" models. Larger than a size 6 in the industry and youre plus size, whether youd actually fit into the clothing or not.
My friend Char whos a midwife is quick to remind me that women’s bodies are soft and round for a reason. Hips widen to accommodate the weight of a new life. And what we call "the pooch" – the slight roundness of the belly – stores needed estrogen. Heck, we have the ability to create and grow life, for heavens sake!
Dont get me wrong. Im not saying that "skinny" girls dont have their own hang-ups about their bodies. Its just that, well, since changing my relationship with food, Ive gone through quite a shapeshift the last 18 months – from being morbidly obese to shedding 140 pounds – and Im just learning to feel comfortable in my own skin.
The inimitable Gala Darling has been running a series of articles on Radical Self Love and shining the spotlight on body image.
I thought Id share some terrific tips from Ms. Darling on how to practice loving our bodies (at any size):
♥ Learn to use your body in a new way. Take a sex course or trapeze lessons. Wake yourself up to the myriad of ways in which you can surprise yourself.
♥ Take a life drawing class. You’ll develop an appreciation for different types of bodies, which might just make you love your own a little bit more.
♥ Throw away your scales. For real. Why do you need them? Baby, you don’t.
♥ Start to view food as fuel as opposed to some kind of enemy. Get educated about what you’re eating. Learn about additives and high-fructose corn syrup. Find out what you are really putting into your body. More importantly, learn what it does to your body – from the physical to the psychological effects. Knowledge is power.
♥ Drink more water! As well as being amazing for your skin and your insides, we often think we’re hungry when we’re actually really dehydrated. If you’re a compulsive snacker, making the switch to water can make a huge difference.
♥ Whenever you have a negative thought about your body, run these four questions through your mind:
- Is it true?
- Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
- How do you react when you believe that thought?
- Who would you be without that thought?
♥ Realize that wanting to look like a Hollywood starlet is a very narrow and Western ideal. Hollywood is not everything and that version of “beauty” isn’t beautiful to a lot of cultures. Don’t be afraid to be different. Breaking the mold is how you get things done.
♥ Learn to accept yourself as you are. Your nose, the crinkle in your forehead, the curve of your belly, your long toes, all of these things make up the person you are. They add to your juiciness and uniqueness. This is who you are. No amount of self-loathing, worry or doubt will change those things. Love the one you’re with!
♥ The world is so big. Big enough that we can have 30,000,000 different types of beauty and they are ALL cool, ALL valid and ALL fabulous.
So do I love my body today? Absolutely. Feeling at home in my own skin...thats gonna be an ongoing process...but, I sure do love and appreciate this skin – stretch marks and all.
Tell me: How do you embrace and celebrate your body?
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Healing Our Planetary Waters
I am water
irresistible.
No obstacle can stop me,
I go over
under
around and through.
I change forms
to steam or ice
or rain.
I bring life
wherever I go.
I touch everyone
I meet.
❧❀❧
Its been a week of wild storms in these parts. Thunder, lightening, high winds, and rain. Torrents of rain.
Internet access has been spotty. Ive been able to jump on for an hour here, an hour there, before the network connection would get knocked out again.
This certainly isnt the post I had planned for today. But in light of the water falling from the sky and the devastation that spreads daily through the oil-slick waters of the Gulf, this is what Im being called to share with you.
These 13 indigenous grandmothers are near and dear to my heart. I hope that you can receive their request with an open heart, answer their call, and share their message with your loved ones.
OUR MOTHER EARTH NEEDS YOUR HELP
Along with many peoples all around the globe, and many water prayers this spring, we are calling for a MASSIVE GLOBAL EFFORT.
Our main intention for this healing is to return the waters to their original pure crystalline blueprint, and to add to their abundance for the nourishment of ALL living things on the planet.
Pray in your local waterways, at the rivers or lakes or streams. Or pray with a bowl of water in the middle of your cities.
Grandmothers will be holding Water Prayers in the following places on May 18, 2010:
For further information, please visit the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers or Golden Eagle Ceremonies.
Internet access has been spotty. Ive been able to jump on for an hour here, an hour there, before the network connection would get knocked out again.
This certainly isnt the post I had planned for today. But in light of the water falling from the sky and the devastation that spreads daily through the oil-slick waters of the Gulf, this is what Im being called to share with you.
These 13 indigenous grandmothers are near and dear to my heart. I hope that you can receive their request with an open heart, answer their call, and share their message with your loved ones.
We, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers,
ask you to join us on May 18, 2010
CONSCIOUS PARTICIPATION IN HEALING
OUR PLANETARY WATERS
OUR PLANETARY WATERS
OUR MOTHER EARTH NEEDS YOUR HELP
Along with many peoples all around the globe, and many water prayers this spring, we are calling for a MASSIVE GLOBAL EFFORT.
Our main intention for this healing is to return the waters to their original pure crystalline blueprint, and to add to their abundance for the nourishment of ALL living things on the planet.
Pray in your local waterways, at the rivers or lakes or streams. Or pray with a bowl of water in the middle of your cities.
“We are Water Babies.
Do not to forget to say thank you every day
for the water you drink,
the water you bathe in.
Without our Mother water we would not survive.”
Do not to forget to say thank you every day
for the water you drink,
the water you bathe in.
Without our Mother water we would not survive.”
~ Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Takelma Siletz, Oregon
Grandmothers will be holding Water Prayers in the following places on May 18, 2010:
- African Rainforest, Gabon – Grandmother Bernadette Rebienot
- Great Lakes, USA – Grandmother Rita Blumenstein
- Mountains of Oaxaca, Huautla de Jimenez – Grandmother Julieta Casimiro
- Desert of the American Southwest – Grandmother Mona Polacca
- France – Grandmother Flordemayo
- Black Hills of North America – Beatrice & Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance
- Plains of North America, Montana – Grandmother Margaret Behan
- Hood River, Oregon – Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim
- Nepalese Himalayas – Aama Bombo
- Brazilian Amazon – Grandmothers Maria Alice Freire & Clara ShinobuIura
- Tibetan Ceremonies in Canada – Tsering Dolma Gyaltong
- Mahia, Aotearoa, New Zealand – Ambassador Pauline Tangiora
- Lake Tahoe, California
- Lake Titicaca, Peru
- Lake MacKay, Australia
- Lake Chad, Africa
- Lake Bikkal, Russia
- Lake Kissyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan
- Lake Geneva, Switzerland
- Lake Superior, Minnesota
- Colorado River Complex
“Water reflects the human soul.
If you say, ‘thank you’ to water, it will be reflected in
the form of beautiful crystals
overflowing with gratitude in return.”
the form of beautiful crystals
overflowing with gratitude in return.”
~ Masuru Emoto, The Secret Life of Water
For further information, please visit the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers or Golden Eagle Ceremonies.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Jump For Joy We Have Our Winners!
Thanks for all the positive feedback on Understanding Candida: Finding A Healthy Balance and to everyone who entered the giveaway for a Kroeger Herb® Candida Kit.
As I mentioned, candidaisis often goes unrecognized and untreated, rapidly creating a downward health spiral as it becomes prevalent in the body. The best way to eradicate candida is to:
1. Modify your diet: eliminate sugar, carbs, alcohol, fermented foods, mushrooms, dairy, yeast, molds, acid-forming foods.
2. Use the Candida Formula #1™ and Candida Formula #2™ from the Kroeger Herb Candida Kit for at least one month. (Please Note: I do not receive any monetary compensation nor free product for recommending this. I do so, quite simply, because its of the finest quality and it works.)
3. Rebuild healthy bacteria: Immediately after cleansing, take the probiotic supplement in the Kroeger Herb Candida Kit. Eat lots of raw cultured veggies. Introducing friendly flora will help combat candida regrowth.
So, lets get to the winners, shall we? Kroeger Herb has graciously offered to send a Candida Kit to two lucky readers, and heres who Mr. Random Number Generator chose: tyrahD and bankrupt vegan. Congratulations, ladies! Happy cleansing...
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