Getting My Move On

One of the themes that will surely come up again for me this year is the theme of self-love. Ever since I was a baby, I was in the "90%" taller and 90% heavier" category. I was taller than 90% of the boys in my 8th grade class and always the biggest of my friends.

As I got older, I vacillated between moments of loving my body and moments of agonizing over specific body parts that I thought weren't beautiful. It wasn't until after I had my first daughter that I learned to truly love the power, grace, and beauty of my body. I also started to let go of those old body stories that weren't serving me anymore. To be honest, I still have moments of looking at the cellulite on the backs of my legs or the roundness of my belly with judgment and a scrunched up nose. But, those moments become farther apart and shorter in duration the more I look at myself with loving and gentle eyes. And the more I listen to my body to hear what it needs.

Last week was full of wonderful birthday celebrations---lots of food, drink, and well wishes. Sleep, exercise........not so much! Today, my body was asking for some movement so I listened and went for a very hot and inspiring run.

Along the way, I found another thing that I love.......the stream that runs along my street. For me, this was one of the selling points of my house. I love that people come to the stream to play, tube, and flip open the trunk of their cars to relax. Just today, I saw a family of four park their car and head down to the water to get a quick break from the heat. I love that they stopped, even if just for a minute, to appreciate the beauty that was right along side of them. May we all do the same!