Greetings everyone,
Firstly, this next week I will be attending the Advanced Relax and Renew course taught by the Queens of restorative yoga, Judith Hanson Lasater, in San Francisco. Therefore, classes this week are canceled and the regular schedule will resume on Tuesday 25 August.
This leads me to my second point and thought of the week which is related to taking an approach of “loving-kindness” towards ourselves and the physical image we hold within that. What prompted this weeks thought, is that in at least three of my classes this past week, people asked questions or made statements related to wanting to change their physical body. Things they were dissatisfied with such as the shape of their thighs or the thickness around their abdomen.
When they asked what they could do to change these things, I suggested that perhaps we needed to have our practice be around compassion for ourselves rather than criticism.
I have been working in the fitness/wellness industry for over 27 years and have seen many, many people wanting to find ways to lose the fat from their belly or legs and will then undertake particular “exercises” thinking that this will get rid of the fat that’s lying over the top of the muscle. As is well proven, fat can’t be removed through “targeting” a particular body part. If that were true, you would see tennis players who play with one hand on both forehand and backhand strokes having one arm with less fat on it than the other. This isn’t true.
So, in my own growth instead of trying to encourage people to do more squats or more ab curls, I am offering a different suggestion of looking at how well our bodies function. Our abdominals are meant to support our spine…do they? If not, focus on how to use your muscles to give you ease of function whether it be strengthening them or lengthening them, or both.
From a more yogic perspective, our bodies are the vessels by which our souls have a physical experience. If we begin to brighten our own spiritual connection, this radiance shines through with such intensity that nobody, including our own self critic, will be able to see the less than media perfect physical uniqueness of our bodies.
I hope you enjoy a beautiful week and are kind-to yourself.
Peace and Namaste’,
Jayne
