Maybe it just comes with age and experience, but at some point you don't give a damn what anyone else thinks. If everyone would just be happy within themselves, there wouldn't be all the problems in the world. I just fear that we wait until we're much older to have this attitude.
I just recently wrote up my "success" story for the Studio 4 Pilates newsletter about losing 23 pounds after I joined as a member. One of my classmates thought of me and my success story when her friend wanted to start exercise but felt she couldn't do yoga because she was overweight. My yoga teacher asked what prompted me to finally start an intense exercise program? I said the bathroom scale, weight, sore knees, but the question kept mulling over in my head as I lay in savasana that night in yoga. It really was more than just losing weight because my knees hurt. It goes back to having major surgery a few years ago to have my thyroid removed and completely going through a metamorphosis. Maybe you'd call it a mid-life crisis. Whatever it was, I know myself deeper than I ever have before. Losing my thyroid helped me become comfortable with who I am, inside and out. A major change can make you take a totally different path. And you also have a choice in how you deal with that change; whether positively or negatively.
It took several years of exploration, but I'm at the right place now, physically, mentally, spiritually. My life feels balanced. So when my yoga teacher asked what prompted me to take on yoga and Pilates and lose weight, it was more than the scale and aching knees. It was the culmination of my lifetime of experience and dealing with a major crisis in my life to finally have everything make sense. Knowing that if I don't take this one little pill every day or I would be dead within 30 days really made me rethink everything. Don't wait until that moment when you can't turn back, take on life now. You never know what the next moment holds. The greatest adventure of your life happens now.
Frank Jude Boccio and Yoga Journal offers some ideas for a change-friendly inner life:
"Every morning, repeat a gatha (mindfulness verse): 'Great is the matter of birth and death; impermanence surrounds us. Be awake each moment; do not waste your life.' Life doesn't give you breathing room, but if you stop grasping for control of the uncontrollable, you can learn to breathe through it all."
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Lessons from my yoga practice.
Losing weight while sitting still
Clarity happens while you're sitting still, doing nothing, listening to your inner voice, listening to your breath. I started practicing yoga several years ago and all of a sudden everything made sense. If you just stop and breathe every day, go inward, you will find all that you are. My yoga practice has shown me it's not about losing weight or making more money or whatever it is you think you need to do. It's about how you live your life and what you want to accomplish, what's calling out to you. What inspired action can you take? All the other things, weight loss, money, relationships will fall into place on their own when you still yourself and listen to your inner voice and take those actions that inspire you. This is my adventure into the next chapter of my life. I'll be writing about the lessons I learn in my yoga practice and how that has led to my healthier lifestyle. I want to know what your inspired actions are too, so join in the conversation. Some of the topics I'll be discussing are health, nutrition, exercise, spirituality and meditation. Join me while I sit and do nothing!
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About Me
- Kim Ritner
- I'm a photographer and artist living in Santa Barbara, California. I've had a camera attached to my hand since high school. I also love to write and paint. I started blogging to share my creative process.
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