Hi beautiful!

Today’s conversation is all about learning to trust your body.

Do you trust your body and your ability to nourish it? If your answer is not a Heck yes, then you are probably thinking hmmm do I know my body? Do I really know how to nourish it? If this is you, don’t worry, you are not alone.

The last fifteen months has shown just how easy it is to neglect our bodies needs. Recently I’ve heard from so many of my clients just how much they’ve missed moving their bodies. It’s not that they haven’t had the opportunity, but their normal routine was turned upside down. This often meant they had to move their body at home instead of going to the studio which proved to be a challenge.

Lacking trust in your own body is what can prevent you from caring for yourself in the best possible way, building consistency and feeling empowered with the choices you make.

One of the most important elements on your health journey is truly understanding your body.

Many of the tools I teach inside the Wellness Warrior Group are designed to help cultivate deeper connections with ones true self, to feel confident, an abundance of joy, energy and to intentionally make choices with health and happiness in mind.

One way we do this is through mindfulness, learning how to slow down, and to create the necessary space to feel more connected to our body, mind and spirit.

Practice

Nourish through Food

Before you eat, close your eyes and take three deep breaths to bring you to the present moment and activate the “rest and digest” nervous system in our body. The parasympathetic nervous system promotes healthy digestion.

This allows you a moment of pause before you eat, which helps you tune into your body. You have a deeper connection to the food you eat as a way of providing both nourishment and pleasure. Far too often we eat without really knowing what’s in front of us. We are in such a hurry, often multi-tasking and sometimes eat far too much and are left feeling heavy, sluggish and perhaps guilty.

Slowing down can give you so much insight about your eating habits that will guide you towards eating in a way that is unique to your body type and bodies needs.

Nourish through Joyful Movement

How often do you plan to workout and yet somehow you never do and are left feeling guilty? The words fitness or exercise often has a negative feeling around them. Society has told us for years we should be sweaty, exhausted after a workout, and look a certain way. If we reframe moving our bodies as a source of joy and feeling good it takes a lot of pressure off.

Moving to feel good can look different for everyone on any given day. One day might be a long walk in nature or a quick walk around your neighborhood. Maybe you go for a bike ride and meet up with a friend for a cup of tea. Joyful movement could be a long swim in the ocean, paddle-boarding, kayaking or running barefoot on the beach. You might blast your favourite tunes and throw a dance party at home, stride out on your treadmill or move through a simple squat, pushup sequence. Indoor cycling, an up tempo yoga flow, or slow restorative stretching can also be forms of joyful movement. Anything goes just so long as you get up off your tush and move your beautiful body.

Being forced to move for sixty minutes, or break a deep sweat is not for everyone, so listen to your body and start to recognize what she needs.

Nourish through Mindfulness

Before you commit to doing anything, ask yourself if this will bring you joy, peace or freedom?

If you feel triggered or frustrated by someone, pause. Before you respond and react from a place of defensiveness, take three deep breaths to calm your nervous system and ask yourself why you feel triggered. Let the person know how this makes you feel and why. It’s not your place to educate them but your way of standing up for yourself from a place of self compassion rather than anger.

Write your Sankalpa of service. How do you want to show up in the world and what do you want to offer to the world in this lifetime? When we have a purpose in life that is bigger than ourselves we have the capability to make huge changes for the benefit and wellbeing of all.

Feeling overwhelmed? Nourish through connection

Stop and really tune in to what is causing you stress and overwhelm. Perhaps journal and see what naturally comes up. Often it’s our first thought we push away and yet that’s where deep soul transformation can occur. But you might also struggle to identify with what is causing you feelings of sadness or depression. This is okay too. Just keep writing without needing to edit and notice what starts to appear.

When we connect to our true self, often the one we keep neatly tucked away we start to trust again. When our body sees she is trusted we start to flourish and thrive. This is where we start truly living.

Everything from the food we eat, the beverages we drink, who we invite into our hearts, the work we do in the world, the stories we tell ourselves and the quality of sleep we get is all connected. Recognizing this and having trust and compassion for ourselves is when life gets really juicy.

When we know ourselves, we become the beautiful person that already exists inside each and everyone of us. When we learn to stop struggling with ourselves we can live from a place of love.

Remember, when we deeply nourish ourselves in all areas of life we are well on our way to a long and vibrant life.

With deep gratitude,

Amanda