Our Body Tells The Story of Our Past!

That may not be a very positive or reassuring thing for most folks. But, think about it. We tell our stories by the marks on our bodies. This scar on my right pinky is from a skateboard accident when I was nine. This chipped tooth is from a bicycle accident when I was seven. These three scars on my knee are from two knee surgeries I had for torn cartilage. These stretch marks on the tops of my thighs and on my belly are from having gained a lot of weight in a very short period of time, some during pregnancy, some due to some binge eating behaviors I was allowing to consume my life. Our bodies tell our past.

Our minds are very active and always projecting into the future. We are thinking about ways to get things done, multi task, when I leave here I have to go there. And we worry about future things that we could not even control if they were happening right now, so why do we worry about them? I dunno.

Our breath attaches us to our present. This next breath is the only thing you have any control over. You cannot even project that what it will feel like 100 breaths from now or if you will even be here to breath in 100 breaths. So, just enjoy this one, right here, right now. Inhale slowly through your nose. Draw up the breath like you would if you were sipping through a straw. One long continuous pulling in of air that fills up your belly first, then your ribcage expands and then the breath billows up into your upper chest causing your collar bone to expand and rise. Now, with that same slow motion, exhale through your nose and reverse the process. Feel your collar bone relax down, your ribcage fold in and then your belly button fold in towards your spine. If you focus on the sensation of the breath through each stage, it is virtually impossible to think or worry about anything other than that breath. You will not be thinking about circumstances, problems, or your to-do list. All those things will still be there after you take the time to focus on just three rounds of this breath. In just three breaths you can lower your blood pressure, calm your emotional and logical mind. It really does make a difference in your brain chemistry to bring fully oxygenated blood into the brain and to rid the body of toxins through exhalation that build up when we are stressed or tense. You may not realize it, but we hold our breath, clinch our teeth, and only use the top third of our lungs when we are stressed.

The title of this blog came from my yoga instructor today in the second class I took today. She simple said "Our Bodies Tell the Story of Our Past" and at first I thought, oh brother does it ever! Then after class I was chatting with a group of gals in the shower room and one of them said "Did I hear you say you had lost over 100 lbs?" Every women in the room stopped and looked at me. "Yes, yes I did." It was very flattering to hear their positive comments about how strong and beautiful my body looked and that they never would have known. I acknowledged that I have indeed been incredibly blessed in how my body has rewarded my efforts to eat clean and get fit. And I told them that as proud as I am of my strong shoulders and any publicly visible part, that there are parts that show 'the story of past' and I have to be equally accepting of them as part of my story. So, I allowed them to see part of my body I have not publicly exposed to anyone. And you know what, I was not embarrassed at all. It was like unrolling a road map and saying "This is where I've been and here I am now."

I cannot allow the scars of where I have been tie me to negative feelings. I have traveled an amazing journey, and I could not be here without having been there. And now I will enjoy this very breath, this moment, this time . . . I am in a sweet spot right now. I will not deny that I am an amazingly blessed woman. I serve a mighty God. I know WHOSE I am. That gives me a joy and peace beyond what words can express. I don't have to know the end of this story, I already know the author of my story .

Be blessed, be beautiful, be YOU!