January is such an interesting month, a paradox of contrasts: on the one hand, there is the excitement and hopeful expectation that comes with a new year, and a fresh start. On the other, there's holiday letdown, the winter blahs, the bleakness of the inner and outer landscape. Yesterday afternoon, a fellow mom sighed and shared, "I'm digging deep to find something to look forward to. Boy, I wish I had a vacation coming up. I feel so letdown after the holidays." For several days after Christmas, I felt this way, too. It's a very common, human feeling: the natural consequence after months of anticipation and celebration. December holds that warm, magical feeling of connection with family and friends; a floating sense of goodwill to those in your circle, on both a small, and grand, scale. But January? How can we embrace January? How can we create something positive, something hopeful, something expectant, for our bodies this month? I just picked up a delightful book, How to Put the Spark Back in Your Marriageand in You, by Australian life stylist Jacqui Easton. She writes about the joy in letting ourselves shine---of helping our inner, and outer, beauty sparkle. This is accomplished in two ways: by "polishing the inside," where we focus on changing our thoughts, our internal dialogue, and our beliefs about ourself. As we transform our negative beliefs into positive ones, we endow our bodies with self-care as a natural by-product of these good feelings. The second path is "polishing the outside," where we focus on loving and caring for our external body. This type of care moves inward, too, as our self-care manifests into greater self-esteem and good feelings about ourselves as a person. It's a simple idea, but practical----and life-changing in its application. I love that it gives you multiple routes, two ways to increase your love for your body. If you're feeling more cerebral, you can choose to adopt a thinking route, and dive into your thoughts and beliefs about yourself. But, if you'd rather save the work of thought transformation for another day, you have the alternative to just be. To practice loving your body by caring for your body. That, my friends, is January's gift. Those long, dark nights? Perfect for getting a luscious 12 hours of rest. The cold, windy days? What better time for indulging in a hot, steamy bath, a facial, a sauna, or a massage? The absence of holidays and busy schedules? Aren't you grateful for time to invest in yourself? Work with the feeling of renewal that comes at this time of year. Channel it: take your desire for something new, for change, and direct it. Feed your appreciation for your temple, your body; root it, ground it, so that, come spring, summer, and fall, it will grow in beauty. So embrace January. Embrace the many chances you have this month to make yourself sparkle, to " polish your inside," and "polish your outside." Purge your closet of unworn or unflattering clothes. Try a new beauty treatment. Find a new hairstyle. Try your hand at making something----jewelry, a scarf, or even a simple skirt---that combines self-care with creativity. Outfit a comfort drawer: author Sarah Ban Breathnach's brilliant idea of a place where you can store simple treasures---a special bath, a scented candle, a juicy novel---for those times when you're craving extra support.
Let yourself be beautiful. If you're going to a party, abide by the fancy dress code, even if jeans and T-shirts are more your thing. Get dressed in the morning, even if you're surrounded by toddlers, or you never leave your house: you'll feel better about you; you'll admire you, even if no one else does. Take the time to paint your nails, even if your toes are ensconced in wool socks. You'll know they're pretty. Relish in your body, relish in your femininity, relish in the delight of creating something beautiful: you. This is loving your body. This is self-care, because self-care is simply love in action. We love our children, our husbands, our homes, in caring for them. We love our bodies by caring for them, too. Unfortunately, as women, much of the "care" we bestow upon our bodies isn't really care at all. Even our resolutions can seem like nitpicking: I need to lose weight. I need to change my diet. I need to exercise more. Yes, sometimes we need to cut back on the fake foods, or move more, or eat more vegetables. Yes, there is a time and a place for those kind of goals and commitments. But balance those commitments with comfort, joy, celebration, ease. Find ways to make yourself sparkle. Sparkle, and you'll find it's much easier to eat broccoli, to exercise when it's 20 degrees outside, to eat one small serving of cheesecake, instead of the whole thing. Those good feelings about your body will transfer into good feelings about yourself, and they will also transfer into good habits. Then it becomes a mutually beneficial circle, where your good habits increase your self-esteem, and your self-esteem increases your feelings of beauty, and your feelings of beauty increases your good habits, and on, and on, and on. This is living with intention. This is body ease. This is loving your body.
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January is such an interesting month, a paradox of contrasts: on the one hand, there is the excitement and hopeful expectation that comes with a new year, and a fresh start. On the other, there's holiday letdown, the winter blahs, the bleakness of the inner and outer landscape. Yesterday afternoon, a fellow mom sighed and shared, "I'm digging deep to find something to look forward to. Boy, I wish I had a vacation coming up. I feel so letdown after the holidays."
For several days after Christmas, I felt this way, too. It's a very common, human feeling: the natural consequence after months of anticipation and celebration. December holds that warm, magical feeling of connection with family and friends; a floating sense of goodwill to those in your circle, on both a small, and grand, scale. But January? How can we embrace January? How can we create something positive, something hopeful, something expectant, for our bodies this month?
I just picked up a delightful book, How to Put the Spark Back in Your Marriageand in You, by Australian life stylist Jacqui Easton. She writes about the joy in letting ourselves shine---of helping our inner, and outer, beauty sparkle. This is accomplished in two ways: by "polishing the inside," where we focus on changing our thoughts, our internal dialogue, and our beliefs about ourself. As we transform our negative beliefs into positive ones, we endow our bodies with self-care as a natural by-product of these good feelings.
The second path is "polishing the outside," where we focus on loving and caring for our external body. This type of care moves inward, too, as our self-care manifests into greater self-esteem and good feelings about ourselves as a person.
It's a simple idea, but practical----and life-changing in its application. I love that it gives you multiple routes, two ways to increase your love for your body. If you're feeling more cerebral, you can choose to adopt a thinking route, and dive into your thoughts and beliefs about yourself. But, if you'd rather save the work of thought transformation for another day, you have the alternative to just be. To practice loving your body by caring for your body. That, my friends, is January's gift. Those long, dark nights? Perfect for getting a luscious 12 hours of rest. The cold, windy days? What better time for indulging in a hot, steamy bath, a facial, a sauna, or a massage? The absence of holidays and busy schedules? Aren't you grateful for time to invest in yourself? Work with the feeling of renewal that comes at this time of year. Channel it: take your desire for something new, for change, and direct it. Feed your appreciation for your temple, your body; root it, ground it, so that, come spring, summer, and fall, it will grow in beauty.
So embrace January. Embrace the many chances you have this month to make yourself sparkle, to " polish your inside," and "polish your outside." Purge your closet of unworn or unflattering clothes. Try a new beauty treatment. Find a new hairstyle. Try your hand at making something----jewelry, a scarf, or even a simple skirt---that combines self-care with creativity. Outfit a comfort drawer: author Sarah Ban Breathnach's brilliant idea of a place where you can store simple treasures---a special bath, a scented candle, a juicy novel---for those times when you're craving extra support.
Let yourself be beautiful. If you're going to a party, abide by the fancy dress code, even if jeans and T-shirts are more your thing. Get dressed in the morning, even if you're surrounded by toddlers, or you never leave your house: you'll feel better about you; you'll admire you, even if no one else does. Take the time to paint your nails, even if your toes are ensconced in wool socks. You'll know they're pretty. Relish in your body, relish in your femininity, relish in the delight of creating something beautiful: you.
This is loving your body. This is self-care, because self-care is simply love in action. We love our children, our husbands, our homes, in caring for them. We love our bodies by caring for them, too. Unfortunately, as women, much of the "care" we bestow upon our bodies isn't really care at all. Even our resolutions can seem like nitpicking: I need to lose weight. I need to change my diet. I need to exercise more.
Yes, sometimes we need to cut back on the fake foods, or move more, or eat more vegetables. Yes, there is a time and a place for those kind of goals and commitments. But balance those commitments with comfort, joy, celebration, ease. Find ways to make yourself sparkle. Sparkle, and you'll find it's much easier to eat broccoli, to exercise when it's 20 degrees outside, to eat one small serving of cheesecake, instead of the whole thing. Those good feelings about your body will transfer into good feelings about yourself, and they will also transfer into good habits. Then it becomes a mutually beneficial circle, where your good habits increase your self-esteem, and your self-esteem increases your feelings of beauty, and your feelings of beauty increases your good habits, and on, and on, and on. This is living with intention. This is body ease. This is loving your body.