Yoga Girl

loving ourselves just the way we are. Of course we have a hard time
finding an exercise or diet routine to stick to—the whole reason we feel we
need one is that deep down we feel we are not good enough as we are.
Telling yourself you’re not good enough is not loving yourself. Looking
in the mirror and seeing only flaws is not loving yourself. Exercising or
dieting simply because you want to change your body is not loving
yourself. And I don’t in any way mean that exercising is not good for you
—quite the opposite. It’s the way we look at ourselves that we need to
change. e most difficult thing is not to find an exercise or diet routine
that we can stick to, but to deeply accept that we are already okay. You are
okay. You are more than okay! You are beautiful just the way you are.
I say, change it up! Instead of thinking you need to change your body
so you can love your body (“after I’ve lost twenty pounds, I’ll be happy
with who I am”), do it the other way around. Love your body so you can
change it. If we keep exercising in order to change because we are not
already perfect, that exercise is always going to be negative and to have a
negative effect on all aspects of our being—mind, body, soul. You think
staring at yourself in the mirror, jaws clenched, while running on the
treadmill is good for your body? ink again. You think taking away the
joy of eating delicious food is good for your body?
Think again.
We are energetic beings. What you send out, you get back. If you don’t
want your entire life to revolve around the shape of your physical body
(which in the big scheme of things is so insignificant!), you need to realize
this and make fundamental changes from the inside instead. Yoga is good.
It can also be done wrong, sure—practicing without mindfulness can
definitely be compared to running on the treadmill, jaws clenched. Are
you in your body on the mat? Or in your mind? Do you feel the moment?
Or are you focused on nailing that next pose, getting to the next step? Our
minds can turn anything into ego. Which is why again we need to come
back to a place of love.
e good thing about yoga is that it is so accepting, so loving, we can