Learn The True Meaning Of What Health Is For Us

I felt low in every area of my life, and this became magnified by my newly active life on social media. I believed I would find relief, not inside my body but somewhere out there. I realized I had an issue with my body when I looked in the mirror one day and the first reaction was, Ugh, I need to do more cardio. On the outside, I looked healthy, but I was far from it. Everyone wanted to know what I was doing to get so fit. I imagined telling them some elaborate and highly detailed healthy eating plan. Then I imagined telling them the truth, On my breaks I just go to the bathroom and make myself throw up. If we are too skinny or too fat, too big or too small, it means we are unhealthy. If we are too old, too young, have too much cellulite or too many wrinkles . To learn the true meaning of what health is for us. If the definition of health is to be free from illness and injury, can we be curvy and healthy at the same time? It should be tailored to the individual. There are far too many of us to count who deprive ourselves to meet a superficial, unrealistic standard.

Be Good To Yourself

One person’s food can be another person’s poison. The best approach for supporting your nutrition is to learn what works for you. When you respect your body, you want to treat it well, like a loving friend. Not like a garbage disposal or an enemy. Most people pay little attention to where their food comes from, how it’s treated, or how it will affect their bodies when they consume it. In addition, the people that do have the means to afford a healthier food option often prioritize convenience over sustainability or health. Studies show that many factors influence our feelings about food and our eating behaviors, including our culture, socioeconomic status, genetic background, and psychology. For example, I was taught that not finishing everything on my plate was disrespectful. We often visited family members and family friends who hosted gatherings and provided meals. None of them were in a financial position to feed a large group of people, but they did it anyway, out of love. So if we were offered something, it was rude not to eat it. The impression this left on me was that even if you are full, you must eat everything to the point of discomfort.

Inaction Breeds Doubt And Fear

If that happens when you are young, it can be challenging to establish boundaries when you get older. After I completed my first yoga teacher training. I delved deep into yoga philosophy. In exchange for classes, I’d clean the studio. I learned about the different yoga schools, and about yoga’s ancient Indian roots. I was exploring yoga as a new career path. I wanted to know what the secret sauce was that made yoga so effective for me. I noticed that while I was in teacher training, I shifted my perspective more often. My teachers would say things like, How you do anything on the mat is how you do everything in life. I was less reactive and becoming more patient. I noticed it the first time while driving on the 405 freeway. You move at a glacial pace.

Out Of Touch

I noticed myself just in the zone, moving through the lanes, patiently waiting for people to pass, making space for people with more important places to be. I also noticed a difference in my ability to speak my truth. Speaking your truth can take many forms. It can be expressing your opinion or how you feel, or stating your own values. It can be telling the truth about how you feel or something that you are going through. Most often, if we hold our truth back, it’s because we are in fear that someone may think differently of us. They may get offended or triggered. Find someone, or a group of people, who can listen to you. There should be at least one person in your life who you can be radically honest with. I had recently blown up their life and gotten fired from their job, so I recruited O to become my first yoga student. We had long conversations about life and what it would look like to help other people. I had learned that the key to feeling less helpless was to help someone else. They were in that euphoria that comes with being newly sober. I’d thought I could stop purging at any time, but I never stopped long enough to see if that was true. What I learned alongside O was that my habit was dangerous and very prevalent among women struggling with addiction. I had a deep impression that I needed to eradicate. She was supposed to be celebrating ten years of sobriety, but she relapsed when she went home to Texas for her father’s funeral. I’m an orphan now, she said. I always said I felt alone in the world, but I wasn’t, I had them and they loved me. Now the only two people in the world who loved me are gone. She continued, I drank everything I could, and then decided I needed to throw it up. As I was over the toilet sobbing, crying out for my mother, I made a choice. As much as it hurt, it was okay to start again from the beginning. So that’s what I’m here to do it. I just looked at each other. Both of us had tears in our eyes. When the meeting concluded, O hugged her and told her she wasn’t alone. The three of us went to a local café for a bite. We talked about life, love, and loss. The three of us were from different backgrounds, we had different upbringings, grew up in different states, but we all understood one another. My friends and family didn’t understand why I would leave the safety of a paycheck.