Appreciate Your Body

Posted November 29, 2014

This last couple weeks in classes, I’ve been discussing appreciation of the body. It’s been perfect timing with Thanksgiving and the Holiday season, when we often get upset with how our bodies look or feel. I think a lot of us have trouble appreciating our bodies in general. We seem to either take them for granted or really focus on what’s not working. We get an injury or experience tension or sickness and all of our attention goes to those negative symptoms. We get scared about our pain or difficulties and frustrated with our body not functioning as we want it to and then we feel crappy. But what about appreciating all the ways our bodies are working so incredibly well on a daily basis? What if each day, we appreciated our digestion and assimilation of nutrition; the ways we can walk and do yoga poses; the ways we can do chores and do our work in the world? What if we were grateful for each action we took with our bodies?
I’ve been practicing gratitude on a daily basis now for several weeks and I’m truly amazed at how much brighter I feel inside when I appreciate what I have. For me, it’s a way of turning my mind towards the good instead of longing for what I don’t have or focusing on the negative. When I recognize all the good in my body, and of course in my life, I am so much happier!
I invite you to look inside each day and appreciate something amazing about your body. Try it either when you go to sleep, when you wake up, or for the most reward, do it with each action you take in the day.