Working with a private client, I asked her to start describing how she felt by noticing something positive about her body. She took a pause and concentrated hard. We both were overwhelmed by emotion when she said, " I draw a complete blank. I don't know how to do this."

She doesn't live with persistent pain.

She as quite active and is constantly pushing herself to improve.

Her body moves incredibly well, able to accommodate strenuous activities like backpacking and snowboarding.

 

It broke my heart to see this beautiful, gifted young woman grapple with such a simple concept of self-appreciation.

Simple doesn't mean easy.

And the reason my heart ached for her because I recognize my own struggle in her words: just several days earlier, on a skiing trip, my partner had commented on how good and strong I looked on steep slopes.

My reply?

"My legs need to be stronger!"

I am so immensely grateful for the practice of mindfulness, because I caught myself right in this moment:

I saw how I blew a kind comment off, only to notice some small deficiency in my performance . That was the exact moment of recognizing how long I've told myself that I am not enough, this way, or the other. And that was also the moment that I chose to step out of that pattern.

" You are right, I am strong, I have trained hard and I am skiing really good today."

What did that do?

Gave me confidence to tackle even steeper runs.

Life's like that, I think.

One doesn't need to travel into the far away land to find spirituality - it is here, waiting for us, in every day simple and mundane moments. We just have to apply mindfulness to the mix.

Now I am getting off track!

This client asked me for some suggestions on where to start and at the time I couldn't say anything coherent - heart moments are like that sometimes. Now, having thought about it for a while - I offer these two practices:

A gratitude journal  as a daily practice.
A jar of awesome to keep memento's of your daily great moments 

Both of these challenge our negativity bias, give us hard evidence that we are enough, and build gratitude and appreciation muscle.

Have a wonderful break from yoga, be kind and tender with yourself, and start your own jar of awesome - if you are willing to accept this challenge!

See you soon.

Love, hugs and gratitude,