The holidays were lit! A good one FYI. From near and far we are back for 2019.  Happy new year. From stage left, enter Indulgence and Holiday spirit. #ifyouknowyouknow.  

Early last year, I began taking steps to a healthier lifestyle. To me, that means improving my practice on the mat, healthier eating habits and more recently healthier self talk. None of which I have 100% stuck to so far. I am discovering a few things that are/have helped me, and hopefully you, get and stay on track. 

So, I haven’t touched my mat since I left Nairobi for the holidays. I carried it with me but it did not see the outside of the mat bag. Every day, I would see it and think, “Really?” Anyway the added benefit of having a toddler means there is plenty of running around. That, for me, was a convenient excuse to not practice. In the end I was judging myself. Not fun. Added impact, no actual practice. I am happy I carried it. Unfortunately, I did not get serious in making the time or effort to practice. Facts are facts. Enter stage right, 30 day Ab challenge.

Last year, I linked up with a Nutrition and Health coach to get started. It was awesome. Sharon from Simple Nutrition came home looked at my eating habits and that of my family and made recommendations. By the time I was making this decision, I had made peace with all the delicious “sacrifices” I had to make. It turned out that wasn’t the case, and though I started out with a disempowering thought, I am happy to say I have been making great progress. That wasn’t the only disempowering idea I had for myself. Food is a big part of my identity and I started to see the connection of my lack of commitment to the emotional weight I place on the actual eating and the ritual of eating itself. It’s amazing what happens when you are a yes something. Salads are #everything. Have fun with them. Just remember to mix it in a bigger bowl than you think. Seriously!

Herein lies the great comedic tragedy of life. What you say creates your world! How you talk about your resolutions, goals, husband, wife, child, body and all other things under the sun is exactly what comes to pass. Without being awake to it, I had been saying a lot of terrible things to myself. I use ‘terrible’ here on purpose. Those small , albeit unsubstantiated cracks about myself were the seeds of being unable to create change in that particular area. “I don’t have a core.” Check out during core sequence and wonder why I don’t have abs! Genius , right?!  Or this one… “If I say what I really feel, they’ll think I am needy. ” So say nothing until one day, you cant help not speaking and lo and behold, “Aki she is needy!“ I agree with the thought that overexposure to something can dull the senses to it. “The tongue has the power of life and death… ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:21‬ ‭NIV‬‬. You have probably heard this so many times that you may not be awake to what it really means. Read that again… “The tongue has the power of life and death… ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Gloria Steinem famously said, ‘The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.’  In our context here, resolution or no, consider what it is you must learn and what you must unlearn to uncover your best self. And when the thoughts and habits that limit you come… Do like Baron Baptiste says in his book, Perfectly Imperfect, and #Beginagain

See you when I see you.

Julie

The Alleged Yogi.