09/07/2023
Are you being kind to yourself?
I love a good workout 🏋🏾♀️ that challenges my heart , mind and body, but not all workouts need to be grueling to be effective!
In the past , I could always push myself , with little recovery , lack of sleep , and not fueling my body properly and be fine. I really took my body for granted. Mind over body.
However, after years of grind , car accident injuries, broken ankle, spine injuries, head injuries, menopause , pushing through pain, grueling long hours on my feet, lack of sleep due to hormone issues, 💤..my body said no more!
When you have always always relied on your good health and fit body , it was hard starting over! A different approach to health and wellbeing!
The complete adrenal burnout , anxiety, hormones haywire, loss of muscle mass, increased body fat , heart palpitations, shortness of breath with little exertion , and with ongoing pain in spine and ankle..I thought 💭 this is not how I imagined my fabulous 50s would be . Especially when I had not stopped my pursuit of fitness and eating clean all these years.
But my body was telling a different story and this was a new chapter.
I had to Learn to listen to my body, rest , destress, and recover! I knew my body was able to heal itself given the right tools. I researched naturopathy, functional medicine and alternative ways of healing. I enrolled in an Integrative Health Practitioner course to learn how to heal myself and then be able to share it with others! I discovered deficiencies and imbalances in my body through in home lab testing, and followed Dr Cabral’s ( integrative health protocols to heal my gut and balance my hormones which was key!
I also had to learn mind body techniques , lean into my prayer life , renew my mind daily with the Bible , practice my faith, trust God,regulate my autonomic nervous system because I was stuck in fight flight mode from trauma.
I also had to train my body in a different way no more high impact! I literally had to start over when I could hardly walk from herniated discs injury! I Got better then someone T b***d me by running a red light and I suffered head trauma, second degree burn on wrist and body injuries all over again! It was the tipping point of stress and trauma on my body overloaded that led to my body no longer secreting cortisol and adrenal insufficiency. The Life was sucked out of me.
I had to go back to basics of stability training no weights, chiropractic adjustments, and focus on activating mind -muscle connection and rebuild myself. Slow training is not in my nature , so it was challenging. I couldn’t even show my clients how to do exercises because I physically couldn’t do it and I didn’t want to leave the bed.
But…..
I didn’t give in to the voice that said your best days are behind you and your future body will be worse and not capable. I questioned how could I train and coach people when I am falling apart?
But….
I chose kindness to my body
I chose to have hope for better days
I chose to not give up
I chose to not listen to the lies
I chose to be adaptable
I chose not to compare myself
I chose to trust God
I chose to seek healing
I chose to learn new ways of mind, body and spiritual healing.
I chose to not strive for my 20yr body but to love the body I am in now!
I started to really have a new relationship to my body! It was like a new project of self discovery’s and a chance to start over rebuild a better wiser, and healthier body for this new season in my life! When you truly learn to love yourself even with all the dysfunctions and truly seek to do no harm and care for your body out of kindness, your body will start to heal.
Your body has a story to tell if you listen. It is wise and it will treat you well when you treat it well. A big step is being able to look at yourself in the mirror and really see your body without focusing on all the flaws and see body as your friend or life partner !
From the moment you were born until the day you die you and your body are together for better or worse. It’s a relationship that you don’t need to fight, hate , ignore, numb to escape it.
We should seek to have a good healthy relationship with our body while we are on this earth because it is the only one we get and I believe our bodies are the temple that we get to experience God and the world with.
I have learned to not neglect it or obsess over it! To not worship it but to worship with it! To steward it well is to glorify God , even when we don’t feel like it is working well.
I am feeling a lot stronger now and have gained back energy through months of rebalancing my hormones, and replenishing deficiencies in my body so that my body can heal itself. I have learned so much through my integrative health studies! I do believe it was a great lesson that I needed to learn to help others , because it enables me to relate to those who have underlying health issues, physical pain from injuries and maybe feel like they will never feel good again.
I hope this may help someone to know that what ever you are going through mentally or physically to not give up on yourself. Sometimes we have to be broken in order to be built back with a stronger foundation and a stronger purpose. I feel like it has energized my purpose.
My passion is to help inspire and empower women to never quit pursuing being fit in mind , body and spirit, so that we can truly live out a purposeful life that makes a difference and not be distracted by the fake cultural imposed views of body image and body shame.
If you need help reach out you are not alone. Your best years are yet to be discovered. If it is not right then it is not over.
