Looking good is NOT ENOUGH. I want to FEEL good too.
Bon dia from Aruba! I am back from spending an entire glorious week in Aruba last week and I am feeling PARTICULARLY inspired and refreshed. I love to read when I'm on vacation. The majority of my time is spent in a lounge chair with my kindle and it always reminds me how much I enjoy being able to sit and read.
On this particular trip I spent a lot of time reading about emotional/psychological health with Dr. Nicole LePera's "How To Do The Work" and physical health with Lily Nichols, RDN book "Real Food for Pregnancy".
If you are a reader like I am, I can not recommend these books enough!
I gained so much insight into emotional and psychological responses and I know it sounds cliche but I felt a lot more at peace with some of my tendencies that I've felt guilty or judged myself for in the past. Dr. LePera does a beautiful job of balancing science with the touchy feely stuff and explaining concepts in a way that helps us consider the possibility that we've dealt with some of these issues rather than accusing ourselves of things.
As for Lily Nichols.... this is a woman after my data-driven heart! No, I am not pregnant, nor am I planning to be in the immediate future, but I am a big believer in fertility as a window into health. When it comes to female health, if you are of child bearing age and hormonally unable to get pregnant that is usually an indication that some improvements can be made to our health. I don't say this to trigger anyone reading this, I just think that it usually serves as a good guideline.
All of this thinking about the DEEP health I am seeking for myself and for you lead me to this idea:
we often spend so much time and energy on wanting to LOOK GOOD... but looking good is not enough.
Not for me. Not for you. We deserve a whole lot more than that.
I want to FEEL good. Don’t you?
I want to feel strong and capable. Which means strength training and building good movement/ technique so things don’t hurt and I can continue to move with grace and agility well into my older years.
I want to feel free with my food choices and be able to trust my body to lead me to the foods, and amounts of foods, that nourish me deeply. Which requires a solid understanding of what foods are made of, which foods are healthy, and a pretty large amount of relearning what foods actually help my body to thrive.
I want to feel calm and resilient. Which means finding new ways to cope with stress and looking at my training and nutrition through the lens of nervous system regulation. It means finding deep comfort in my routine of self care that includes quality sleep, stress management, eating nourishing foods, and moving my body in ways that feel good.
I want all of this.
And I want to look good too!!!
But the funny thing is… the looking good part usually follows suit when you focus on building the “feel goods” first.
When you create an environment for yourself that nurtures your divine self, you’ll find the physical manifestation of that self will reveal itself. And you’ll stop having to look outward for the end result you have been chasing for so long.
So I invite you to join me and focus on the “feel goods”!!!
If I can do it, so can you! See you next week :o)
Ash