In our first decade years, we are pampered, adored, disciplined, loved, teased, respected, and cared for. Our bodies are growing, changing, doubling, tripling, quadrupling in size and presence. I was oblivious to all of this. I can vividly remember soft, child-skin, pudgy fingers, round feet, baby leg hair, dark tanned skin, skinned knees, billowy dresses, patent leather shoes, 70's poncho and clogs looking up. Always looking up. I was growing, and it was all designed by nature.
In our teens, we are uncontrollably changing. The transformation from child to woman is slow, fast, shocking, painful and mysterious. My twenties and thirties were a bit of a blur in the best of ways. I was healthy, energetic, strong and lucky. And then my 40s attacked me one year at a time, and there is nothing I could do about it. I noticed incremental shifts wreaking havoc on my body and instilling a great fear of the unknown, a reversal of adolescence. I have always been active, open to new ways of exercising, and always a runner.
After nearly a lifetime of long distance running, I turned to yo-yo diets, then yoga to combat the slowing down and collecting mass on my body. I have spent years trying to find the fountain of youth, and the elixir has escaped me as I bounced from hot yoga and ketosis to ashtanga and kitchari. I am a mockery of my own intent. I wasted decades not recognizing the gift of health and youth and energy, and none of these temporary solutions can prolong the decades that remain.
2 years ago, I began a journey of ditching all the things I knew, and I decided to try out this new thing - listening to myself. Using food to balance my hormones, using exercise through unconventional methods (I have thoroughly benefited from the Tracy Anderson Method), and more recently, adding HIIT with Shaina Fata, it has become obvious to me that there is no singular solution to dealing with the shifts in weight, mood, or energy levels. There are multiple solutions and learning to be open and listening to our new needs. It’s really challenging to not just push through, to actually rest when I need rest, move when I need to move and be kinder about not being able to eat perfectly every day.
It’s important to listen, learn and explore options, especially now, when our bodies are sending us new signals.
