Every week through 2019 I'll be discussing a phrase or word that I relate to self-care.
This week my word is MOVEMENT.
I need to move and my need for movement has not been something I embraced, but as I attune with my inner wise woman and make her my outer wise woman I need to move.
It has taken me years to find the movement that suits me and my body, I've tried and failed at many things yet for me it is something so simple.
Walking - I love walking, particularly in nature but also in new cities and new towns to look for the wonder in the world. I like to walk in the rain, and the sun. I love to walk in snow and on frosty mornings. I like the feel of the ground beneath my boots and the warmth of my cosy jacket in the depths of winter. I've loved walking all my life but only now do I appreciate that it is as essential for me to go on long walks each day as it is to drink or to eat or to sleep.
When I walk daily I feel happier, more energised, I love life. I sleep better and I eat less, when I'm not moving I eat mindlessly, yet the more I move the less I need to eat.
Whether its a brisk walk or a slow lazy walk I give in to the needs of my body and I move. I'm lucky to have countryside walks only minutes from my door, some up hills, some on the flat, but all give me, my body and my soul the nourishment I need, but its not just walking I like. I love movement just movement.
I adore swimming the rhythm of my arms and legs swimming up and down the pool and the feel of the water like silk on my skin. I'm not the best swimmer but my body craves the water and when I'm near the sea I have to go in. Even just to paddle to splash and to move, but ideally to put on my wetsuit and to swim or bodyboard or snorkel and allow the oceans of the world to sooth me.
I love to garden to get my hands in the dirt and to lift and dig and trim and cut.
I'd love have the grace of a ballerina, but I just dance haphazardly as myself around the house. Its' movement and I love putting on some tunes and moving and swaying to the beat.
Yet other movement I struggle with - the gym I can find boring but I need the strength training and if I listen to an audio book then time disappears and again the moments become a rhythm, a happy rhythm.
I long to be supple and move my body into yoga and pilates poses and in the past I'd throw myself into a class and then feel awful the next day. But I'm wiser now and do chair yoga and when I'm ready and the movement flows as easy as it does when I walk, dance, swim or bodyboard then I'll take the next step.
Movement can help us in so many ways, yet often we dive in and try to do it too quickly. Our body may scream no and our brain yes (or vice versus) yet our soul longs for the movement to allow it harmony with all elements within.
Spend this week considering what movement you love, you adore? What does your body like? What makes your soul sing and your mind to relax. Find the right movement for you?
Find anything to make you move every part of your body, embrace yourself and find the flow. It could be dancing, it could be walking, it could be running. Find your movement mojo, try and play with different ways to move and you will find the one right for you.
Bright Blessings
Haulwen