Beautiful Reality

I went to Wanderlust last weekend with a brilliant bunch of great people, including some big people in small bodies, (which is how I usually refer to children).

It’s a Mindfulness Triathlon which, instead of the usual swim/bike/run, was  5kms walk or run, just over an hour of yoga and meditation to finish.

Melbourne turned on a spectacular day and the walk along Beaconsfield Parade was a great opportunity to catch up on news & share stories. The big people in small bodies also enjoyed playing peek-a-boo from inside their prams.

Doing yoga with 2700 other people, all on our mats, ready to move in a conscious & joyful way had a profound impact on me. When the instructor pointed out that we were all here for a purpose, that we were all connected at that moment, I felt tears in my eyes.

Connection is more than just being with people, to feel connection even with yourself, you really need to pay attention.

I felt part of the bigger whole, I felt connected to each of the people around me, and it felt beautiful. There were people of all shapes, sizes and levels of flexibility who were doing their thing in the sunshine. This got me thinking later about what we think of as real, in terms of our health, fitness and body image.

What we see in the media isn’t real.
Hollywood & celebrities exist to pretend; their job is to sell stories, images and ideas that aren’t real for the purpose of marketing.

One way they do this is by marketing a sense of dissatisfaction with our own, not always glamourous, non-photo-shopped, messy, real lives.  There’s even a marketing term for this, called a ‘pain point’. Hit someone’s ‘pain point’, the theory goes, and they’ll buy what you’re selling as the solution to their problem.

The problem with this is when the marketing convinces you that you have the problem in the first place. Hands up who had heard of a thigh-gap in 2000? Hands down if you understand that it’s not an achievement.

I’m all for feeling your best and looking your best but not at the expense of your sense of self, not when your happiness depends on a number on a scale or on the tag of your clothing.

What about the sass in your step, the fire in your eyes, the spark in your soul? These are all so much more important that the size of your dress.

Tying self-worth to body image can be dangerous. If you’re eating fresh, healthy food, exercising 3-4 times a week, are active enough to keep up with your kids and live your great life, then your body is perfect as it is. 

You are amazing.

“It is only through extensive and continual conditioning that an intelligent human being comes to see herself as an ornament, whose first priority is the attainment of a slender body, rather than as a complete human being who has myriad other concerns and unlimited potential”