Re-invent yourself by re-connecting to your body.

This month marks more than turning a page on the calendar.  October signifies a shift in the seasons, too.  In the Fall…

1. The leaves change color
2. TV shows change time slots
3. The students change grades, and sometimes schools.

 And you change into warmer, and sometimes larger, clothes.

 Mother Nature controls the firs point, network executives control the second, and teachers control the third.

You control your clothing choices. Regardless of the season, often you achieve your body’s comfort zone with your clothing choices.

For the sun worshippers: With your last swim, you put away your bathing suit. You replace last summer’s cover-up with cable sweaters, baggy sweats, and swirling skirts. You smile in relief with the knowledge your days of exposing yourself to the scrutiny of the others on the beach or at the pool are over…for now.

For the sun avoiders: You relax in the knowledge there will be no more invitations to pool parties to regret, no more hiding in your home or office until it is “safe” to transition to another environment, no more squinting, sneezing from allergies, and no more sweating.

Fall is an ideal transition between the two extremes of summer’s and winter’s uncontrollable temperatures as it eases you from thin, light weight to thick, heavy weight clothing. Prior to covering her up, take advantage of this shift in seasons to get to know your body…before she goes into hiding on her way to hibernation for the winter.

Fall is the time to declare a truce with your body.

We practice this in the Body Knowledge System®

Here are some reminders but please feel free to add more by contacting me.

• STOP covering her up i.e. Allow her to breathe with pride
• STOP confronting her in the mirror i.e. As you see her let her know how much you love her
• STOP corrupting her with excess i.e. Practice thinking of her needs first
• STOP condemning her with every thought and word i.e. Remember she hears you, be careful

Re-invent yourself and reacquaint yourself with your body, your Buddy. Your body is there to help you, not hinder you. Your body works very well WITH you, FOR you, and always in your best interest. Getting to know her comes with body knowledge. Familiarize yourself with her as she renews her relationship with you. Teamwork, partnership, and support between you and your body accomplish miracles.

A new moon, a new month, a new season leads to a new you. Go with the flow of the calendar and change yourself with the season.

Re-invent yourself and reacquaint yourself with your body, your Buddy. Your body is there to help you, not hinder you.

Before September’s shift from summer to fall, we enjoyed that last burst of heat and sunshine present in Indian summer, the last kiss of the sun prior to the rains and snows of the upcoming seasons. Regardless of where you live, your climate, your urban or rural environment, when summertime fades into fall, the heat recedes into the past season.

Summertime heat affects you and your body in many ways. For some of you the warmth is welcome as you peel off layers of clothing to welcome the weather. Some of you peel off extra pounds from the winter hibernation, too. Others fill their days with good intentions to fit into last year’s bathing suit, then eventually give up and buy the next larger size when August fades into September. Labor Day signifies the swimming season is coming to a close, so all those good intentions fade with the colors of the leaves and you’ll lose those pounds, get in shape for next year’s swim season.

Part of your procrastination is a result of the warmer weather’s effect on your motivation. There’s a reason tropical climates are more relaxed than seasonal ones. As the sunshine warms us naturally, it also mellows us to not take ourselves so seriously. Vitamin D3 comes from the sun and is known to affect our physical and psychological well- being. In northern climates, physicians recommend supplementing our diet with D3 during the other seasons.

Increased temperatures create excessive perspiration. We need to drink more water to maintain our physical and mental health. Dehydration is not only depressing, but also dangerous to our well-being. Since your body is mostly fluid, when you lose too much you lose vital minerals as well and it weakens every aspect of you. Your immune system becomes unable to fight off infections without the minerals you’ve lost in your increased perspiration.

Increased humidity in the summer can also take a lot out of us—not just moisture. As the water content of the air increases, so does the swelling of your extremities: feet, ankles, and hands, fingers. Perhaps the number on your scale remains within 5 pounds of your desired weight, but your clothing seems to shrink as it covers moist, sticky skin. Increased humidity brings your sunny spirit into the shadows, as if you retreat in order to return to your comfort level.

Skin damage from the sun’s rays age us prematurely and is a known source for cancers. Even though the sensation of warmth on our skin elevates our spirit as it colors our skin, too much of any good thing can be toxic. Whether sun worshipping is a part of your daily summertime routine or available only over the weekend during breaks from your office work, it is one of the pleasures available to us during that cheerful season. Vacations, road trips, beach picnics, long weekend holidays, family reunions are all part of that season of expansion, growth, and relaxation for some of us.

Specifically, like flowers some of us open to welcome the rays of the sun on our skin. Others detest the results of summertime heat on the way we look, the way we feel, and the way we move. Some of you bounce from bed, climb into your bathing suit or sundress, slather yourself in sunscreen, and then skip outside with the early rays of the day. Others pull down the blinds, turn down the a/c, and reach for a cold drink to wait for the relief sunset brings.

Summertime heat and all that sunshine can energize you if you respond well to it, or it can drain and depress you by restricting you to the darkness of indoors. The seasons change and regardless of how you feel about summer, you resist change because you are a human being.

Change is the only constant; and seasonal change is as radical as the climate you live and work in. For those in the tropics the change is hardly noticeable, for those in more temperate climates, the transitions between seasons can be subtle or radical depending on the current weather patterns.

Re-invent yourself and reacquaint yourself with your body, your Buddy. Your body is there to help you, not hinder you.

Your body works very well WITH you, FOR you, and always in your best interest. Getting to know her comes with body knowledge. Familiarize yourself with her as she renews her relationship with you. Teamwork, partnership, and support between you and your body accomplish miracles.

A new moon, a new month, a new season leads to a new you.

Go with the flow of the calendar and change yourself with the season.

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TIME IS STRUCTURE:

Years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. We spend our waking hours filling in our calendars, Day Runners, Outlook scheduler with appointments, calls, letters, email, errands, meetings, and other obligations. Time is the great equalizer among men and women; every one of us has the same number of minutes in a twenty-four hour period, 168 hours a week. How we choose to fill those spaces determines who we are, what our priorities are, and expresses our commitment to what we want in our future.

This oh- so- serious – subject deserves a little lightening up!

Enter The Body Knowledge System® a sustainable solution to our health and well being:

DANCE YOUR DAY AWAY!

The elements of dancing lend themselves to everyone’s schedule as soon as we become aware of how to apply them to our activities. It’s your time, it’s your body, and it will become your dance. Take any activity, professional or personal, and apply the metaphor of motion to enhance the experience, improve your production, and enjoy the process! Rather than suffering through your responsibilities, professional obligations, personal tasks; dancing through your day brings benefit beyond your body’s wellbeing and health. The magic of movement increases your breathing that aerates your brain, making your more alert and smarter. Free form motion lifts you emotionally and spiritually as well. As you move to your own music, you strengthen your body with your personal grace. All of these elements increase your confidence, empower your work and play, and your body awareness becomes body AWE!

CHOREOGRAPHY

Planning, coordinating, and learning apply to every performance whether on the stage or at your desk, in your home or on the field, at work or at play. When you check your calendar, you notice the restrictions, the limits of each period.  Like chains wrapped around your body, stifling your creativity, the tick-tock of time confines your body and your mind to the allotted space—at the same time, it cramps your mind and stuffs your spirit.

After imagining your dance, the next element of choreography is warming up the muscles prior to motion. Whether you’re studying for a test, preparing to write a business email, planning a menu, researching a report, the first step is preparation. As a dancer stretches and breathes consciously for release and relaxation, a working person prepares for the assigned task that is part of their job description.

Theatrical wisdom reinforces the importance of practice and preparation prior to performance. Regardless if your scheduled hour or day contains professional obligations or personal play, you’ll enjoy filling those minutes once you’ve warmed up in anticipation of the quality of your performance.

Warm up on the dance floor is physical and motivated by your body. Warm up for each activity during your day to create more productivity during the time you are filling with action. The prep benefits your body, oxygenates your mind, and inspires your spirit.

Try this tomorrow: When you awaken, stretch your muscles beginning with your toes and work your way up to the top of your head. Once out of bed, extend your fingertips over your head, out to your sides, and gently down to the floor in front of you. Scrunch your shoulders as you inhale deeply, and then relax your shoulders as you exhale.

Feel the music?

Hear your body purring in appreciation?

Move your happy feet and get on with your day!

Relish in Today & Take On Tomorrow

PERFORMANCE

Looking at your watch, checking your Day timer, you smile in anticipation of your next activity. Warming up before taking the first step in your dance for that hour will ease the transition between tasks, between mental efforts, between people. If your work requires face to face relationships, either intense or casual, your warm up allows others to interrupt (cut in), change partners, or simply “Exit Stage Left” without causing undue hardship to your or your schedule.

Maintaining the image of your dance throughout your day, allows you to go with the flow. Whether today’s dance is a solo performance, a partnership, a line dance, ballet or a folk dance, your grace, strength, and overall wellbeing brings your best performance to the stage. Depending the dance you select to perform during the period, your movement has the most positive effect on your partners, group, and the audience.

Even though the alarm goes off to signal the end of one activity and beginning of another, your finale awaits you not the impersonal, objective hands of a machine indicating the top of an hour. You may shift from a waltz to a jitterbug, from a tango to hip hop, from flamenco to the electric slide between hours, days, or even minutes, depending on your task, your approach, your feelings about the action and your best approach in the moment.

Try this tomorrow: After appropriate warm-up, perform your activity with your music in mind. Sway in your desk chair, tap your toes beneath your desk, slide across your kitchen, skip to and through the open doors, tippy-toe up the stairs, step up, swing and sway at every opportunity.

Life is a Spontaneous Smash Dance—or it should be!

APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!

Dancing through your activity broadens your perspective, bringing inspiration and awareness to improve your performance. Before the phone rings summoning you to a meeting, before you put your keys in the ignition to drive home, after the last forkful of the evening meal, always remember to TAKE A BOW! Take several bows, you’ve earned the appreciation of your body, your mind, your spirit—and your audience.

Listening to the admiration from inside and outside you, as you cool down and ease into the next hour, the next activity, this is not the finale. Your dance continues into the next warm up, inspired performance and appreciative cool down before the next time period, the next activity.

Try this tomorrow: Before the final curtain, before you close your eyes to sleep, reflect on those spaces in your day filled with action PLUS motion when you dance through the time doing your work. Are you smiling at the recent memory? Of course you are! You’ve sprinkled sparkle on your schedule, you’ve lightened your load, you’ve created anticipation for the next page of your Day timer—and the dance you will do as you fill the hours with accomplishments

Warm up, perform, and cool down.

Take your bows, relish in today and take on tomorrow!

Dancing through your day becomes a habit, a custom, a daily practice.

“Practice Your Dance! Dance Your Practice!”

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Are things out of sync? Its time to know your Body Knowledge Style ©

When exercising, are you:

(pick two)

1. Inspirational
2. Organized
3. Spontaneous
   
4. Analytical?

Chances are you have tried programs in each of the four Body Knowledge Styles without knowing which style you are.

As soon as you know your style, you can design your own program.

• You are Analytical if researching types of movement is your preference.
• You are Organized if moving at a certain time everyday is where you’re most comfortable.
  
• You are Spontaneous if you like singing in the rain at any time.
• And you are Inspirational if moving to music is important to you.

So based on those definitions, tell me what style you think you are.

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Ok, you know all the benefits of moving your body regularly with fun and enjoyment…and you still are not putting exercise into your lifestyle.

So let’s experiment with moving your body with a new perception.

It’s about forming that relationship with your body…give him/her a name…just so that you see him/her as a separate identity.  In this way you acknowledge and cater to her/his needs.

For example, if I came over your house as a guest for one week…and specifically told you I needed support to move my body and take her out for a walk and do some weight lifting daily…wouldn’t you make sure I moved forward with that intention?  Of course you would and without any hesitation!

So this is the same formula you can use with your body.  See her as a separate identity and give her exactly what she deserves!

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The most important relationship in your life is the one you were born with: you and your body. At birth you were one with your body.

Now?

Not so much.

So as an infant when you were hungry, tired, cold, wet, gassy or grumpy you expressed yourself immediately to alert your caregivers to pay attention and “fix it”, make it better immediately!  Sometimes your body’s advocacy brought immediate and appropriate responses to fulfill your need, relieve your discomfort, and make you feel better. Other times your body’s alerts brought little or no response from your caregivers. Regardless of the response, your body’s actions always expressed your comfort level…your relationship was pure, direct and truthful. You and your body were one, a unit always acting in your best interest for mutual benefit.

As you matured, your body’s communications to you were censored by your caregivers. Part of being “socialized” meant ignoring your body’s needs in favor of what was “expected” of you and your behavior.  As the process progressed, your separation from your body increased as you learned to deny her input, ignore her physical sensations, and her “gut” feelings.  Without being aware of the immediate honest feedback from your body, your estrangement widened until your best friend became your worst enemy.

At first you focused on what you considered imperfections you saw in the mirror, and then you covered them up with clothing, make-up, hair styles—or plastic surgery. Regardless of your efforts, your feelings remained the same. Your attitude, your perception toward your body increased your dissatisfaction, your disappointment, and resentment perhaps leading to hatred for parts or all of her.  Your body’s response to the increasing abandonment by her best friend is to make the situation worse, by expressing exactly what disturbs you about her—only this time with exaggeration.

Do the words ‘yo-yo’ dieting have meaning?

Your body is as unique as you are. His or her personality is as individual as you are. Your life experiences helped mold you to become the person you are today. Your body also experienced the events, celebrations, relationships, challenges and opportunities that make up your history. Your body’s experience differed from yours as did his or her reaction to those experiences. Were you ever aware of the difference? If so, how did your body’s reaction affect you? Take a moment to remember a significant event in your life and then consider your physical reaction to it.  Did your body support you or did he or she betray you? It doesn’t matter if the experience was “positive” or “negative” only that it affected you physically as well as emotionally or psychologically. And sometimes the physical reaction was expected because of the quality of the experience, i.e. excitement and joy at your wedding. And sometimes your body reacted in an opposite way from what you expected, i.e. nausea, headache and chills at your wedding. (So the marriage ended in divorce within the year).

The Introduction…It’s never too late to get to know your body as the personality he or she is, because it’s never too late to save the relationship that began at birth.  An awareness of your connection, a willingness to risk befriending the physical self you perhaps have ignored, abused, or simply dismissed since your youth. No need to apologize for your absence, since your body has been, is, and will always be your best friend and BFFs (Best Friends Forever) accept each other for who they are with understanding, not judgment or criticism.

Become aware of your body for an hour, a day, a week. After you are comfortable with your body, that means acceptance without judgment or criticism for your body’s shape, condition, or current health, introduce yourself.

Welcome your body back into your life on a minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, every-day basis. Listen for your body’s input into your choices, decisions, and timing.  Note what happens when you return to trusting your “gut” rather than the “chatter” from your ego.

When you heed the physical input from your body, what happens?

When you ignore the message, what happens?

When your ego trumps your gut, what happens?

“Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You…” (Rogers & Hammerstein, The King and I)

Awareness is always the first step to ending the estrangement with your body.  An introduction requires a name. And like most names, it can change as your relationship changes, becomes deeper, more trusting, more reliable, more expressive. Communication continues through conversation. Part of the conversation is the dance when the magic of motion brings it all together.

This is the core concept of the Body Knowledge System®, my successful sustainable solution to every body’s life goals, desires, and achievements. I developed this over two decades of health and wellness practice and training.  My clients revealed to me my own secret: ending the estrangement with your body, as I had. Now it’s your turn to end your estrangement with your body and get what you want in life: healthy body, healthy mind, and healthy spirit in order to enjoy love and life to the fullest.

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Your Presence is a present to the world

You are unique and one of a kind

Your life can be what you want it to be

Move in your unique rhythm each day and night

Count your blessings, not your troubles

There is always light at the end of the tunnel

Allow yourself to express yourself fully

What dreams can you bring alive today

Decisions are too important to leave to chance

Reach for your peak, your goal, your prize

If you were not worrying, what would you be doing, learning or experiencing

Is a problem worth carrying in your body?

When taking yourself seriously, move, laugh and feel lighter

What is the gift in a challenge or loss?

Remember that a little love goes a long way; remember that a lot goes forever

Remember that friendship is a wise investment

Life’s treasures are people together

Realize that it is never too late to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way

Enjoy Health and Hope and Happiness

Take the time to wish upon a star

… And yes! Remember every day how very special you are!

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Strategy #1:

Use your thoughts wisely. Understand that your thoughts have power. Thoughts have a tendency to become their physical equivalent. This is one of the fundamental laws of the universe.

Another one is the law of attraction, which states that ‘like attracts like.’

Because it is consciousness that creates reality, the kind of consciousness you hold, your vibration, actually creates the kind of life you’re living.

A Formula for you to explore:

Is a thought to a feeling to a behavior to a result.

So how does this relate to moving with your body everyday?

Well, For example:

When my body hears me say: I feel fat today! well, Then that thought becomes a feeling, and both of us feel heavy so then, I am not motivated to move with my body (behavior); I become unconscious and the result is that I go back to my computer (result) and ignore my body and we both feel even more sluggish. Egad!

Versus this scenario:

So let’s ‘re-frame your thought’

And think of a positive word or phrase:

(Opposite of fat = may be light) I feel light…the thought becomes a feeling: I feel lighter with my body so I want to move my body and the behavior/result is that I put on some music and walk around the house or go outside with my body for a walk.

I encourage you to practice this exercise above and see how your body becomes liberated to move and Lo and Behold: you are in integrity with your body. See how she/he responds to your renewed attention. You both will skip down the yellow brick road with joy!

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I recently attended a wedding and although I communicate well with my body I was slightly anxious about going and also having my parents stay in my home for 5 days. My body and me picked out this gorgeous pink, chiffon cocktail dress; from that moment on, I was very conscious with my body with what I ate and how I moved with her during the weeks preceding this event.

Events give us a challenge to be more with our bodies and hear what she really wants.

Let’s face it events form the moments of our lives. We look forward to them with excitement and joy (usually). We cherish the times when we can all get together, when we deepen the bonds with family and friends. That’s because events are something that usually involves a hug! The warmth we feel when we share our lives with others, it illuminates our experience and creates the fabric of our life’s story.

Let me define events. They are anything that takes you out of your routine – they can be happy moments, or they can be transitions – all joyful, all full of movement. (You can go more in depth with my book Body Knowledge System ).

That’s why it’s important to get in touch with your body’s first response to the news of the event. This will guide you in sorting out where your expectations and those of others meet.

As you practice being more clear about your relationship with your body, you can adapt to any event. The secret is preparation.
Caution: Some events can take us out of our comfort Zone and this is when you are susceptible to slipping out of your relationship with your body.

So let me give you 3 Body Knowledge Steps that will make all the difference in the world:

#1 Prepare with your Body Knowledge Style©

When you prepare for an event, you want to move with it. Ask your body how she feels about this event, and move with your body. Take her for a walk, do movement, clean out the garage, weed the garden, walk the dog. Whatever feels natural to you, do it. Stretch – or run. Go to the place where you can ask your body – in movement – to tell you how you want to negotiate this event.

The days, weeks and months of your life leading up to an event are inflated with expectations—
yours and those of others. Your body has expectations, too.

#2 Create a Game Plan

Think of an upcoming event. Prepare (as much as you can) ahead of time with how you can compromise with your body so she feels as comfortable as possible.

#3 Get Practical

Expectations of others may challenge our relationship with our body. Some of these are spoken (perhaps in the invitation when the hours and attire of the event are announced), or perhaps by family members or loved ones who will attend with us. Very likely, the reason we’re going to the event is to experience it with these people. So, remember to bring your body with you to the event.

Sidebar: Enjoy yourself with your body so that both of you have an enjoyable time with everyone around you.

Remember movement creates energy and energy breathes life into your soul©.

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Your body already knows everything you need to know to get what you want in life. You were born knowing everything you need to know to make you happy. Your body still has that knowledge, and she’s ready, willing and able to share all of your body’s knowledge with you.

As soon as you become aware of the vast store of knowledge available when you re-establish the relationship with your body, you will feel the difference!  Pay attention to the lightness in your step, to the spontaneous smile on your face, to the warmth you radiate at work and at play.

Relationship is the first Body Knowledge Principle. Most of us know what a great relationship feels like, right? Well, here is your chance to bring your body into your home with your family and friends and colleagues. Doesn’t she give you the help you need while you are doing your work/play? Well, in any good relationship, we reciprocate. So what can you do for her today?

After Body knowledge, you have a secret—one that everyone in the BodyAwe Community shares with each other—and with you, as soon as you join us in our practice of the Body Knowledge System.

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