Be Kind to Yourself
I ran across this picture that my daughter took a few years ago. I was lying in my bed with cucumbers covering my eyes, in an attempt to soothe them. They were sore and swollen from hours of trying to get contact lenses for the first time. It felt and looked like an assault to my eyes and I decided it wasn’t worth it. I chose to stick with wearing reading glasses as needed although I preferred to no longer alternate between taking them on and off as I facilitated workshops.
A few weeks later I found myself weeping as I received a massage. I was shedding tears of sadness for my body and all the things I had put it through. There were tears dripping down my face for all the women and men who do or have done things to their bodies that were unkind, even though it did not feel good. Sometimes we can be so disconnected from our bodies that we don’t feel at all. Sadness for the messages my body and the bodies of others have tried to convey but were ignored.
I was flooded by memories of the abrasive things I had done to my body, that were triggered by my contact lens attempt. For example, as a teenager I squeezed into jeans that were way too tight, tumbled on basketball courts and asphalt tracks as I cheered, and the alcohol I drank at parties. The anger I had toward my body for not cooperating with my agenda caused me pain. In reality my body was trying to tell me something was wrong. I could go on, but you get the idea…
My life took a sharp turn around the age of 25 when I unknowingly exposed myself to arsenic through the usage of bug bombs. I became very ill and my body was malfunctioning in nearly every way. The medical doctors I turned to could not figure out what was going on. Very unaware, I had no idea what I’d done to myself. After many doctors, tests without answers, misdiagnosis and medications I became very frustrated and turned to holistic health.
It was a long hike upward, but I am grateful for the lessons learned and am now in excellent health. I am very appreciative and loving toward my body and enjoy honoring it with care and nurturing. The biggest lesson of my life became the biggest blessing of my life, because I found my way into fulfilling service that I absolutely love!
I’ve been very committed to excellent self-care and to loving myself for many years, but that day I went deeper into my love by going deep into the pain. It was yet another experience of self-forgiveness, as we can always go deeper by doing inner-work as our triggers arise.
Many of us are very hard on our bodies until we realize that they work better when we love and take care of them. I share this story to encourage others to be gentle and kind toward your bodies. When we take great care of our physical bodies, all things seem to flow better. The mind and body are inter-connected, so even the thoughts we have about ourselves affect our physical bodies. As humans we have the capability of being our worst critics, yet what we most need is love for and from ourselves.
Self-care and self-love are excellent preventions of disease (notice the word Dis-Ease). It’s an inside job and it starts within us. Love can heal all things and the sooner we connect with our love and turn it inwards, the quicker we get the relief we need and desire. Loving yourself is not self-involved, it’s self-evolved. As we love ourselves we have more love to give others and help heal the planet through our kind thoughts, words, behaviors, and actions. We impact those around us and the entire collective by being in the frequency of love.