Choose Joy Over Judgment

Choose joy over judgment.

Yesterday, I went to my first yoga class since early March. There were some poses I could not do, poses that were once part of my regular practice. There were many poses I could do, but differently than before...before my injuries, before my months of rest, before my body changed to be the way it is now.

I had a choice. I could choose to judge myself and my body, for not being good enough to do what it had once done, for losing strength and flexibility, for not looking or acting the way it used to. Or I could choose joy for myself and my body, for its amazing ability to heal and return to the studio, for its miraculous, mysterious, natural fluctuations in size and shape, and for the sheer pleasure I got from stretching and expanding.

Comparison is the thief of joy...and this includes comparing yourself to your past self, or to your imagined future self. Today, can you find joy in being with your body now, as-is? Can you find gratitude and wonder for all it does? Can you see it, even for just a few moments, as your biggest ally in life and your fiercest protector?

In Eat Hike Love Academy, we’ll explore this concept further and develop tools for finding joy, peace, and confidence in the body we’re in. Are you in? We start October 7th. (No hiking required!) Comment below for more info!