My healthy lifestyle

Loving myself, my persistence and strength.

I began daily exercise just under a week before Christmas 2012. The Thursday to be exact. I started with my first class of hot yoga with the goal of endurance and strength. Not pushing myself too hard and embracing the experience.

My second class I praised myself for making it to the class. As I do with every class I am proud of myself for being there and for taking care of my body.

Over the Christmas period I began c25k and I’ve developed the time I run from 30 seconds to 90 seconds – pushing myself for 2 minutes solid. I can do it!

Yoga was closed over Christmas and I was invited to the gym with my brother who introduced me to the treadmill and a whole range of muscle building exercises. I’m very grateful to have this experience.

Just a month ago I would flex my biceps and they would look no different from when they were not flexed. Each day I am surprised and so proud of the muscle I’ve developed on my arms, the weight I’ve lost on the sides of my stomach and the development of my once non existent leg muscles.

Exercise has made me more confident. I’m more aware of what I’m putting into my body. The majority of snacks I eat are fruits or oat slices. I’ve found a great protein recipe for tuna which I love eating. I do not eat fast food. And rarely will I drink soft drink.

On New Years Day me and my friends went to McDonald’s for hangover food. I am so happy with my strength in denying that disgusting food. All 4 of my friends ate burgers fries and drank soft drinks and I did not have a bite! Just last night I watched Super Size Me. I know that if its not healthy to eat fast food each day then it’s not healthy to eat it at all. This movie really strengthened my belief that I am an example! To the children I teach and to my future children. Obesity leads to so many diseases, cancers and bodily disfunctions. My body is my temple. And I will not poison it.

(Even after a big New Years Eve celebration I put my running shoes on and had a wonderfully refreshing and fulfilling run!)

You have never EVER tried everything. Never give up eating and exercising – routines will get boring, so try something new!! The most common excuse people exclaim for their obesity is that they had tried everything. Again: you have NEVER tried everything.

After Christmas I went to yoga and found it difficult to concentrate. I was not happy with my session but I was and am not prepared to give up. Regressions happen and some days might not be so good, but this is no reason to fold. My goal for this session was to think of what my goals were for the year ahead. These were to develop patience and kindness with myself and others. My instructor Sue said not to set resolutions because they imply that there’s something wrong with you. Set achievable goals that build confidence rather than unrealistic resolutions that you’ll most likely fail to achieve.

Tonight I went to yoga after my first day back at work from a 3 week break. My work provokes many thoughts in my mind and I find my head is very busy when I finish. Developing concentration away from work is so important for my mental clarity and peace of mind. I am so happy with yoga tonight. I pushed myself and persisted. My goals were to be patient with myself and others. This was really effective in difficult exercises. I was not judgmental of other class members and my focus was better than usual. In breath I repeated that I am strong. I am strong. I am strong. At the end of class I experienced a satisfying meditation. My body was at rest and I was just my breath. I imagined myself as the earth. And as a tree. In my life as a tree I had grown through the seasons to have many branches, leaves and life throughout my body. I was patient with myself through the cold months I lost my leaves, watching them grow again. Growing arms one by one. I was patient with the birds and their nests who grew on my arms. I watched them build and watched them learn to fly. I had patience.

I am aiming to achieve kindness and peace in my mind, and diminishing hatred or negativity that lives in my heart. Love to all humans and creatures.

A change in thinking, a change in events.

I have this wonderful feeling inside that something great is on it’s way. I feel like each day it’s getting closer and I get more and more excited as time goes by.

An idea I’ve agreed with for a long time is that life is an endless spiral of positives and negatives, and sometimes I tend to focus on the fact that it’s inevitable that something undesirable will happen. Not knowing what is in store for me causes me great anxiety on a poor day, but what I need to learn to remember is that, essentially, bad things are going to happen. It’s quite a pessimistic viewpoint, but in some essence, it keeps me sane.  

I’d like to quote Helen Keller where she says:

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.

I think that this quote covers many of my thoughts. Primarily that life can be tough (as each of us already know), but with the bad also comes the good, and that there is a process to reach it. My, we cannot have the good without the bad.

We all have our sparks of hope, perhaps an individual, a creature, a career, a journey – the list goes on.  Our emotions are such powerful things and often we cannot control them and fight to contain them. I know that each human both alive or dead has been through a struggle. I think that all of us know what it’s like to force yourself out of bed, push through a difficult event or to find reasons to keep on going.

Something that I’ve learnt recently is that you are never alone. There is always someone else out there searching for the strength to get through the day too. To know that there is help out there is crucial. We are humans and we all feel in some way or another. Never think that you are battling alone. Be there for others as you wish for them to be for you. As Plato said:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Well Plato, how right you are. In some aspect it’s like when you hit ‘rock bottom’. Personally, I’m a fan of hitting ‘rock bottom’. Am I crazy? Perhaps. To me it means that things simply cannot get worse; they can only get better. From then on my thinking becomes totally altered. In some sense, I think I manage with hitting ‘rock bottom’ better than I manage with ‘falling off the edge and being caught on a branch half way down, uncertain whether I should just keep falling or start pulling myself up’. With ‘rock bottom’ I know that the only way to go is up, and I take advantage of that. The other option… not so easy.

I have grown great admiration for people that can smile and put others first even when they are struggling themselves. I think this is an incredible trait. I often think about how easy it is to frown. I’m certain that every one of us has something they’re unhappy with, perhaps a regret or an unexpected turn of events. Are you reading this and thinking ‘there is something I’m unhappy with in my life’? If so, you are not alone. It is so easy to frown because all of us know how to and all of us can find a reason to. It’s easy. What’s hard is to find the positives in the negatives, even if they’re the needle in the hay stack. Because good things and bad things are really not separate events. They are the weightings of one event or situation that make up the many we will all encompass throughout our lives. It’s what you hang onto from your experiences that changes you.

I find the best way to find the positives in the negatives is by keeping busy. I’ve spent the last 10 months overloading myself with work and volunteer positions that were truly wonderful. I’ve spent many months looking for new things to do and finding things that I’m happy with. Even in times where I felt hopeless (or plain sad) I knew that there was somewhere for me to go or a job for me to do that was valued. Most of the work that I do changes my thinking and is very rewarding.

I’m starting a new volunteer project next  week and I’m looking for work in children’s arts classes, I’ve begun exercising and (for the first time) I’ve begun watching what I eat. I’m happy with the path I’m on working on my outer self, but now it’s time for my inner self. I feel like what’s ahead for me isn’t another job or another hobby, perhaps a new personality or a charismatic character.

To quote both West Side Story and the fantastic remake by one of my favourite artists, Darren Criss:

Could it be? Yes, it could. Something’s coming, something good. If I can wait!
Something’s coming, I don’t know what it is, but it is gonna be great!

Perhaps I’m wrong in saying that something good is simply coming, perhaps something good is coming because I’ve laid down the path for it and I’m ready for welcome it in. Whatever is ahead, I will work towards to accept into my life and make the most of. As someone just told me tonight, “the only thing certain is uncertainty”. How true. I don’t really know what’s ahead, I only know what I have now (if that).

Nevertheless, I’m looking out for the positives in the future to come. Even then, where’s the joy in a roller-coaster ride without a few bumps and spins along the way?

Julia