The Emotional Body Part 4

Paula Present dancing in her own dance work “Where the Body Ends”

Please read Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3!

Courage: As a frustrated, but never giving up hope teacher, it has been one of my proudest pilates moments. Out of the hamster wheel and into life. It has been a half a year since she shifted into her body. Teachers (pre-covid) were coming up to me noticing her changes. She feels better and looks better, fits into clothes better - her reward for her healthy choices. Losing weight was a positive side effect. Just by cutting out the food allergy, her body can let go of the inflammation survival mode. There is no more pain. It took a lot of self reflection and courage on her part to get out of a low place, into a higher one. But the work doesn’t stop today because she is out of pain. She is only just beginning. If she gets the slightest pain or allergy signal, she listens now. A plan, not fear. She is able to regulate stress and anxiety through meditation and committed herself to not eating her food allergy. Her awareness helps her notice other foods that don’t feel right, and gets rid of those. She practices identifying herself as a healthy person and makes choices aligned with that image. To create a change, getting out of our comfort zone for unhealthy choices we are habitually making is a practice and a daily challenge. The choice is always to either keep moving forward or step back. Everyone has their time and place. Her time is finally now. But just doing Pilates isn’t going to create the connection and change we want. We have to look at the whole body and all systems to explore what might be inhibiting that change, and work and practice on getting rid of it. It is a process. It’s an exploration that is never a straight path. We need to inhabit our lovely homes, not in haunted houses. It takes self reflection, a daily practice of choices, hard work, focus, and courage to get rid of comfort and habits no longer serving you. The trial and error of discovery.

Change: Gandhi says “be the change you want to see in the world” but it has to start with ourselves. What changes do you want to make in your life? There may be many, but pick the most important and start working on that. Look at the system first. System of choices and behaviors we are making which take us away reaching this goal. If you need more rest, are you going to bed too late? If you aren’t exercising enough, are you scheduling it into your day as a non negotiable priority? If you want to lose weight, what foods are you choosing to eat? Set yourself up for success by creating a system for compliance and ability. Change requires discipline and looking at our choices with a fresh lens. Routine can lead to complacency for these choices. If you have always done something one way, is it still serving you? The demands of our bodies will change with age. I suggest looking at the choices that serve you and getting rid of the choices that don’t.