Today is the day for thoughts of LOVE. Of course, we scramble to offer a gift of love to our partners. We buy gifts for our kids. We send out cards to those near and dear to us.
But what do we do for ourselves? It is not selfish to love ourselves. It is not selfish to offer ourselves a gift. It is not selfish to plan a night or day, just for ourselves.
Have you loved yourself lately? I mean, everything about yourself, including your flaws. Yesterday, I spent the day with a friend at the Mall of America. Shopping at the MOA is special, as you could spend an entire day there. We were just there for a few hours. We started our afternoon with a wonderful Caribbean lunch, followed by a walk around the Mall. I wanted to try on some yoga pants, so we stopped by the two main yoga stores. I found a pair I liked, and the price wasn’t too bad, so I went to try them on. I was opting for the bigger size when the salesperson pointed out to me that there were parts of the pants that were bagging on me, and with some movement over the course of the day, they would be even loser. She suggested I try on a smaller size. I did, and she was right. They fit much better. And then she repeated the words that I have said to the yoginis who come to practice with me: “Sometimes we have a skewed body image of ourselves and we are afraid to show off our body in the most attractive way.” Loving our bodies is a hard thing to do, especially as we get older and notice all the imperfections that age brings to us. We forget to notice how much our yoga practice changes our body shape, and how much stronger we are, because for some reason, that image of our old body shape lingers with us. We must remember to love our bodies, and flatter them with clothes that fit us right.
Our bodies, our minds, our spirit… all of these must be embraced. See if you can etch out a little time today to give homage to each part of these today, if only for a short time. You deserve it. And if you have the time, come to a yoga class tonight. I have room for drop-ins at the 6:15-7:15 Yoga Bliss class as well as the Meditation Bliss class following at 7:20-7:50.
Namaste!