Feeling alive! Yesterday was a beautiful day. We have been in our new town for a couple of months now. Within that time, I have done some traveling on my own to see family.
Now that I am back, I have really begun looking at this town through permanent eyes, and not those that are passing through.
Beginning to integrate myself into the community.
Last week I talked about finding your community, becoming part of something greater than yourself, and that I had found a yoga studio. Well, yesterday was a magical day. It was the first time that I felt “truly at home” in my new town.
I picked up a little part time job at a local NZ Ice Cream shop and yesterday was a working interview. The place is adorable, and the owner and staff could not be nicer. If you have never had NZ ice cream, it is a must! Although, I do believe you can only find it here in the Denver area, so keep that in mind should you find yourself out here.
After work, I walked the couple of blocks to downtown where the yoga studio is and had an amazing two hours to drop back into myself.
It had been over a year since I was in a studio, and it all came flooding back. That euphoric feeling of belonging, pushing the limits of my body and watching my reflection in the mirror. I knew my body had been changing, between the recovery from surgery, a year on the road and entering this lovely perimenopausal stage of life…I am watching my body move with an extra 20lbs I am not used to.
In the past I may have shied away from looking in the mirror, or worn clothing to really cover my body, go to any measure to NOT see myself. But this time, I embraced my body for what it is now, in this stage of life, knowing that I am taking all the loving measures to bring it back to where I am most comfortable.
I am being kind with my words, I would look at my reflection while committing to memory the extra little roll at my belly, or the fact that my waist is a little thicker and my arms are not as toned. And then remembering what it is capable of being. It is capable of amazing abs, chiseled arms, and a smaller waist, and even though I am not there yet, I loved my reflection, because it was ME, doing what I LOVE! Doing something that made me feel ALIVE.
Watching my body move and flow through the 2-hour practice was a blessing that my body gave me.
Because I learned to practice self-love, and to change my narrative, while understanding how my past has affected me, I am now able to really have self-acceptance. I know that I would not be in the place I am, without practicing daily.
Once class was over, I walked out onto Main Street and just smiled. The mountains wrap around me like they are protecting me in this beautiful part of the country…. The golden hour began to shine through, and a double rainbow appeared.
The day was perfect. The day said, YOU ARE HOME.