Accepting Yourself

Accepting yourself is the starting point when cultivating a healthy self-image.  Self-esteem and self-confidence have always been something that I have struggled with.  One of the reasons I belive this to be is because I have been impressed upon since I was a little girl with images of what my body should look like, which when I was a kid was mainly Barbie!  Yikes, image walking on your tippie toes all day, ouch and personally  big boobs would not benefit me instead they would get in the way of my yoga practice and rock climbing.

It was pretty much after my first yoga class that this unfamiliar event occurred in my head, it was quiet all of a sudden!  It was a profound moment to me because up until that point it was loud, disapproving and there was a constant conversation going on about how I sucked and what I needed to change to be accepted as an attractive and likeable person in the world.  At that point it really didn’t matter that I was obsessed with hitting the gym for 2 hours everyday, while throwing up everything I ate, drinking almost every night and going to the bars in expensive outfits to try to impress other people.  The war raging inside my body came to a standstill for a moment or two in my first yoga class and to my surprise I was actually listening and I noticed it!

It wasn’t like I did a downward dog and everything was suddenly better, it was more like a light switched on in my mind and it illuminated the truth of who I was.  I was a divine being, wtf?  Really?? Me??? No!!!!!  NO WAY!!!!  and then back to the “oh shit is that cellulite on my thighs, I better buckle down and do more cardio, that’s what I get for being lazy!”

This inner violence I had going on inside was only getting worse with my obsessive gym sessions even though I believed it would help.  It did a little bit but not in the way that yoga has helped me.  Yoga was helping me to heal my body, connect to my spirit and to understand who the heck I really am and what in the hell I’m doing here!  I had those same moments of peace and quiet every time I practiced and after time they started to last longer, linger and created a huge shift in my thinking patterns, which ultimately shifted my behaviour.

I thought that it was only me believing that I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, attractive enough but as it turns out everyone struggles with one or all of these to some degree.  By learning how to just accept myself as I was, has helped me to accept others as they are.  I agree I don’t always get this right, but I have made massive amounts of progress so I honour myself for how far I have come and acknowledge that I can always improve her through my spiritual work and meditation.

The planet and the people who live on her need healing!  This healing will always start right now, in this very moment by taking a deep breath, softening and accepting yourself as you are!  If you are truly doing the best you can then focus on that, if you can do better than get your ass to yoga and work it out on your mat!

My friends and family started to notice a shift in me when I started to shift they way I saw and thought of myself, not when I was about to chest press 60 pounds or run for 1 hour on the treadmill or decrease my body fat.  For me the real work is to look at myself everyday and accept what is!

On the side this blog was inspired because I noticed my very first grey hair!  Yep, I panicked a tiny bit for about 24 hours then I moved toward accepting it and even loving it.  As a contrast, the me 10 years ago would have lost it over a grey hair so yep I’m doing okay.

blessings and acceptance to you today,

Mindy

About Mindy

Mindy Willis-Menard is an international yoga teacher who's love of yoga, nature, adventurer and life inspire her to teach. A true adventurer of the heart Mindy is also a hooper, rock climber, snowboarder, runner, foodie and cyclist. Mindy teaches classes, workshops and retreats world-wide. Every other moment she spends with her husband and dog, Mrs. Betty Rox.

2 thoughts on “Accepting Yourself

  1. This is beautifully and candidly written Mindy. My hand shot up to my mouth and tears welled up in my eyes when I read about your purging, both at the gym and food.
    It’s an incredibly brave post and something I needed to read right here and now. I too suffer from my own maltreatment and I strive to meditate on loving kindness…funny, it’s easy for me to embrace others…yet seems impossible to embrace myself.

  2. Congratulations,…that silver hair means the transformation has begun to move from what you think about the outside of you to what you are feeling from the inside of you 🙂

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