Every Body is Beautiful

This morning started out as most others. I was having my
workout. My child left for school and my partner spent a
few minutes entertaining me (he is a funny guy), before
leaving for his workplace. As I started moving to the
music, this sudden feeling of joy and thankfulness came
over me like a warm blanket. A truly inspiring moment of
great awareness.

After finishing the morning workout, I surfed the web for
forums on gratitude to see what people were talking about.
Many of the writings were about being thankful for what we
do have rather than focusing on what we don't as an
important feature of optimism and success.

There was one particularly interesting discussion on being
thankful for our bodies and what the body can do. Spiritual
leaders and psychologists alike tell us that "gratitude" is
a very important part of emotional health, spiritual
wellness and good relationships.

As kids, we learn to thank people for doing nice things for
us and we learn about being thankful for the material
things, people, victories, challenges and situations that
we have. I was very lucky to have a father who was always
optimistic ? a big part of which came from his deeply
rooted feelings of gratefulness for all aspects of his
life. From him I learned to grow and change with each
challenge and be thankful for the opportunity to do so. He
always said that everything happens because fate is working
to take us to where we need to be.

Optimism and gratitude are not only components of emotional
and spiritual wellness, but also physical wellness and
hence?fitness. An easy demonstration of this is the person
who survives cancer. Often it's the attitude of "I am sure
that I will beat this and in the meantime I will be
thankful for everyday" that determines this person's
survival. If you have ever been close to someone in this
situation, you understand when I say how wonderful these
folks are to be around ? the attitude is contagious! Think
Lance Armstrong..

A few years back when I lost optimism for a time. My
partner of over 15 years left me for someone else after
having a long term affair. I cried everyday for nearly a
year and started to be afraid that I would always be sad.
As time went by, my health deteriorated. I couldn't eat,
lost muscle weight, couldn't sleep etc. My medical exam
tests that year showed that this pessimism was in fact
affecting my health.

It was only when I was able to stop focusing on loss and
recognize what I had gained from the experience did my
health improve. Also, I was able to open myself to the idea
of "dating" (dating after 20 years is quite exciting!).
Eventually dating led me to meet the funny guy from the
first paragraph and many other new adventures!

When you are exercising, or just going about your daily
routine, do you stop and marvel at the beauty and
functionality of your own body?

Or do you focus on what's wrong with it either
aesthetically or mechanically?

The body is an incredible piece of work. Each body is
unique. Your body houses "you", transports you and gives
you the ability to feel, see, hear and communicate among
other things. It's truly something to be thankful for.

Appreciation of your body is key to keeping it healthy.

Focusing on what your body can do will allow you to build
fitness and stay positive even when your workouts (or daily
life) become particularly challenging.

Always be thankful for your BEAUTIFUL body that serves you
so well!

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About the Author:
Ainsley Laing, MSc. has been a Fitness Trainer for 25 years
and writes exclusively Body for Mind eZine. She holds
certifications in Group Exercise, Sports Nutrition and
Personal Fitness Training. To see more articles by Ainsley
visit http://www.bodyformind.com or the blog at
http://www.bodyformind.blogspot.com