Your One Wild, Precious Life

Your body has been the only one with you since birth. No matter how you have spoken to it, thought about it, or treated it, it keeps showing up. It grounds you to the earth through your feet and it meets the day with your breath. It carries you through the miraculous... and the mundane. Through hospital rooms and holidays. Through grocery lines and quiet mornings. It is the constant you have always had.

You are the one who truly lives with you. You have been gifted this body, made of minerals and water and stardust, and you deserve to feel good inside of it.

Not perfect. Not impressive.

Simply well enough to meet your life with presence.

What the season asks of us

The holidays can be both a thrill and a tangle. There is excitement, sparkle, pressure and stress. There are treats and there are to do lists that only seem to sprout new to do lists. Enjoy the busyness, the recipes, the music, the people you love. But also remember the quiet agreements you have with your own well being. We do not have to choose between delight and discipline...We can hold both.

In yoga we talk about ahimsa, the practice of non harming, and svadhyaya, the practice of self study. Together they ask "What would kindness and honest awareness look like in my life today?"

Not someday. Today.

Science meets kindness

Your nervous system loves rhythm. Regular meals. Natural light. Movement that is just enough. Sleep that feels like a soft reset. None of this needs to be grand.

Consistency is what tells your brain a simple message: I am safe. I am cared for.

When the days grow shorter as they are doing now, our bodies notice the shift of the light. A few minutes of sun in the first half of the day can help your internal clock as we transition into this new time. A short walk can lift mood and settle restlessness. Gentle strength work supports joints. Slow breaths can steady a racing mind. Simple. Repeated. Loving.

A small practice for self love

Try this once a day this month. Five minutes is enough.

1. Sit or stand somewhere you can feel your feet. Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart. Notice your breath without trying to fix it. Three easy breaths.

2. Whisper a sentence that feels true. Thank you body for carrying me. Or I am learning to be kind to you. Or I am here.

3. Name one feeling in your body. Heavy. Warm. Tight. Spacious. Let it be what it is without judgment.

4. Ask yourself one curious question:  "What would help me feel a little more like myself today?"Listen for a simple answer. A glass of water. A stretch. A text to a friend. A step outside. Choose one and do it.

One small step for the body and mind is all you need

You do not need to change your entire life and commit to a total overhaul of yourself. It's unstainable and usually leaves us disappointed and feeling like giving up on ourselves entirely.

Instead, choose one kindness for your body and mind. Keep them small and keep them real.

Ideas for the body

• Commit to a specific number of classes each week at Empower Yoga Hartwell. (don't forget about the dozens of yoga and fitness videos we have online!) Put them on the calendar as if they are a standing appointment. This is just as important as that doctor's appointment.

• Take a brisk or gentle walk on most days and get morning or midday sunlight when you can.

• Choose a simple way to nourish yourself. Add a colorful vegetable to one meal. Drink water before coffee. Plan a cozy soup night each week.

• Let yourself enjoy holiday treats with presence. Taste them. Savor them. Balance sweetness with steady meals that include protein and fiber.

• Rest without needing to earn it. Give yourself a bedtime that protects your morning. Keep your phone out of reach for the first moments of the day.

Ideas for the mind

• Try a short breathing practice. Inhale for a count of four. Exhale for a count of six. Repeat five times.

• Take a five minute journal pause. Ask What am I feeling. What do I need. Write three sentences without editing.

• Choose a screen boundary that feels respectful. No scrolling at the table. Or a twenty minute limit in the evening.

• Plan a simple joy into your week. A favorite playlist on your commute. A library visit. A candle lit during dinner.

• Bookend your day with gratitude. One thing in the morning. One thing before sleep.

Gentle discipline, not punishment

Discipline can be an act of devotion. It is not self criticism, but it is a promise to show up for your life with care. When you commit to a class, a walk, a meal that loves you back, or turning off the light on time, you are practicing devotion to the only body you will ever have.

This is not a performance for anyone else. This is you on your own side.

When you fall off, (and it's okay... you will because we all do) you do not have to start over. You do not need to sprint to catch up. You can simply begin again.

One foot on the mat.

One step outside.

One glass of water.

Show up for yourself in small, repeatable ways again, and again, and again.

Choose a value, make a plan

For this month, pick one value or one goal that matters to you.

Examples: Presence with family. Steady energy. Better sleep. Less anxiety. Stronger knees. Then make a plan that is sustainable. One small step to tend that value.

Write it down like an important doctor appointment and keep it.

If you miss a day, return the next day. No apology needed.

You are learning what supports you and you are allowed to be a work in progress.

Journaling prompts

• What is one kind sentence I can say to my body today?

• What is one simple step that supports my mind today?

• What value do I want to tend this month, and what is the smallest action that honors it?

Your life is asking to be lived both with tenderness and truth. You do not have to do everything. You can just do the next kind thing.

I am cheering for your wild, precious life, and for the body and mind that carry you through it.