Loveable legs.....

Growing up I never remember hearing my elders or peers wishing for their bodies to become shorter or fatter, looser or softer and if I did it still came from the root place of disastisfaction, lacking and wanting to be something more desirebale, something different. I'm now reflecting more and more on those words and sentiments. An example to which I keep returning: I grew up hearing my sister wish for different legs, it became mundane. "Why are my legs so short? I have the shortest legs!" Compared to whom? "Why couldn't I just have long legs?" Maybe your genes wouldn't allow for that. "My thighs are so big they rub against each other" "She has such nice legs, long and thin" Well then she must be a good person, since long and thin somehow equal good, over all good, right? No! Yet somehow we are led to believe these very things and with out question we perpetuate them through language and practice. Individually we create a collective embodiment devauling our own self worth.

In terms of one's physical body it really is just a vessel, an important vessel, but not the determining factor of who we are; we don't choose or create our bodies yet they can still be a reflection of who we are as individuals, because of our own misconceptions and perception. We have come to accept a standard of beauty that does not include the vastness of our potential and of our difference. Sure, we can have an influence on our body. I hope that influence comes from a place of seeking health. Health that reflects a feeling not a look, health that comes from appreciation and compassion for the abilities and potentials we possess. For some of you lucky individuals the seemingly ubiquitous self destruction in terms of body image may be lacking, but maybe it shows up in some other learned self talk of not being good enough. What if you were to discover you are good enough, that the difference you've been striving for wouldn't provide satsifaction, it wouldn't actually change you or your perception. You are good enough in this very moment. Your body loves you and provides for you, can you show that same love to it? Our ideas about how we should look, how we should be keep us from actually being and discovering our full potentials...

From the begining...now!

You might be asking yourself, engage with what? The answers seem unlimited: with yourself, with others, your body, your breath, your community, your environment, your questions or controversies... yes the list is endless, but it must start somewhere. So I invite you to engage in this inquiry begining with the self, your very own self; a self that is sometimes shared, sometimes not, sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes complex or maybe simple, yet none of these are mutually exclusive. We are not dual beings and do not need to live a life limited by duality or preconceived judgements about these labels. Can you engage with your multi dimesionality? There are many ways to do this and I think we all do it with out awareness, but what if we did it with awareness and possible intention?