Hello Beautiful!
Today is baby’s two month birthday – I can’t believe how fast time is flying.
And now, two months out, my body has almost returned to normal and I’ve been feeling fully functional again for the past few weeks – woohoo!
But things have changed. My understanding of my body’s purpose and design have massively expanded. I have a new awareness. And currently I have hunger hormones working against me, which leads me to be going back to my own teachings to relearn how to best steward my body!
And really, it’s perfect timing: March is the time of year I’ve always noticed when the magazines at the checkout at the grocery stores start talking about getting a summer body. It’s like any disappointment in ourselves from dropping our New Year’s resolution to get in shape has faded, and it’s been replaced with a renewed hope that we can have a perfect body and that will solve all of our problems – as long as we ‘buy this issue and start now!’
I fell into this belief and the cycle of push, deprive, and fail for many years. And in those years, I loaded up on more of those magazines with their promises and diet plans and ‘bikini body 30 day challenges’ than my bookshelves could handle.
Oh, but I see things so differently now.
I haven’t bought or even flipped through a fitness magazine in years, and I’ve never had more peace in my body, or – ironically – greater wellness.
As my body transitions out of this marathon of pregnancy and birth, I’m revisiting my own practices, and reestablishing a routine of wellness that works perfectly for my new lifestyle.
If you’ve heard me talk about body stewardship before, you know that my philosophy breaks down into three main areas:
- The inner work of body stewardship, where we deal with our subconscious theology, beliefs about ourselves, and any saboteurs from shame which are stalling all of our best efforts; then
- Nutrition and exercise practices based around working with the body’s natural hormones instead of fighting against them; and finally
- Scheduling this into our lives in a way that is not difficult or requiring extreme discipline, but that fits into our lives beautifully and feels more like a joy than a ‘should.’
I wish all women – and even guys – would be able to have a deep peace in the body in which they’re going through this world.
So, over the next three months, as the magazines and the fitness challenges and bootcamps all start up and poke at you until you don’t feel like you’re good enough and promise you that if you just change in all kinds of ways that don’t work for you, you’ll have a dream body that will solve all your problems, I want to offer an alternative.
I’ll be sending out one of my most popular blog series: where I talked about my time in the south of France, a rapid weight gain, and the deep emotional work plus practical lifestyle decisions I made over a series of years to now have the blissful relationship with my body that I do.
And don’t be deluded: breastfeeding hunger hormones are no joke, and I’m on my own journey to regain my body balance in these post-baby months! But I’m doing it from such a different space of joy and possibility and peace and patience, rather than insecurity, haste, deprivation, or worry.
So in addition to posting this blog series, I want to add to it, and I want to get your thoughts. Each post will be going out on a Wednesday, and on the following Saturday morning I’ll be hopping on Periscope for a discussion, where I’ll fill in what I’ve learned since then, revisit what I was going through back then, and ask for any thoughts and comments you have on the topic. I’d love to hear your stories, your efforts and maybe even difficulties, and your successes and realizations – I love celebrating growth with you!
So over the next three months, from now to the end of May, it’s body stewardship season. And I’m going to walk you through exactly what I’ve done to learn to love my body and care for it emotionally and mentally as much as physically and logistically.
I think it goes without saying that this topic in our culture today is a disaster. There’s overeating, under-eating, all kinds of malnutrition in between, and a whole lot of body loathing and anxiety to go with it.
I truly don’t believe it has to be that way. But we need to look at this issue and all of the complexity in which it exists in our lives.
So to get us started, this Saturday, I’ll be talking more about the changes in my body since baby, and several other topics I discussed in a Periscope a few weeks ago, which you can watch the replay of below.
I’d love to have you join me – and let your friends who have thoughts on this topic or are trying to figure out how to best love their bodies know about it too! You’ll find me on Periscope @jackiedixonvlx.
I’ve started a new Instagram account @healthyholyhot, just to keep us motivated and focused on what really works over these next few months, so if this is an area you are interested in, I’d love to have you follow me there, where I’ll be posting just wellness inspiration and tips.
As always, please hit reply to this email – if you’re on my VIP list and getting this in your inbox – or comment below and let me know what you think, what you’d like me to cover, and maybe just to express the excitement of all the possibilities ahead! 🙂
Love and Freedom to you, Beautiful!
Jackie
