.png)
I’m so excited to have Anna Guest-Jelley here to share a beautiful post with you! Anna’s Curvy Yoga is such an empowering new revolution in yoga and her blog posts like: Body Love is Always Available, What to Do When Your Yoga Teacher talks about Weight and Bodily Thanks are posts I love to read again and again. Lets savour Anna’s words today!
.jpg)
Re-membering
I came to self-love because I forgot.
I forgot how to feel.
I forgot connection and what my body was actually hungry for.
I forgot how to feed myself with care, not condemnation.
I forgot many of my actual memories, so stuck in the land of must-change-my-body was I that I was rarely present for my in-the-moment life (whether good or bad).
And for a long time, I wanted to believe that it wasn’t that I’d forgotten, but that I’d never known.
Yet something deep down kept telling me I could remember.
Actually, as a dear friend’s teacher says, my body told me I could re-member. Thread myself back together with strands of love, feathers of softness, seashells of nourishment, leaves of care.
And so I began: first digging out my sewing machine, which I had been so sure I’d lost. But then, there it was — in the form of a therapist, me-shaped yoga practice and slow, deep breaths.
Next, I went searching for a pattern, assured I wouldn’t find the right one amidst all the choices. But then, when I’d almost given up hope, I didn’t find just one — I found as many as I needed to create the tapestry required. They looked like the right book at the right moment, inspiring blogs, beautiful art, a journal, late night conversations with soul friends.
Then I went looking for tools: after all I’d gathered, I was worried I wouldn’t find the appropriate needle or that it would break halfway through. And then I wasn’t sure the thread would match the various patterns.
But as I sat down and took a deep breath, putting my foot ever so delicately to the pedal, I knew in an instant that it wouldn’t be a problem. That in re-membering, I had the opportunity to choose anew. To shape and reshape this garment called self-love as often as I needed to – until it became a second skin.
~
Anna Guest-Jelley is the founder of Curvy Yoga – a training and inspiration portal for curvy yogis and their teachers. As a writer, teacher and lifelong champion for women’s empowerment and body acceptance, Anna encourages women of every size, age and ability to grab life by the curves. Connect with Anna on Facebook and Twitter.