I recently stumbled upon a blog with a very insightful post about our bodies as metaphors. It was written by Katie at Health for the Whole Self. I will definitely be checking back with her blog as I really like the way she writes and her whole take on health and wellness.
Anyway, this post has really had me thinking a lot about how I view my body, especially right now during my pregnancy. One metaphor Katie talked about was the body as a machine…this is where I find myself a lot during runs and races. I push my body, I fuel my body and I hammer at it to get it to perform the best it can.
She also talked about the body as a measuring stick. Ok…well I have done this for most of my life without a doubt. Using my body to compare myself to others, getting on that scale and wanting it to tell me I weigh less, using the machine body to try to lose that weight and squeeze myself into a smaller size clothing. Holding myself to (probably unrealistic) standards that I would never even think to hold others to, especially people I love. Ugh. I really hate that.
Katie settled in on talking about the body as a HOME. This felt so right to me and is truly where I am right now, at this minute, and where I hope to be for the rest of my days on this earth. Pregnancy is so amazing…right now my “home” is nurturing and growing a baby, it needs to be healthy to care for my two little ones who are already here on this earth. I need to keep it clean and sturdy so it feels nice on the inside and the outside. What good is a home if you keep up appearances on the outside but let it all go on the inside? I love this comparison. It really makes me think about how I am treating my body and my soul and it gives me a healthy, balanced perspective. One that I really want to hang on to,
Other than the INCREDIBLE fact that pregnancy means I am having a baby, I am not such a big fan of pregnancy. I don’t like the physical limitations and the fact that I really feel I have no control over what is happening to my body much of the time. I’ve already gained 15 pounds and while I know that is healthy and normal at this point in my pregnancy…ugh. I’m trying not to be negative about this though, and the thought of my body as a home, as a place for this baby to grow and get strong enough to be ready to enter this world, really helps.
I hope you’ll read Katie’s blog and that this idea of your body as a home is as helpful to you as it is to me.
