Love Note to my Body
Yes my friends, this is the time of year when we stuff ourselves, drink too much, remember why we moved out of our childhood homes, try not to talk about politics or money, love and enjoy each other.
It’s certainly a time to give thanks. To mama earth for nourishing us inside and out, for families and friends, for the abundance we live in, health, and so much more… but how often do we stop and give thanks to our bodies during this holiday? I mean really. I mean getting in there and loving ourselves up from the inside out. I mean sending gratitude to our blood, kindness to our kidneys, praise to our knees and a hallelujah to our hips.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent years trying to think my way into self-love. I’ve tried to convince myself I accept my shape, size and health challenges. I’ve cut the negative thoughts, repeated mantras, and recited affirmations. Guess how well that went.
So I’m on this life journey now – one that’s called dance myself to love. My body knows how to feel, give, express and receive love. My body knows how to find joy and abundance and gratitude, from the inside out. Your body knows this too.
Every time I send a love note down to my ankle, a gratitude telegram to my liver, a sweet caress to my face, a loving squeeze to my shoulder, etc… gratitude swells and overflows. The negative thoughts dissolve. They don’t matter. But unless I do it from a place of FEELING – it’s empty. We can’t think our way into this my friends, we must embody this love, this gratitude.
Those of you who know me know that I suffer physically quite often. I have lyme disease and a host of other chronic problems that take me down hard. So I go down. Hard. And when I’m coming back up for air, it’s this practice of embodying love that keeps me alive. I swear it. If it weren’t for the feeling, dancing, being-ness in my life, I’d be a sad, sad puppy. It’s dance, community, feeling and meditation that have saved my life. That have brought me to loving the experience of being me.
Storykeeper: Hannah Kinderlehrer
Hannah’s passion is supporting people’s journey of embodiment. She has studied African, contemporary, contact improvisation, 5 Rhythms and jazz. She holds a degree from Naropa University and has a is certified through the Peacemaker Institute. She has been a student of Shambhala Buddhism for over a decade. After discovering a direct connection between dancing, meditation and happiness, Hannah chose to share that through Awaken the Dance. She also co-leads BodyAlive!: sexuality circles using art and movment for women, offers private sessions and teaches embodiment, sensory exploration and movement to developmentally disabled adults. She lives in Boulder, CO with her enormously talented musician husband and adorably edible son. To learn more about Hannah, visit awakenthedance.com
