Essence, Intention, and Conscious Care for a Hot Bod

What if feeling good in your body has nothing to do with trying to meet societies expectations of a smokin’ body? I’d argue that feeling good in your body is actually the result of feeling connected to your soul. Whoa that’s deep. (Yea, that’s the point – it IS deep). Conscious care of your body honors the rock-start soul that lives in it. And for some icing on the cake, (yes, let’s eat cake), intentionally caring for your body, is yet another way to raise your vibration and be your best badass self.

Yo yo, “hottie with body”. Actually, the only thing that qualifies your body as a “hottie”, is that fact that you value and take care of it, not the end result.

Jelly belly rolls, junk in the trunk? Don’t matter. It’s the belief that your bod is with worth caring for, and the action of caring for it that matter.

Have you ever felt so good you wanted to shout it from the rooftops? In that ecstatic space, there’s a sense of self-worth and confidence that comes from aligning with your essence. When you’re in that space, boldly expressing who you are just effortlessly radiates out. It’s clear in how you care for and carry yourself in the world.

Conscious Care to Connect with Our Badass Self

But let’s be honest, it can be frickin’ hard to feel good in our bodies. (Spoken by someone who’s had a history with less than compassionate eating and an unhealthy relationship to exercise). Luckily it works both ways: we take care of our bodies because we value them, AND/OR taking care of them can also reinforce our self-worth when we’re not fully believing it.

How do we connect with our amazing essence when we’re not feeling the liquid gold running through our veins?

Self-care is where it’s at, but without intention, it misses the mark. We act as if a mani-pedi or a bath is going to up-level our lives. Well, it might, IF it’s done with from a place of acknowledging (or wanting to acknowledge) our worth. The magic of self-care comes from the intention around honoring our soul-full body.

Add some intention to your self-care:

• make it a sacred tubby time: Do Not Disturb sign on the door, dim the lights, light some safer candles, cue up some Taylor Swift Folklore or a meditation… and melt. Bath time isn’t just about getting clean.

• move your body. Love me some cardio kick boxing and I’m the queen of free youtube workouts (list coming soon), but also swinging those hips in your own #kitchenclub is potent medicine, or doing ‘The Class‘ is sure a surefire way to connect you to your body beyond the sweat. (Coming soon, my favorite #kitchen club spotify playlist)

• love the skin you’re in. Sure you could slather yourself with potions and lotions as you race to get dressed and grab your coffee-to-go. You could cry over your wrinkles when applying your night cream. OR you could say “hello, skin, I lovingly caress you because you’re gonna be with me for a loooong time…and I’m here for it!” (Link here to my favorite and most trusted safer products).

Self-care isn’t just about hygiene or physical health. It’s about loving up, connecting with, and honoring our divine self. When we bring intentional care of our bodies into the mix, we create a space for valuing ourselves on a deeper level.

Of course I’d go the extra mile to say taking care of yourself in a way that is conscious of our connection to others, is what’s truly smokin’. Health, eco, and socially-minded choices: if you want to up-level, that’s where it’s at.

Hidden Toxicities: A Modern dilemma

Umpf, there’s a complication. Once you pay attention to the wisdom your body has for you, our modern culture goes and messes it up! What we choose to put in and on our bodies can carry hidden toxicities. Not to mention social or environmental complications. It’s hard to create that ‘high-vibe livin’ when you throw in all that junk.

And I’ll tell ya first hand, when you go down that rabbit hole of trying to choose safer, eco, social-minded products, it gets overwhelming real quick. Then your efforts become counterproductive to your goal ’cause of the g-damn stress and guilt that shows up. Well, let me tell ya, ain’t nobody got time for that!

Ali Gal is all about providing resources for soul-centered safer living, AND helping you take the pressure off. We can’t do it all, nor should we try. Trying to be “perfect” actually makes it worse by adding mental stress. I believe living a balanced life means NOT trying to do it all. (Did I mention: I love coffee. We have pizza every week. I don’t run anymore. I’m a couple pants sizes bigger than I used to be. And it’s all ok 🙂 )

(Coming soon: our pizza recipe, and my favorite resources for free ‘exercise’).

Finding our Individual Secret Sauce for Our Own Body

The health industry is bursting at the seems. Keto, paleo, 30 min fix, 8 minute abs…my head is spinning!

Since health for your body is actually about honoring your soul, the best place to start is listening to your soul…

slow down…

I’ve always been interested in health, fitness and nutrition. As a blossoming young maiden (wink), I was active (hell yea, ice hockey gal here!). The fat-free craze was my jam, ’cause ya know, fat-free cheese tastes delicious, (gag). I was doing all the things that Women’s Health and Shape magazine told me to do. I was so “good”, wasn’t I?

Thankfully, the stars aligned and I found myself in a yoga class. There I learned about holistic health, and the notion that there really isn’t a one size fits all plan. Dang it!

It turns out feeling healthy comes from a place of paying attention to what feels good to you, rather than what the outside sources prescribe. In some ways that’s hard work, but more so, it’s actually the welcoming feeling of coming home…coming home to your body (& Soul) as it wants to be cared for.

So with a ticket for the holistic health train, I become a Yoga Teacher and Nutrition Consultant. I’m trained in using whole foods as medicine, while also recognizing that food isn’t the only thing that feeds us. And this woo woo train just keeps on chugging. I’m learning more about connecting with the cycles of nature, and trusting in a spiritual connection, as a means to living our juiciest lives.

Your Body Wants In on the Spiritual Stuff

“Your body is a temple”. Yes, that makes me cringe at little. It sounds so cliche to say our body is the home of our soul. But, you gotta admit it: it IS true. We only get one body to take care of in this life. And I’d argue our body has the potential to operate at higher level, if we let it. Our body wants in on the spiritual stuff!

Think about how we experience intuition. We experience it in our bodies:

• the gut feelings you get when something doesn’t feel right.
• how you can actually experience love in your heart center.
• that lump in your throat when you want to cry
• butterflies in your belly when you’re nervous

There’s no denying the body, mind, soul connection.

When we bring conscious care of our bodies into the mix, we create a space for valuing ourselves on a deeper level. We honor that we’re connected to something greater than us, and we connect to that inner rock-star that lives in all of us.

So how do we nurture this body-mind-spirit connection? We:

• listen to the messages our bodies give us
• remember our female lineage as being connected to Spirit and intuition
• trust the messages we receive
• honor it by listening and acting upon the messages

Yes, we can learn how to treat our bodies well with recipes and ways to exercise (find some of that here), but until we’re tuning in to our own needs, we’re limiting our potential to connect and feel our best.