THE IMAGE: my belly is nearly 46 years old. My daughter resided and was nourished in there for 9 months. She arrived via c-section. She was 8.4lbs. Like many before us we marvelled at how she EVER fitted in there. I can tell you it felt like my internal organs got a fair punishing in last few weeks of pregnancy. Pregnancy changed the appearance of my belly forever. I had my daughter when I was older so things didn’t ‘spring back’. Tone/elasticity lost; never to be regained. Delay in discovery of diastasis recti (caused by pregnancy) (topic of another post) giving me interesting dilemmas in relation to my Yogasana practice choices. My daughter says my belly is “SQUISHY”. Personally, I am not fussed about having a flat flat belly or about the DR (I am in this Yoga for the head stuff 🙂 ). If I eat ‘the wrong thing’ or I wrong ‘food combine’, my tummy bloats up to ‘early pregnancy like’ status again (see pic it doesn’t look huge to others when this happens; but this feels hugely uncomfortable to me. Often my tummy is flat, especially first thing in the morning 🙂 . When it is flat it becomes apparent that I now have an ‘outty’ as opposed to my pre-preg ‘inny’ belly button and a funny little patch of subcutaneous fat is highlighted beside my bellybutton, it is about an inch in diameter and never ceases to distract me. Although when I was younger it did, it now doesn’t matter to me how my belly looks to others so long as it doesn’t feel uncomfortable or ill to me – that’s what matters to me. I am lucky my tummy has never needed to go on a diet nor has it been subject to any chronic dis-ease. I am well aware lots of people’s/too many people’s have and FAR TOO MANY suffer from low self esteem because of their perception of this area.
THE FACT IS. Too many people’s entire focus on their own and other’s abdominal area is from a cosmetic perspective (and not because of dis-ease). It’s all about how it looks for them. Bombarded with distorting images in the media; many are out to take control of this area from a very young age. Pull it in! Tighten it up! The goal for men: the ol’ six pack/abs of steel; for women: the flatter ‘the better’.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you really considered your mental/emotional relationship with your belly and what you think you want for it or even what it needs? Did you decide 20 years ago “I want washboard abs” and then not revisit that idea, instead nurturing it on a subconscious level, using it as a weapon for frequently berating and judging yourself negatively {FOR 20 YEARS!!} for having failed to do the things to meet the belly standard you set?
HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN what functions, energy, power and intuition reside in the belly region? STOP PICKING ON YOUR BELLY NOW! Being that hard on your belly can interfere with its natural process of digestion and inhibit proper breathing amongst other things.
CHANGE your awareness of your abs from the constant browbeating about their ‘state’ to an acceptance of the reality and a more positive, useful awareness about their purpose and action on and off your Yoga mat.
TRY to educate yourself about the physiology of this area. Your abs provide a layer of protection for abdominal organs, provide stabilisation and postural support and more! It IS important that they are strong but you don’t need a six pack or flat belly to be strong. Your belly does not need to be held rigid all day long in order to function properly.
Yes in your Yoga class you will engage your abdominals as appropriate (and when your Yoga instructor tells you to 🙂 ). Suck them in if you need to as a start (more about what this means in Part IV)! BUT DON’T FORGET TO LET THEM GO AFTERWARDS.
Om Om Om FREE YOUR BELLY MOVEMENT ~ MEETINGS DAILY @ 3a Rue De Funchal
~ Trisha
To be continued tomorrow…
BELLY UP PART II ~ SEE YOUR BELLY ~
BELLY UP PART III ~ RESPECT YOUR BELLY ~
BELLY UP PART IV ~ KNOW YOUR BELLY ~
Nov 2016