Hello my gorgeous friends. We all need to love and respect our bodies. In the end, it is our bodies that give us the platform to live and perform at our best in this world. A body full of energy is still one of our goals in these days of fast food, lack of sleep and not much moving around. Also, the concept that we need all be ‘the same’ as the prototype that the magazines sell “skinny, white, young” … Am I wrong? The other day I watched a video on Youtube talking about it and showing A+B that what I am saying seems to be true.As a wheelchair user, I will tell you my experience and things I do to love not only my body but also myself. When we are disabled sometimes the lack of feeling in a limb or limbs make us ignore that part of our body.Firstly, many times I tend to ignore my leg that I don’t feel as a result of my spinal cord injury, so what I do is I try to pay attention to it. As you probably know right now I love to have a bath every day (when its possible) and there I will massage, soap, and try somehow to interact with that leg. I also like to have a massage and I know budgets can be tight sometimes and massage is not the cheapest thing in the world, but you can offer a shared massage. You massage someone and they do it back, as a friend, a partner, your mum etc… It is also a nice way to be in contact with other people.
I know my leg is thin and it bothers me sometimes, but there nothing I can do, apart from to try to move it as much I can. I do look at myself in the mirror and I say in a loud voice, ‘I love you, I respect you and I will do all I can for you to have a good and long life. I love you! I look straight into my eyes and also at my legs, making the point that they are part of me and I love them the way they are. Another form of showing love is caring, so I try to move my legs as much as I can so they will have the amount of exercise that they need as I am always in moving but most of the time my legs are static. Cycling, swimming and yoga are activities that I can do to make sure my legs are “alive”.
It is a fact that our legs will get thin unless we move them or you have spasms etc. I always thought with me it won’t happen to me, but it did, and it will keep doing. Calcium is another important point, mainly if you are a woman and after the age of 40 let’s say calcium levels go down considerably. I have calcium supplements and Vitamin D too as London is not the sunniest city in the world. There is not often the opportunity to sunbathe. Things I do in general is to have a nightly routine, where I apply my creams, light a nice candle and burn some oil to relax and enjoy myself with a nice cup tea or occasionally a glass of wine (why not) or a drink of your preference. I also love Kombucha as you probably know too.I like to have this 10 minutes before going to bed to “meditate” (pray) and be in contact with my inner self and I try to remember that this life, after all, is a play and we won’t be here for long. So I don’t judge myself and try to understand that everyone is on their own path trying to be happy some how. So laugh and enjoying the moment is a must do every day.
These are only a few things I do but if you like to know more about my self-care and how I build my confidence let me know in the comments and I will write another article for you.
