In my daily ‘goings about’ yesterday, I passed one of our local bridal shops…it has a double window, beautifully lit, displaying an array of sparkling, elegant dresses in all colours. I was quick to note that the mannequins were in every conceivable size. I wanted to go in and thank them…I recalled some of the dread when I got married back in the eighties, when windows were dressed with size 6 gowns, and a limited number of ‘outsize’ dresses (I was a size 14!) were hidden in a back stockroom. I was shamed into buying the one which ‘fitted’ best – not my dream dress but one that ‘would do’. I look back at photos now and can see that I did have beauty; but the things I see first are how vulnerable I was, how unsure of myself, how my thoughts about who I was, the way I looked, and how I was perceived were not at all healthy.
I’m going to share an excerpt from my book – The Will To Surthrive – Self-Help Guide – before I discuss how the most important thing to get in shape before your big day – before any day in fact – is your thinking and your mindset.
“Back in the eighties, a time when it might be considered that, physically, I was in my prime, there was – what was then – a very novel attention placed on keep-fit and personal health. Google Mr Motivator, Mad Lizzie or the Green Goddess and you will see for yourself how this trend took hold. My then sister-in-law and I, caught up in the frenzy of morning TV and the allure of wanting to look at our very best, would schedule a date for a most civilised coffee, after participating in a home/lounge-based healthy session of callanetics. (The idea was that we would inspire and motivate each other.) For those of you unenlightened as to the joys of this programme, I guess this was a precursor to Pilates, built on the idea that small but continually repetitive movements, contractions, and squeezes, in large quantities, would help to develop muscle and core control. One such exercise involved the use of a wooden chair, one leg firmly placed on the floor, the other stretched high, with a delicately turned ankle, rested on its back. Once in position, one then gently pulsated, forwards and backwards for a count of one hundred tiny stretches, gently but persistently pounding the gluteus maximus and gastrocnemius muscles. I can still vividly picture the image of my sister-in-law in brightly coloured lycra, leg warmers, full makeup, headband, her leg dexterously placed on the uppermost strut of the chair’s backrest, her admirable poise and balance, balletic stature, a cigarette in one hand, and a glass of wine in the other!”
We might have had the best intentions with the exercise but for sure, what wasn’t in the healthiest of places was our thinking. Now I know that it is the most important factor which impacts good health.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to look your best at ceremonies; you’ll be captured in print from every angle and it’s healthy to watch what fuel you put into your system, to keep hydrated with plenty of water and to keep it active and strong with an appropriate exercise programme. But… if you don’t regularly and directly confront yourself when thoughts veer off-track, then no amount of exercise or healthy foods, vitamin supplements or proteins, beauty treatments or salon visits will help you to be fully healthy.
It is only size that’s measured on scales – not the quality of your thoughts, nor the joy and peacefulness of your mind.
So, if you want to be really healthy on your day, mind your thoughts!
Look out for the next blogs in the series, which will help you to discover strategies for how to do that…
Latansani 