Thursday 11 June 2015

Unique You

This week I was sent the most fabulous set of images from award winning photographer Ben Marden (www.benmarden.com.au).  Me yoga asana'ing around Prague city centre after the European Yoga Cup.

It was an impromptu shoot after 3 very intense yoga asana days.  My body felt exhausted, but i love a photoshoot so i kept pulling out the poses!  Looking through the images i was happily smiling at how awesome they all looked.  Ben had managed to capture some stunning photos :)



Then I came to an image of me stood upright doing no yoga asana.  I rarely shoot a 'normal' photo.  I overlooked the fact that this was infact a beautiful photo of me.  The first thing i saw was too big hips and legs, too big shoulders and muscles, my body was horrible compared to the image in my head of what i wish it looked like.  Then after picking apart my body bit by bit and hating it I thought how sad it was that these were the first things that I thought seeing a normal image of me.  And how it was weird how i thought none of this when i saw the other photos of me in weird bendy poses.

I looked at the image again.

I saw a fit healthy perfectly how i'm meant to be body.  I saw strength, I saw me, I saw a beautiful picture of me.  A strong women whose outside strength matches her inside strength.  Without my physical strength I wouldn't be doing handstands like i do, those shoulders give me much joy.  Without my inner strength I wouldn't have made it to today, I fiercely fought my own battles and alone kept strong for many years through some nasty nasty events.

The more i look at the image the more i lose the negativity, my mind thinking instead of the positives.

I am incredibly lucky to have the body that I do have.  It is not perfect, nobodies perfect, what is perfect anyway.  I have a few non-aesthetic faults.  But other than a few small things my body is this wonderful vessel journeying me through life happily and healthily.  From today I am going to appreciate this body even more, it's the only one I get and life is precious and short, why waste time hating the bits I can not change.

If you look at a photo and just start reeling off your perceived imperfections look at the photo again, look differently, look with an eye that looks deeper than the surface, look and see how you are so much more than a few of your perceived imperfections.  You were designed beautifully to be you, and we are all perfect and beautiful just the way we are.

Here are a few of the other stunning images from this wonderful photoshoot.





1 comment:

  1. I just stumbled on your blog and realised you practice yoga in my area (Highbury & Islington).

    I'm not involved in yoga at all, but I just wanted to say that you look AMAZING, regardless of whether you're doing yoga or non-yoga poses. I'm glad you've stopped nit-picking over things that you once thought were imperfections: I know the vast majority of people would love to look the way you do! Keep it up and I might see you round the area sometime. :)

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