Friday, December 15, 2006 at 12:12am
The Ix Chel health plan
You've tried crash dieting before.
What? No? Oh, come on, you were a teenager once, surely?
Are you seriously telling me you have never starved yourself, buzz-cut your hair, hacked your nails to the quick and exhaled as you stepped onto the scales only to find you still weighed something?
Oh yeah, now you're remembering.
You can't deny that the thought of going beyond skin-deep beauty didn't appeal at some stage.
Who needs two kidneys anyway? At 16, I would imagine selling one off — not only would I have had a few extra bucks to spend on cigarettes and coffee, I wouldn't have needed that coat-hanger to pull up my zipper.
And who needs 8 meters of intestines? Seriously. What was God/dess thinking when s/he gave us those miles of pipe? My theory was, go the straight route from stomach to bum hole and feel instantly lighter and skinnier. I would've happily eaten all my meals in the proximity of the bathroom if that were the price.
But enough of that. We're adults now. We only get rid of a kidney if it's for the likes of Kerry Packer.
Now that we're grown up, we need to be more sensible about things. And I mean "proper" sensible. Not "1970s-style-mother" sensible. Remember the fads they went through to lose weight?
Like standing in a belt sander machine that sent wobbly bits into overdrive and martinis into orbit. Like the pulley-systems that lifted arms and legs in robotic fashion and gave them carpet rash in unspeakable areas.
No, we're not repeating our mothers' mistakes.
I'm talking about developing a rational and measured approach to healthy attitudes toward your diet, lifestyle and body-image.
You weren't born a wilting wallflower, a shrinking violet, or any other wimpy flower, for that matter. It is simply conditioning that created the "you" that craves to be skinny. And just as you were "taught" to be a certain way, you can certainly teach yourself to be another way.
You were born to be radiant. So look to the energies of goddess Ix Chel to get your budding enthusiasm positively blooming!
Mayan moon goddess Ix Chel (pronounced "ee-shell") is the mystery and joy of our feminine sexuality, mother of earth and all life, patroness of the healing arts, childbirth, destiny and comfortable shoes.
OK, I invented that bit about the comfortable shoes, but they do represent a willingness to be in your own skin rather than tottering around on spikes in the name of pride. Hence, my motto: If the shoe fits, at least make sure it matches your outfit.
Ix Chel carries an upside-down vessel in her hands, which represents the nourishing gift of water, our most essential life-giving element. She wears a serpent on her head, representing her transformation from the winter to spring energy — shedding her winter skin in order to blossom anew into spring to a new and fresh stage in the life cycle.
Her message is that all things change — they wax and wane, ebb and flow, pile on and pile off.
So learn to go with the flow of your cycles with proud statements: "My big hips are sexy," "I adore my womanly shape," and "If the shoe doesn't fit, wear slippers."
— — —
Anita Ryan is the creatrix of Goddess.com.au — a free resource to help you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable and authentic self — your inner goddess. © copyright 2006 by Anita Ryan.
What? No? Oh, come on, you were a teenager once, surely?
Are you seriously telling me you have never starved yourself, buzz-cut your hair, hacked your nails to the quick and exhaled as you stepped onto the scales only to find you still weighed something?
Oh yeah, now you're remembering.
You can't deny that the thought of going beyond skin-deep beauty didn't appeal at some stage.
Who needs two kidneys anyway? At 16, I would imagine selling one off — not only would I have had a few extra bucks to spend on cigarettes and coffee, I wouldn't have needed that coat-hanger to pull up my zipper.
And who needs 8 meters of intestines? Seriously. What was God/dess thinking when s/he gave us those miles of pipe? My theory was, go the straight route from stomach to bum hole and feel instantly lighter and skinnier. I would've happily eaten all my meals in the proximity of the bathroom if that were the price.
But enough of that. We're adults now. We only get rid of a kidney if it's for the likes of Kerry Packer.
Now that we're grown up, we need to be more sensible about things. And I mean "proper" sensible. Not "1970s-style-mother" sensible. Remember the fads they went through to lose weight?
Like standing in a belt sander machine that sent wobbly bits into overdrive and martinis into orbit. Like the pulley-systems that lifted arms and legs in robotic fashion and gave them carpet rash in unspeakable areas.
No, we're not repeating our mothers' mistakes.
I'm talking about developing a rational and measured approach to healthy attitudes toward your diet, lifestyle and body-image.
You weren't born a wilting wallflower, a shrinking violet, or any other wimpy flower, for that matter. It is simply conditioning that created the "you" that craves to be skinny. And just as you were "taught" to be a certain way, you can certainly teach yourself to be another way.
You were born to be radiant. So look to the energies of goddess Ix Chel to get your budding enthusiasm positively blooming!
Mayan moon goddess Ix Chel (pronounced "ee-shell") is the mystery and joy of our feminine sexuality, mother of earth and all life, patroness of the healing arts, childbirth, destiny and comfortable shoes.
OK, I invented that bit about the comfortable shoes, but they do represent a willingness to be in your own skin rather than tottering around on spikes in the name of pride. Hence, my motto: If the shoe fits, at least make sure it matches your outfit.
Ix Chel carries an upside-down vessel in her hands, which represents the nourishing gift of water, our most essential life-giving element. She wears a serpent on her head, representing her transformation from the winter to spring energy — shedding her winter skin in order to blossom anew into spring to a new and fresh stage in the life cycle.
Her message is that all things change — they wax and wane, ebb and flow, pile on and pile off.
So learn to go with the flow of your cycles with proud statements: "My big hips are sexy," "I adore my womanly shape," and "If the shoe doesn't fit, wear slippers."
— — —
Anita Ryan is the creatrix of Goddess.com.au — a free resource to help you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable and authentic self — your inner goddess. © copyright 2006 by Anita Ryan.