Week 21: where I planted some positive intentions.

Weight Loss Milestones - My Strongest Self

Summary of the key moments in my weight loss journey, including before and after pictures, and weight loss statistics.

My Strongest Self

Weight Loss Journal - My Strongest Self

A set of weekly posts, diarising my journey towards losing 20 kilos of weight, through transforming my eating and exercising habits.

My Strongest Self

It is Monday morning and the sun is shining. I decide to start the day with a quick fifteen minute jog around the park behind my house.

Daily 15 minute morning and evening runs

This is something I've been doing quite a lot just recently. Instead of longer runs, I've been going on short morning runs at around 7.30am, often followed by another short 15 minute run around the park in the evening, at around 7.30pm.

The morning run is usually quite fast-paced. It wakes me up and gets my motivation going for the day ahead. The evening run is much slower, more focused on loosening up ready for a good night of sleep.

It seems to be working well, as I'm generally feeling energised in the daytime, and sleeping really well at night. On top of that, my weight almost invariably seems to drop down a bit when I step on the scales the next morning.

You may remember how I've been getting into yoga quite a lot just recently. And in particular how I've fallen in love with Yoga with Kassandra. I first talked about it in week 14 - the week where I did a 7 day core exercise challenge. I mentioned it again in week 18 - the week where I was really, really bad.

One of the reasons I love Yoga with Kassandra is that it made me realise how yoga is so much more than just a form of exercise. In fact, its less a form of exercise for me - and much more a form of meditation, personal growth and self discovery.

The power of positive affirmations

Kassandra often uses positive affirmations in her yin yoga videos and they are something that I have found to be so incredibly powerful and transformational over the last few months.

I have written in more detail about the power of positive affirmations, but for now positive affirmations are simply positive statements that you say about yourself, always in the first person, always in the present tense, and always as if they are true for you right now.

Positive affirmations are things such as, 'I can do whatever I set my mind to,' 'I have the courage to chase my dreams,' 'I love myself exactly as I am, right now.'

In the video below Kassandra talks about positive affirmations (from 18 minutes and 45 seconds in). In particular, she talks about the power of recording yourself saying your own affirmations and listening back to it. She talks about how it is so much more potent and powerful to hear your own voice stating these positive things, rather than just listening to someone else tell these things to you.

Over the last few months I have regularly been doing Kassandra's yin yoga with positive affirmations videos. I have also created my own recordings of myself saying positive affirmations. I listen to these recordings when I'm out driving, when I'm out walking and when I'm out jogging.

Since I started doing these things I have become happier. I have become more positive, and I have become so much kinder towards myself.

Positive affirmations really are incredibly powerful.

Intention setting

Another idea that Yoga with Kassandra has introduced me to is setting intentions. Often, her yoga videos are paired with setting intentions. This is usually setting an intention for the day ahead. It can also be setting more long-term intentions - for the week ahead, the month ahead, or perhaps even the year ahead.

Growing an intention setting plant

On the theme of intention setting, I recently came across a ritual where you set and grow your intentions through planting them - quite literally planting them - in a plant pot with some soil and seeds.

Regardless of whether you believe in the power of this ritual, it is definitely really really fun to do. It involves playing with fire - and anything that involves playing with fire is fun! I adapted the ideas in the video for my own needs but basically you do the following:

First, write down any negative thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back, things that you want to let go of, things that no longer serve you. For example you might write, "I let go of the need to control others..."

Next, write down any positive intentions that you want to set and grow. A positive intention could be a re-wording of a positive affirmation. For example, the positive affirmation 'I love myself exactly as I am, right now,' could become 'I intend to grow my love for myself.'

The next stage is the really fun part. You get to burn all of the negative thoughts and beliefs you wrote down, as a way of representing letting go of those ideas which no longer serve you and are holding you back.

Next, plant the new intentions that you wish to grow into your life. Scrunch up the pieces of paper with the intentions written on them. Bury them deep into the soil. Add the seeds to the soil and water them.

Finally, care for your plants daily. Water them and watch them grow, whilst visualising your intentions becoming true for you.

So much more than just a weight loss journey

So as you can see from all of the stuff I've talked about in this week's post, over the last few months my 'weight loss journey' has evolved to become about so much more than just weight loss.

I'm not only changing physically, I'm changing in terms of the way that I think and feel about myself. I'm also beginning to appreciate the link between the two: the more we care for ourselves physically, the easier it is to love and be kind to ourselves mentally. And the more we're able to love and be kind to ourselves, the more easy it becomes to love and be kind to everyone around us.

Weekly food diary

This week I have been eating...

Up next: my weight loss journey week 22

Week 22: where I aligned my life with the moon.

For hundreds of years people have believed that the moon has the power to affect our lives and our behaviour.

My Strongest SelfLisa

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