A while ago, BodyBuilding.com had an interview with Jimmy Pena up on their facebook page and I found what he said interesting. While I am no flavor of Christianity like Jimmy is, I am a very spiritual person and enjoy my faith very much. In fact, one of the motivations for me getting in shape was a promise I made to the Divine. I want to be healthy, not necessarily ripped. I don't really want to be super skinny or be like a model, or even be like Jamie. I just want to be me. 

I believe that my body is sacred and one of my most prized possessions. I have been taking advantage of it for many years, and that has taken its toll on my body. Now, I am through with treating it so poorly and so have begun investing in it, monetarily, physically and spiritually. 

Meditation is an important part of my lifestyle, be it focusing my mind on working out, sitting outside and straining to hear the Wind, or laying down to be in touch with the workings of myself, body and soul. 

Workouts as meditations? Yes! Do you not notice that your mind tends to focus on what you are doing at that time? Mine does, like when I am doing a set of reps and I am focusing on my muscles, number of reps and form, and when I am resting for a few seconds, my mind is only focused on what I am about to do next and not on anything else. That is a type of meditation! 

As I continue this new body journey, I will be walking a spiritual journey as well. I intend to wrap up both paths and I look forward to it with relish. But its not just about meditation, it is about being able to move as I please, being able to dance and not feel horrible, being able to be in public without worrying about how I look to others and if they are judging me by my fat, being able to look at myself in the mirror without feeling ashamed. I have just as much work to do on my soul as I do with my body, and those are steps that cannot be charted in a nifty graph. 

Again, I look forward to these changes.