Your lovely bones

Today, I have the great honor of welcoming Zero G Jenny to the blog.  Zero G Jenny is a Londoner on a mission to get us to live a Zero Gravity life.  As she says, “with no gravity, weight is not an issue.  We are no longer held back by this belief that if we achieve this “ideal weight” then our lives will, as if by magic, become perfect. In Zero G, life doesn’t wait until the perfect weight or size is achieved. Life is lived in the here and now, not in some future. We’re not time travellers!”  Here, Jenny shares an observation and exercise with us.  Learn more about her and her work on her web-site, and you can email her at jenny@zero-gravity-life.com.   

Today, I was at Highgate cemetery in London. It was founded in 1839 to provide burial space outside of London, where churchyards were becoming too full. It’s huge, covering an area of thirty seven acres of grave after grave after grave (around fifty-two thousand of them!). I don’t mean to sound ghoulish, I find it a beautiful and serene place, and although death is all too often a painful goodbye I tuned my thoughts to life.

Have you ever seen the film “the Lovely Bones”? I don’t want to spoil it for you if not, but there is one scene I’d like to share. One of the characters dies and gets the chance to come back to her body for just ten minutes. It’s a beautiful scene where she relishes the simple joy of being alive.

I got thinking about the cemetery today and I wondered what all the ladies who are buried there would say if they were offered ten minutes of life. I wondered how many would feel upset that their thighs were too large, or their nose crooked, or if they were too flat-chested.

What do you think?

Now, I’m not about to tell you that you are ungrateful if you moan about your body. Heaven forbid! That’s along the lines of me telling you to eat all your dinner and not leave a scrap as there are starving children in the world. How you eating more than you need to would help these poor kids I have no idea!

No – I’m saying this because I get sick and tired of the constant media bombardment telling us how we should look, or at least be striving to look, which is almost always different to how we actually are. I’m supposed to wax my eyebrows as they’re too bushy, but I never get round to it because I have better things to spend my time and money on. There is very little out there telling us we are fine now, today, this instant, in this here and now body. This lovely, wonderful, breathing, beautiful, miracle of life body.

I have an exercise for you (as I love to give people things that might help them). I’d love you to try this out for a week or two and let me know how you get on. Ready? OK, here are the instructions:

1. Set aside 5-1o minutes each day when you won’t be disturbed
2. Pick a peaceful, calm spot. If you can’t get to a quiet area then it’s OK to listen to some music, the main aim is to create an ambience you enjoy
3. Sit or lie down and close your eyes
4. Breathe deeply. Notice each part of your body. Move each part – wiggle your toes and fingers, roll your shoulders, stretch out your arms – move any way you feel you want to
5. Smile, Refuse to entertain ANY judgement whatsoever. Only notice your body and feel the wonder of being alive.

Try to do this every day for at least a week and see if you notice any difference. Just float free – free of any worries about your body or your weight, free of your daily troubles … just five minutes of perfect peace and joy at being alive.

This is what Zero G is. I live like this all the time. It’s wonderful and I would like as many others as possible with me. You’re all welcome to join me. I have a website from which I send out weekly tips and inspiration to help you float free of negative body image and dieting. Because life is for living, and it’s wonderful without the diet!

Zero G Jenny xx