1 week in

So the whole handstand a day thing was inspired by a feature Elizabeth read once: a woman took a picture of herself in a handstand every day for a year and it had a profound affect on her. 

We kind of joked about it, and I thought of my own endeavor as just a silly thing to do. But as I get into it, I can see where something might start to happen. 

My gut reaction is often to critique myself: my head is out, I'm arching, my butt is whatever, the lighting is weird, why do I look like that?

However, I am working to quiet those  voices. I would love for my first reaction to be: wow, my body can do a really cool thing! I'm not there yet. It will take more than a week. It will probably take more than a month. But I am excited to keep moving forward. Maybe by the time Elizabeth and I do a reunion handstand in Seattle, I'll be kinder to myself than I can imagine right now. I can see this being a healing thing for me. I am so thankful for how God has chosen to move in my heart and soul and body. Memorizing Psalm 139 was a powerful catalyst for me. When I look at my yoga practice, I see how I'm learning to believe that my body is indeed fearfully and wonderfully made, and is a wonderful work from the very hand of God. 

Today, with this picture, I saw the muscles on my ribs! What are those muscles even called?