No More Mirror Avoidance

If you've ever been in a dance studio, you know there's no hiding from the wall of mirrors. It was one of the things I hated most in my awkward adolescence. I'd spend hours in class trying to focus only on my own eyes as I went through isolations. Not only did that keep me from having to confront my own less-than-perfect body parts, I could also avoid comparing myself to the other -- usually taller and thinner -- dancers in the room.

Last night, I actually watched myself dance...and I had a blast.

Let me set the stage for you: There were just three of us in class -- me, a high school student and an adorable girl who looked like she couldn't be a day over 21. As we started isolations, I looked up in the mirror and saw that I was easily holding my own with the rest of the group -- and I wasn't looking half-bad, either. It also suddenly occurred to me that the high school student was just a few years older than my daughter.

Gulp.

As we moved through the sequence, the instructor kept reminding us to "keep our abs tight." I looked up and realized that every time she said it, she was looking at me. "Honey," I wanted to say. "After two c-sections, this is as tight as it gets."

But I didn't. I just giggled to myself. And I realized what's different about the way I treat my body at 40 from the way I treated it at 15. It's called acceptance. And forgiveness...mixed in with a large dose of humor. Because really, does my post-baby sag matter at all? All that matters -- cue sappy Lee Ann Womack song here -- is that I got out there and danced.

Comments

[MizFit]

acceptance AND humor.

the perfect combo in my eyes as well.

KUDOS TO YOU!

(and this entire post brought back watching my daughter watch herself dance in the mirror this morning. she was amazed and impressed and thoroughly SMITTEN. why can we not freeze our selfesteem at 2)

[WeightingGame]

i feel like I could SEE you dancing! Way to go w/the body love!

[Dara Chadwick]

Hey, thanks MizFit and Leslie!