Just another day in Paradise

One aspect of this life I really love and feel really fulfilled in, is the work I’ve been blessed to do with massage.

This morning I visited another spectacular vacation home…Actually, last time I was here massaging I got to see whales jumping…while I was giving massages!! I didn’t even think to have that one on my bucket list!! After all these years, you would think I’m tired of ocean views, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all…but nope. They still captivate me every single time. Just like when I lived with an ocean view for 2years, every single day it took my breath away and then gave it back to me… Anyway, this morning was a very special spot that I was blessed to give massages in. I’ll attach a video, the view is spectacular.

I have been so blessed to do the work I love in these spectacular places… So if I ever complain about sitting working at a desk job… or staring at a screen all day, it’s because I’ve loved the blessing of being able to move my body while working for 20yrs, and help people feel better in their bodies and I really notice a difference in my body when I spend more time staring at a screen. Writing is different. I do this pen to paper and find it therapeutic.

For more than 10yrs in Samara I’ve been blessed to be invited into some pretty incredible vacation homes to do massage.

I highly recommend when a big group, family or friends travel that they bookend their trip with massages. First of all, life is a different pace here from the rest of the world and you are all running around stressing about preparing and traveling all you left behind… you don’t instantly feel like you are on vacation… to quickly unwind to Pura Vida… I highly recommend massage. What a difference it makes when the whole household gets massaged. You are much less likely to get on each other’s nerves. Also since I’m blessed to visit all these amazing homes, I know all the good spots.

If you need a recommendation of where to stay. I’m happy to help

I am constantly reminded that there is so much in this life to be grateful for…
As I write this my cat ‘Nina the Ninja’ is massaging my ‘muffin top’. – That stubborn little extra around my middle that has snuck up over the last few years. Well ‘Nina the Ninja’ -my cat… if reincarnation is a thing then she definitely was some sort of health professional… perhaps specifically in gut health. She’s quite concerned about that little extra I carry… Well, at least she has a sense of purpose. She seems determined to fix the condition of my middle…perhaps she’s searching for buried rock-hard abs… until she gives up… perhaps determining she’s going to have to do a lot more than massaging to uncover my abs… Only to have renewed faith the next day.

As I was saying…I have a LOT to be grateful for…but I sometimes forget to be grateful for this area of my body. This fluffy pouch that apparently carries stress weight. This area that attempts to give me energy out of whatever I feed it… Even if it’s not always happy with my choices. This area that was stretched beyond capacity and asked to do amazing things when bringing this incredible child I have into this life…honestly, ever since I have felt like it was hard to really get in touch with my core again. I continually say that I’m prioritizing my health and getting in better shape…yet my choices…momming and work…I continually put first, and then I end up doing what is more convenient when it comes to my health.

I was trying some juice cleanses…not Kyle’s, this was more recently. However, they were so potent, I could barely consume them, and I actually think they were upsetting my gut balance… Anyway, I am trying to find the magical balance of gut health and of loving all the parts that make me, me! And have gotten me to where I am on this journey. I love myself and I like myself. I enjoy my own company…but I would still like to fine-tune this body of mine a little more… I’d like to age a little more gracefully.

Skyler and I were watching the Netflix special on
‘How to Live to be 100’…
And we live in one of the ‘Blue Zone’- (One of the 5 places in the world where record number of people live over 100).
The elements that make a ‘Blue Zone’… those similarities place to place are so beautifully authentic and engrained in life and culture…more so the past than the direction society is heading. Their lifestyles of being outdoors, walking up inclines, the food being from the earth and not packages, keeping close relationships with family and friends.

I feel like when people move here to be in a ‘Blue Zone’ or to change up their life… They are not adapting to the lifestyle of the people who are living to be 100… More often they want to bring the lifestyle they had…which will not bear the same results.

I am not perfect in these respects either. Previously, I was walking up and down 65 steps at the mountain house several times a day. Now where I just moved I plan to hike regularly in the neighborhood…but I did take a break the past little while from inclines…who knew it’s one of the keys to longevity? Time to get back to it!

So why share in a public blog post about something so personal about myself that I’m not comfortable with? Because I notice my own shame around my gut…I notice myself covering it up or God forbid it gets any attention…I feel shame, and it doesn’t deserve to feel shame. Even if it doesn’t behave the way I would like it to…I wouldn’t expect anyone else to feel shame around their body…its a big part of who we are. Sometimes we think other people must be impervious to these feelings..we see all the shiny Instagram accounts…and this is why I feel it’s really important to be real about these things, normalize it..we all have these struggles or things about ourselves that we may be thinking…that maybe no one else is. So this blog took a bit of a turn, but that’s ok, so does life!
Thanks for stopping by.
~Cheryl
Y para ustedes que estan leyendo en español muchisimas gracias! Gracias para venir!
*My blog posts are sometimes a work in progress. Since I am trying to write everyday, they sometimes come out very raw with few edits, and sometimes the longer they are up, the more I expand upon them or add photos and video I may find that applies.