Aikido, Calligraphy, and Kototama: Bodies reveal themselves in art, sport and chant

John Stevens Sensei, a Buddhist priest, and 7th Dan came to lecture and train at our dojo, Bay Marin Aikido. Stevens, a highly respected authority on Aikido has more than thirty books on Buddhism, Aikido, and Asian culture to his name. The experience brought new dimensions to our taijutsu, body skills or body arts.

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Self Esteem Gets Solidified on A Triathlete Amputee’s First Date, part 2

“Our stories are in us from a long time ago,” says DeeDee Myers a leadership trainer, speaker, triathlete and mother of quadruplets, twins and three other children. One of her core life stories came as age 16 on her first date. She met a cute boy at a football game on a chilly day so Myers was wearing a jacket. When Myers greeted him at the door when he came to pick her up she immediately saw the look on his face. She said, “I thought, ‘Oh my God, he doesn’t want to go out with me because I only have one arm.’”

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Fear of Publicity: Are you secretly wimpy?

I got an email from a woman who signed her missive “secretly wimpy,” and went on to describe the fears that hold her back from becoming a more public person. I loved the tone of her writing and thought that many other people would like to hear about people like her who have great gifts to give the world, but who have reservations about “coming out” into the scary world at large. Here is our email exchange.

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Change Your Body Shift Yourself

Earlier this year I attended a four day course at the Strozzi Institute, Center for Leadership and Mastery titled Leadership in Action 1 in Petaluma California at the beautiful Strozzi Ranch. The great expanse of green hills and sky reflected what I’d hoped to gain — less cluttered and more expansive thinking and being. And I did. But not right away.

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Do You Chow Down in the Closet?

Are you a closet eater? Do you sneak food? Are you someone who hoards cookies, cakes, chips, and other yummy stuff so you can eat in privacy away from prying eyes?

I was.

In my early teens I learned to eat in the closet, literally.

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Body Image Survey on Strategies to Love Your Body

One of the major goals of the 1997 Body Image Survey was to learn more about how people have remade their image. Though we anticipated receiving a few brief suggestions, we were inundated with your personal accounts of change. We have summarized your suggestions but kept your words. Try and discover what factors play a role in your struggle with your body. And be deliberate about creating a lifestyle that increases your chances for ending the war with your body.

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Inside Conversation: The secret dialog of successful women

Weight loss coach Kathrine Brown is on a mission to help women of power and influence who are holding themselves back. Brown makes it her business to detect the subtle sabotaging dialogs, thoughts and actions that contribute the slow seeping away of their power.

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A Triathlete Amputee Does a Handstand

DeeDee Myers is never without a tube of lipstick in her purse. Leadership expert, triathlete and mother of quadruplets, twins and three other children, she’s always prepared, always presentable, no matter what. In Eighth grade her mother told her that she needed all the help she could get given that she was born with only one arm.

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Serena Williams’ Wins Our Big Beautiful Butt Award

If I were to give an award for a big beautiful butt Serena Williams would be my choice. That gal can really weigh in on the topic, if you know what I mean. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Check out ESPN the Magazine’s The Body Issue where the glossy Williams graces the cover.

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Best Breasts is a Booby Trap

Who thought up the voting for best breasts poll? You can vote on who has the biggest and best rack from gross to gorgeous on the Huffington Post, and plenty of people have.

What woman in her right mind wants people to evaluate her hooters?

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Deformity on the Inside, Beauty on the Outside

David Roche is the pastor of the Church of 80% Sincerity. He has a severe facial deformity that people don’t notice so much after he speaks for a while and they get over the shock of it and see his radiance. He says that people with facial deformities wear their shadow on the outside whereas the rest of us wear it on the inside.

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A Body Image Experiment You Want Me To Do?

As you all know by now I stripped, went totally buff, naked, nude, no panties, all-natural, at a friend’s house as an experiment. Many of you wrote in on other social networks about that.

I’d love to hear about a body experiment you’ve done,

or….

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It Happened One Nightie

Summer nights are quite balmy here in Marin. The upcoming Indian summer promises to be a warpath of high temps and scalding sunshine. After being a fog friendly San Francisco Girl these past 25 years – I’m adjusting to the new climate and dramatic wardrobe differences. Even my sleeping attire has changed.

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Are You Comfortable Naked?

I’m not.

Last week I performed an experiment. I took off my clothes at my friends house in front of her and her 15 year old daughter.

Why? Because I want to feel completely unencumbered by my body.

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Loving Your Body AS IS

What do you see when you gaze into a full length mirror? At nearly 51, I see a body that has curves and waves where 30 years ago, there were more planes. I wear a size 12 where once upon a time, a size 5 prom dress slid easily over my frame. In my teens and into early 20′s, I was a swimmer and then became a lifeguard and swim team coach.

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