Living Life "Intuitively"

Several days ago, I took a leap and shared some pretty personal stuff about the fashion industry and eating disorders in my post, "Have the Models Eaten?” I was overwhelmed by the amount of support that people gave me in the comments, and surprised at the amount of Steemit users that were able to relate to my experience.

One user, @kateniss shared an article with me about “Intuitive Eating” and living intuitively that I thought had some good ideas in it. Yesterday, I got together with my good friend Ashley, and we decided to try some intuitive living.

It was sunny and neither of us had to work, so we went swimming. In the past, I’ve had different levels of comfortability with wearing swimsuits, but every day I’m both healthier and happier with my body. When Ashley started taking pictures for Snapchat, I was happy to be a photo subject.

When we got hot, we got in the pool. When we were worn out, we caught some rays and soaked up the sun (with sunscreen, of course). When we were thirsty, we drank water and when we got hungry, we talked about what to cook. The whole day, I was trying to find a balance and listen to my body. I kept thinking of an old song from when I performed at the Renaissance Festival, where the lyrics went, “I’ll eat when I am hungry / And I’ll drink when I am dry…”

By late afternoon, we wanted to leave the pool and eat something, but we weren’t sure what. We talked about what items we each had in the fridge and decided to combine them to make our own burrito bowls. She’s vegan and I’m sensitive to dairy, so a plant-based meal was what we needed.

We swung by the grocery store to pick up a few ingredients... and the Starbucks near there had buy-one-get-one-free drinks, so we got iced soy lattes too.

We cooked Spanish rice and black beans, then got out the olive oil. She had a pan-fried tofu recipe that she wanted to try. I was pretty wary, since I’ve had some bad experiences with tofu (cook it wrong and it tastes like Wite-Out flavored Jello), but the tofu ended up tasting almost like chicken nuggets. Then we sautéed green bell peppers, mashed avocados for guacamole, and added chips and salsa.

We ate slowly, savoring each bite. It had taken a while to get everything together, but cooking made the meal that much more satisfying! We walked around her neighborhood afterward until it got dark.

Having a laid-back day gave me a chance to ponder the things I’ve read lately and listen to my own body. It can be so easy to get caught up in stress and our hurried routines. I want to take this “intuition” into my everyday life, letting my body and mind find peace with each other. Just like how I don’t have to eat something because I’m bored, I don’t have to give in to road rage or self-doubt that will only make me feel worse. And of course, spending time with positive people is always good for me.

By living intuitively, we can move beyond the daily hassles to focus on pursuing our goals and dreams, and I can follow the road of acting and modeling to wherever it takes me. I’ll have more to write about that soon… :)

Steem on, friends!

xo,

Cecilia