September 25, 2014

Body Love Tour Baltimore

It's only fitting that right before I sat down to start writing this post (part event recap/part thinking out loud) I saw the TUT daily inspiration that perfectly says everything I wanted this post to be about: 



You're beautiful enough, Lauren.

You're special enough.

You're sexy, playful, and fun enough.

You've worked enough.

You've cried enough.

You've been grateful, generous, and kind enough.

Okay, then?
    The Universe

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a Body Love Tour event. I was surprised to find out the tour was making a stop in Baltimore for a night of yoga, inspiration, music and community with Promoting Natural Health and Lindsey Smith

I was really excited because a couple of my favorite bloggers Heather Waxman and Kasey of Powercakes were going to be there. (YAY!!!) I especially love following Kasey's blog and her whole journey and philosophy about healthy living is so inspiring to me.

The night of the event I showed up to a beautiful building albeit in a sketchier part of Baltimore for a smaller and more intimate evening than I had expected. I wasn't sure what to expect but right when I walked in I was greeted with hugs from both Heather and Kasey which had me blogger-starstruck. 

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Basically the Body Love Tour events are centered around giving women the freedom to be who they are and change the way they feel about themselves and their bodies. Lindsey opened the event up by talking about her journey with anxiety and body image. 

She explained how women spend approximately 135 days in their lifetime getting ready. That's about half of a year of our lives JUST getting ready. Seriously?! She asked what are we getting ready for? We are already pretty and awesome enough-we just need to show up as ourselves. 

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Adorable shirts for sale

Afterwards the yin and yang team of Heather and Kasey talked about their journeys and what they are now working on together (including their first book which is out soon!) Kasey led us through an unexpected heart pumping warm-up with paper plates that involved bodyweight movements such as lunges and planks. It was a totally great at-home style workout that definitely got me a little sweaty. 


Afterwards Heather led us through a meditation that she warned the group would feel silly. We focused on a breathing pattern while vigorously raising our arms up over our head and down with our eyes closed in sync. We meditated on whatever body issues we struggled with as we did this exercise for a few minutes. It did feel really silly at first, but afterwards I felt so refreshed and surprisingly relaxed. 

Next we did a vinyasa-style yoga class taught by one of the instructors from Charm City Yoga. It was just what my body needed!  I think vinyasa yoga is definitely my favorite and as I've been telling myself, something I need more of in my life.  

While we enjoyed our green juices from Garden of Flavor after yoga, Lindsey showed off her rap skills and spit a couple rhymes for us about being healthy and loving your body-it was amazing 

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Lindsey rapping about a kale smoothie

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I also was excited that I got to talk more to Kasey and Heather after the class was over. Both girls are just as pretty and sweet as they come across on the interwebs. I can't wait to read their book, and I'd love to work with them in the future. 

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Not to mention I left the event with some pretty awesome swag including Under Armour socks, a headband, and hair ties. 



I'm been feeling blah about my body after gaining some extra fluff from marathon training and all my travelling this summer (hello tight pants).  Plus with the lack of strength training I've been doing, I have been overall feeling pretty down about body lately. Going to an event like this and hearing all sorts of women talk about their journeys was inspiring. I'm a firm believer that people need to treat themselves more even if that is something as simple as taking time to go to a yoga class.  

Not to get all preachy about body-love, but the yoga and meditation was definitely centering and put in perspective that adding stress about how I feel about my body when I know that it IS strong and healthy is pointless.  I love that Heather said something to the effect of how she isn't always 100% happy with her body, but none of us are always feeling great about their body image. It's a struggle and a journey, especially as women when we are constantly bombarded with messages about how we should look. 

This is an issue that may seem redundant these days, but I believe everyone including myself, needs to hear these self-love reminders every now and again because as Heather said, we all never feel great about ourselves 100% of the time. 

Everybody is truly different and even if we wanted, we all couldn't look the same or fit some mold. Sure I could lose some weight, but my body is literally my own with it's own shape, needs, and strengths. There's nothing I can do to change the shape of my hips, the bone structure of my face, or the way my eyebrows grow in super dark and thick (even though my hair is naturally blonde-seriously?!).  Now, I love getting dressed up and doing fun makeup, but sometimes it's good to remember that you are just as beautiful when you're completely au natural. 

It's just like the Drake song "sweatpants, hairtie, chillin' with no makeup on, that's when you the prettiest, I hope that you don't take it wrong". I like rap music just like Lindsey, haha. 

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Remember that you are strong and beautiful from the moment you wake up. 

 Beauty from the inside shines outward so maybe try to smile more today-inner peace & happiness shows on the outside too. 

Thanks so much to Lindsey, Kasey, Heather, Charm City Yoga, Carpe Diem Wellness, Garden of Flavor, Under Armour and all the Body Love Tour sponsors and vendors for a great event!

How much time do you spend getting ready a day? How do you find time to treat yourself? 

16 comments:

  1. looks like such a fantastic event - and talk about goosebumps from that daily inspiration!!!

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  2. What a beautiful post! Thank you for sharing this!! <3

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  3. reading this, makes me wish I could have gone, it sounds like an incredible experience, that not only was enlightening and self love promoting, BUT eye opening as well, 135 days getting ready? UNREAL

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    1. Definitely try to go if it comes around again. I know, that number clearly stuck with me!

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  4. Looks like a great event with a good dose of inspiration! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Wow! Looks like such a great event! Now following your blog!
    You can follow me at http://annstersdomain.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for following-I'll check out your blog as well!

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  6. What a great event with a great message! Love the "drop and give me zen!" I need more of that!

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    1. What a cute saying, right? I definitely need more zen!

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  7. What an amazing event! It's so sad that we all seem to struggle with body image, and I definitely agree that it's almost impossible to be happy in our skin 100% of the time, but things like this go a long way to improving that relationship. And that TUT? Love it!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. It's great to celebrate positivity and love!

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  8. Um I love that you quoted Drake in a post about body positivity. I also think that some hip-hop can be a (possibly unexpected) source of awesome body love and positivity!

    Also, I want all those pillows and shirts.

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    1. Haha, thanks and I totally agree about hip-hop! I definitely had to stop myself from buying all the pillows.

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