Evangeline Lilly

Evangeline Lilly, Instagram photo, #waspworkout ‍ #listen | Latest Evangeline Lilly’s Instagram Picture

danidon12ka4 Evangeline Lilly, Hollywood , ,

#EvangelineLilly
#waspworkout 🏻‍♀ #listen
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I struggle to write these posts because there is no one set of #healthandfitness rules that make sense for everyone. I try very hard to always make it clear that I am merely speaking from MY experience. You may or may not find my experience useful to your own.
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But, if there is one idea that I feel safe sharing, it would be: learn to listen to your own body. It is infinitely wise. Your body understands what it needs but not all of us have connected to it in a way that allows us to hear it speaking to us.
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Like with any relationship, hearing requires making space to listen.
The trick, for me, is being able to quiet my very loud and demanding MIND long enough to hear my body. They have two very different voices and two very different agendas. Where my mind wants me to satiate my physical and emotional wounds, my body wants me to actually heal them. Where my mind wants pleasure at any cost, my body wants what it actually needs. Where my mind plays tricks on me, my body is always honest.
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Our bodies are sending us messages all the time – thirst, hunger, pain – but then there are also subtler messages that most of us are deaf to. In my experience, once I really learn to listen to my body, eventually, with practice, I can hear the most wildly specific things! .
And this is MY wellspring of health and fitness. My body doesn't know what's trendy, what "he" wants, what "she" thinks, what everyone else is doing, it only knows what it needs. That other bullshit is the territory of the mind.
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I use a breathing practice now, to help me quiet my mind so I can be lead by my body. But long before I started that practice, I began consciously making time to listen…when I woke up, before I ate, before I exercised, before I "was productive", before I brewed a cup of tea…I would ask my body "what do you actually want?" I got faster and faster at hearing, and better and better at listening as time went on.
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Now, that inner voice of my physical body is the compass that leads me through all of life's stresses, joys and changes so I can remain healthy, fit and true to what my needs really are at any given moment. 🏻🏻

Evangeline Lilly, Instagram photo, #waspworkout ‍ #listen

Evangeline Lilly, Instagram photo, #waspworkout ‍ #motivation #goals | Latest Evangeline Lilly’s Instagram Picture

danidon12ka4 Evangeline Lilly, Hollywood , ,

#EvangelineLilly
#waspworkout 🏻‍♀ #motivation #goals .
A fan wrote a me a question after last week's body fat post asking if I have a particular body fat % I aim for. I answered "Never! I aim to feel and look my best. Healthy and strong, lean and graceful. That's my goal. The numbers don't matter to me." This got me thinking about goals and motivation. Many of you have asked me where I derive my motivation from, because you feel you have none.
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The truth is, that I also have no motivation…when I have no goal. My goals are always changing, but without a clear one, I can't muscle up the discipline needed to really make change or even maintain it well.
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Sometimes my goal is to look great for camera, sometimes it's to feel sexy in bed, sometimes it's to know I can carry my toddler without hurting my back and still catch my rambunctious six-year-old. Sometimes it's wanting to live out my long-time dream of being able to do gymnastics, sometimes it's wanting to feel light and energetic. Sometimes I want my skin and hair to glow and bounce again, sometimes I want my clothes to hang in that certain way. Sometimes I just want to feel comfortable in my bikini. Sometimes my goal is to be able to continue climbing trees until I'm 100-yrs-old. Whatever it is
1. It's a crucial ingredient in my motivation.
2. It has to be about me. MY goal can't be about what someone ELSE looks like, acts like, or feels like.
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Each of us is so unique and our perfect journey will never look exactly like someone elses, our perfect body will never look exactly like someone elses. To me, it's important that I want to feel sexy for me, not according to some standard I imagine he has for me. .
When was the last time you actually thought long and hard about what you want, and why you want it? …Today's as good a day as any. #dreambig
xxx

Evangeline Lilly, Instagram photo, #waspworkout ‍ #motivation #goals

Evangeline Lilly, Instagram photo, “And I asked myself | Latest Evangeline Lilly’s Instagram Picture

danidon12ka4 Evangeline Lilly, Hollywood , ,

#EvangelineLilly
"And I asked myself…'are my stories "bad enough" to say #metoo?'" .
If this post, in any way, seems to contradict my earlier "Happy Monday!" post…I assure you, it doesn't. Women smile and laugh around you everyday. It doesn't mean they've never experienced sexual assault or harassment. It doesn't mean they are happy or content with the current MO. But most of us won't let it make us sad everyday. Some days we feel the pain, but most days we chose joy and we carry on fighting, in whatever way we can, to make change. This level of institutional change is a war, not a battle. A marathon, not a sprint. My chin's up, my eyes are open, my heart is bleeding and it's a beautiful, sunny day. 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

Evangeline Lilly, Instagram photo, "And I asked myself