In 2016, a body-image coach (Summer Innanen) told me to just start thinking about my body as “the spaceship that carries around my intellect and soul.”
This, combined with other practices she taught me, helped me to finally make peace with having a “spaceship” that wasn’t the shiniest one in the fleet and would never would be. I’ve learned that my body is just my spaceship, and if it gets my brain where I want to go and lets my soul do all the things I want to do, I should be satisfied with that.
Then in 2021, I read the book “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande. And let me just say that if you are a human being, this is a must-read book. It’s like the ultimate guidebook to understanding aging and dying. It is, unbelievably, not a depressing read. It is a book that will give you peace with the process you and your loved ones will eventually experience.
Gawande reminds us that the body is a complex system with thousands of critical, fragile components. Like a power plant, the body requires regular maintenance and the failure of any of these fragile components can be trouble for the body.
So when we sold Coursetune in 2021, after the most stressful 5 years of my life, I swore that I would start taking better care of the “spaceship.”
I am now 250 Pilates classes post-sale.
Reformer pilates is a gentle exercise routine that works out all the muscles and stretches all the parts of your body. You do a lot of controlled breathing. You do a lot of the workout lying down on a machine (you can even close your eyes for a lot of it and let your mind wander). It is the first exercise class that I truly don’t mind going to. Note: Reformer pilates is quite different than the pilates you may have done for 10 min in a yoga or aerobics class (that is pilates floor work).
I tried to like yoga and never could find a calm mind there and most of all it bores me to tears. But the moving nature of pilates provides a different kind of meditation. If you still haven’t found the right exercise for you, but you’re starting to worry that your spaceship needs regular care and maintenance, give it a try.
Meanwhile, I’ve learned to appreciate the bodies of “new” spaceship models without worrying that I need to have one. I think to myself “How great to be young and have that beautiful body. Enjoy it while you can!”
I’ve learned to admire a really sleek and powerful spaceship without needing one myself, just the same way I can admire a convertible without needing to own one.
And I’m proud that my spaceship can climb around in the canyons of Utah without being sore the next day.
What are you doing to maintain and regularly service your spaceship?
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