Since moving to Norway, I have been at odds with my body. It has not been thrilled with the cold. When there is snow, I always expect to fall on the way to the bus walking down the hill from our house. In actuality, I have fallen 4-5 times. The good news is I have gotten exceptional at falling with minimal after-effect. In fact, I may even try skiing here next year I have improved so much! It is raining a high percentage of the time (we live in Bergen which is the rain capital of Europe) so it is regularly quite moist out. Since we do not have a vehicle (completely different from living in Texas!), we take the bus everywhere including shopping so we do a good bit of walking and carrying of things.

As Spring is finally starting, I can feel the desire to move more in my body. My masculine instantly pops up with the idea of hill sprints as we are situated on an excellently steep hill for this. I have also been missing running even though I have been banned from it repeatedly by different health care professionals due to various and numerous injuries through the years.

So, on the first mostly clear day I pop on my running shoes, walk down the hill and attempt to sprint up it. Did I mention it rains almost everyday and it is cushy grass as we are on a farm? By the time I made it to the top my socks were gushy and it had started sprinkling with rain clouds rolling back in. I took the hint and went back inside.

For whatever reason, I had continually put off purchasing hiking boots since I had purchased snow boots after first arriving and I never saw women´s hiking boots on sale. Well, the other week I finally did the responsible thing after falling on my bum two times in one week and purchased some.

I looked online first, tried to purchase a pair I found, and learned they would not accept my American credit card. So off to the store I went. At the very first store I located the perfect pair in my size, water resistant, in my favorite color, and at a very good reduced price. Apparently someone knew that I needed extra assurance about getting them.

On the way home super excited I thought, “joy! I can start hiking all over the place now!” Then, another voice in my head followed with, “you need to dance.” My first reaction was crap. Then I noticed something important. I have a tendency to attempt to manage my health and wellness with just my masculine ignoring my feminine and want it wants completely.

Ignoring my feminine is a significant part of why I have had so many injuries over the years, and is part of why I have been more apt to fall recently. I have even been known to do crazy things like working out 6-8 hours a day doing only masculine workouts. When I honor both my feminine and masculine my injury rate decreases dramatically and my body feels happier.

So, now I am choosing a different approach. Instead of leading with the masculine while ignoring my feminine completely in this arena, this month I have set up rails for myself that make my masculine feel honored while giving my feminine room to move and listen to my body the way it likes. How this looks:

• 30 Day Yoga Challenge where I get to choose which video or videos I do based on how I feel
• A pushup challenge to increase the amount I can do
• A calf raise challenge to increase the amount I can do
• A squat challenge to increase the amount I can do
• A tricep dip challenge to increase the amount I can do
• 30 minutes of dance a day (if I feel like it and can be broken up)
• 30 minute walk with dogs (if I feel like it and can be broken up)
• Consciously choosing and eating what feels good to my body
• Stopping eating when the food starts to not taste as good as the last bite
• Writing down what I eat, but leaving off calorie counting as my intention is just to eat healthier

All of this feels really good in my body and very balanced. With this in mind, I have questions for you about listening and honoring your body when setting up a workout and healthy eating routine:

• What have you done recently to honor both your masculine and feminine in your workout routines?
• Do you find that you lean more towards one than the other?
• What does it feel like when you pick more masculine workouts?
• What does it feel like when you pick more feminine workouts?
• Are you regimented with your foods?
• Are you too relaxed and ignore looking at your foods?
• How would it feel in your body to create a more unified approach, bringing out both your masculine container and flow from your feminine?

Most of us are just looking for physical results like the number on the scale, instead of seeing this as a way to balance the body both internally and externally. The physical results become much greater when we balance our internal struggle between our masculine and feminine. What can you do today to bring them into balance to create an even better you?