“What the heck is a MELA VIE?” my sister asked after I excitedly told her the name of this blog. Okay maybe I should have explained the vision first before I revealed the name. Duly noted. I’ll start from the beginning.

For years I had this toxic relationship with my body. I struggled with my weight and body image, constantly comparing myself to my beautiful and slender sisters. I spent years knit picking all my flaws, hating my cellulite and the size of my thighs. I would punish my body for not measuring up to my standards of perfection by going through cycles of overeating and undereating. I would exercise excessively and then abruptly stop exercising for months. I would shame myself for falling off, for not being strong enough to stay consistent. I rode my health like a seesaw and yet would wonder why my body was still staying the same.

Who else can relate?

It honestly wasn’t until I read this verse in the Bible from 1 Corinthians 3:16 that my mindset around my health began to change.

 

“Do you know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

 

Who me?! A temple? 

This was the first time I heard my body being referred to as a temple. Something so sacred. Somewhere that the spirit of God dwells.

It was so shocking to me because I had spent years wishing and trying so hard to separate myself from my body. I didn’t want my body. I wanted someone else’s body. A new body. Not mine.

But here’s the thing that took me years to fully understand and grasp:

 

My body, mind, and soul are not isolated from each other. They are interconnected and if one is affected then they all are. I can’t love one and hate the other because my mind and soul live within my body.

 

The truth is that my body, with all it’s flaws and imperfections, is the vessel where I get to experience life’s greatest pleasures, where I get to express my love and be loved, where I get to passionately live out my purpose.

Once I realized this, that was when the shift began to happen. I began seeing my body as a sacred place that needed to be loved and taken care of. This did not happen overnight. It took a lot of work, self-reflection and awareness to reverse the years of body shaming and negative self-talk. And if I am being honest, it is something that I still have to intentionally work on to this day.

But when I began to adopt this mindset, I found that I also began to move out of love for my body. I stopped looking at exercise as a way to punish my body for my poor food choices. Instead, I began looking at it as a way of celebrating my body for all that it could do.

I started looking at it as an investment in my future. I work in health care, so I see first-hand what happens to the body when you stop moving and let me tell you guys, it is not pretty. I don’t know about you, but I want to be the 70, 80-year-old woman still playing around with her grandchildren, still traveling the world and swaying her hips to the sultry sounds of bachata. The only way I can give my body the best possible chance to realize this dream is if I move today. Not tomorrow or the next day but TODAY.

And this is why I started this blog, MELA VIE.

I want to encourage people to move. Whether it is for 5 mins, 20 mins or an hour. I want to encourage daily intentional movement.

I want to empower others to realize their potential and adopt this mindset that has changed my life.

I want to lead my life with love. Love my body. Love my God. Love others.

I want to affirm who I have been called to be. Who I want to be.

And ultimately, I want to live a life that I truly love, in a body that feels like home.

MOVE

EMPOWER

LOVE

AFFIRM

This is a space for us. A community where I hope we can move together, empower one another, love one another and affirm each other up as we pursue the passions in our hearts.

This is what I want for my life and what I want for your life as well.

Are you ready?