Hi everyone!  I hope you had a great week and happy Aloha Friday!

This week marked the start of the Move Nourish Believe challenge.  We at Harmony are excited to join the #sweatpink community and Lorna Jane active wear for three weeks of moving, nourishing and believing in ourselves and positive change!  What a great way to get 2014 off on the right track.

What I really noticed while posting through the first week of the challenge are two things:

1) It’s important to look back at where we’ve been to see where we are going

Sometimes we don’t like to look back at old pictures, as they can bring up bad memories, body-shame, guilt or other negative thoughts.  We should be PROUD of where we’ve come from and excited for where we are going.  Celebrate your victories, even if they seem small to you now.  All large accomplishments are made up of small gains along the way.  Keep either a written or photo journal of your thoughts or goals so that you remember how far you’ve come.

2) So many of my amazing memories, friendships and relationships have a common thread of moving, activity and being healthy in some way, shape or form

I am a happier person when I’m active every day.  Period.  That happens much more frequently when I surround myself with people who feel the same and support me in that.  I love walking with the stroller, pointing out plants and animals to my daughter.  I can listen to her talk to herself and enjoy the sun on my face and I’m setting an example to her of the importance of exercise.  I love taking different exercise classes, and can do this because my husband also believes in the importance of exercise every day.  He gets his time at the gym, and I get mine.  I love educating other people about health and the joys of movement, and I’m lucky to do this in my job every day.  I know not everyone can workout for a living, but you can have one or two close friends or family members who can be your “buddy”.  They can walk with you at 6:00am when no one else will.  They can tell you how cute your new workout clothes are (this is really important, actually!)  They can recommend you both walk to the store together instead of drive.  They can look silly with you in your first dance class together.  Don’t let people bring you down if you have a goal in mind.  Be proud of it and have some people around you who will be proud of you as well.

Here’s to a great week of moving!  We look forward to next week where we will focus on the “nourishing” of our move, nourish, believe challenge!  Here’s a little love for the weekend, because we could all use some light in our eyes and a heart on our bottom 🙂