Belly Goddess

Sunday evening I was hanging out at my yoga class as usual, enjoying
some reggae and some flow and some general goodness. I had had a
particularly stressful week and weekend and was really getting into my
Shavasana for some much needed stillness.

My mind is quite loquacious which makes meditation and stillness
pretty difficult, so I usually struggle with a focus during this
portion of the class. With my hands on my belly I started to look
inward and really hear and feel my breathing, and what I noticed was
my heartbeat. There is was, pounding away in my belly like that were a
completely normal place for one to feel their pulse. I have felt my
belly pulse before, after a hard core workout or a truly mind blowing
sexual encounter, but had never stopped to notice that it is there
when I'm just at rest and glowing with post-yoga energy.

Then I started to think about all the other places I can feel my
pulse: forehead, throat, heart, hands...

All of these parts of my body flow my life giving blood so forcefully
through my veins that I can feel it. All these parts of my body are
capable of giving love and life to me. And maybe to the world?

How do I give my love to the world? Through my thoughts, my words,
keeping my heart open, my touch...

And so it seems, through my belly. Now I am not proud to admit that I
have spent a long long time hating my belly. It was too soft, too
round, too squishy, the button is too small, the curves aren't just
right. Only recently have I been doing significant work mentally to
accept and love ALL the parts of my body, even the squishy areas. So I
did a little research on the power of a woman's belly. We all know
that we can create and nurture a new life there. There are some
cultures long ago that actually worshiped the power contained in and
represented by a woman's belly. They were not supposed to be hard and
flat and cold, but rather warm and full of love and life. There is
even a belly goddess, Baubo, whose sole purpose was to spread joy and
laughter and light to the other goddesses by dancing around and
flashing her lady business and telling dirty jokes.

Our bellies are ENTIRELY made of love. They are there to give that
love to the world. And in that moment, laying on my mat, I could feel
the life force and love pulsing through my belly. It was sort of
amazing.

So maybe I shouldn't hate that little squishy round pile of love so
much. Maybe I should embrace it. Enjoy what it can do for me. Listen
to it when it tells me something is wrong or everything is right. Stop
shoving it into tight spaces that hide it from the world, stop
covering it up with my hands when I'm out in public, stop sucking it
in so hard that sometimes I realize I'm not even breathing. And just
LOVE.

Because after all, what am I but a Belly Goddess, just waiting to dance :)

Written By: Janssen Judge, Age 23