Today, dear body, I write this letter to tell you that I love you. I feel the occasional pain in your knees and try hard to remember the joy of the runs that contributed to that pain. I feel the soreness in your muscles and celebrate it with joy because I can move and walk, do asana and sit, be alive! I look at you in the mirror and say, “hey, not bad, lady” and love you. This is not a conceited love, but an unconditional love.

Every once in a while, I judge you too harshly, or reprimand you for what you’re eating, or look longingly at a long pair of thighs, cut triceps or a six-pack of abs, but then I turn back inwards and celebrate the health, form and function of you, my beautiful friend, my body.

So today, on Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love, I celebrate my love for you: for better for worse, in health and happiness, in creaky joints and achy knees, laughter lines and all, this life, this moment, this earth, until my spirit departs from you.

With love,

Your spirit.