One afternoon my little one was asleep and I finally sat down to eat.
On the table was a warm bowl of beef mami with egg. The broth was rich and comforting, the kind of meal I normally would have rushed through without thinking. But that day the house was quiet. So I sat and I ate slowly.
Somewhere between the first spoonful and the last, a thought crossed my mind. I spend so much of my day making sure my daughter is fed. I notice when she’s hungry. I celebrate when she eats well. And yet when it came to me, I was surviving on whatever was easiest. Eating standing up. Skipping meals. Finishing my food before I could even taste it.
Not because I wanted to. Because somewhere along the way I had decided that my body could wait.
I’ve been thinking about the word alaga.
To alaga something is to pay attention to it. To notice what it needs. To care enough to respond. It is the kind of attention you give to something you love, a child, a plant, a relationship you want to keep.
And sitting there with my bowl of mami, I realized I had been giving that kind of attention to everyone and everything around me except my own body.
For a long time I thought taking care of my body meant changing it. Losing the pregnancy weight. Getting back to the old version of me. But when I looked honestly at what my body had actually done, carried my daughter for nine months, brought her into the world, fed her, healed, kept going through broken sleep and full days and everything in between, I couldn’t see something that needed fixing. I saw something that had been showing up for me without being asked.
Maybe my body wasn’t asking to be managed. Maybe it was asking to be cared for.
That question became the first root of Daily Ginhawa: Alaga sa Katawan.
Katawan is the Filipino word for body. And alaga sa katawan is not about optimizing your body or shrinking it back into a previous version of yourself. It is the practice of caring for your body the way you would care for someone you love. Noticing what it needs. Responding with gentleness. Giving it the basics not as a reward for good behavior but because it deserves them simply by carrying you.
That reframe changed more for me than any diet ever did.
Because once I stopped seeing my body as something to fix, I started noticing what it was actually asking for. Not dramatic things. Quiet ones. Water in the morning. A meal eaten sitting down. Movement that felt good instead of punishing. Rest without guilt. Small acts of alaga that said, I see you, I know you are working hard, let me take care of you today.
How can I care for the body that carries me through my life?
That is the question alaga sa katawan keeps asking. And for a mother in the middle of matrescence, returning to it gently and without judgment is enough.
How can I care for the body that carries me through my life?
So if you have been waiting until things settle down to start taking care of yourself, this is your reminder.
Your body does not need to earn your attention. It has been showing up for you every single day, through every hard season, without asking for much in return.
It deserves the same from you.
With love,
Kristen
Start Your Daily GinhawaThe Ginhawa Starter is a free guide that helps you take one healthy habit and shape it into a small ritual, something that fits your real day and is gentle enough to actually stay.
If you’re craving a little more ginhawa in your everyday, this is a gentle place to begin.
Free. Less than 5 minutes to read.
Curious about my morning ritual?
A lot of moms ask me about the supplement that’s part of my morning ritual.
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