Thank your Body and it will thank you

​It is so easy to take our body for granted. It just does what we want, right? When we really take time to think about all the things that our body does for us, wow, how amazing it is. How often do you thank your body for all that it does for you?

I believe that given the right environment, our body can heal and be healthy. When I say the right environment, I mean how we nourish and nurture it through the authentic kindness of our mind: through the relationship of acceptance with our emotions, through expanding our awareness of how we are much more than just our physical self, the exercise we take and how we nourish ourselves through the food that we eat, through to the company that we keep and the energy we surround ourselves with and through living as our authentic selves. Sounds easy when it is said quickly!

Over generations, we have been fed limitations on what is acceptable physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, digested them and believed other’s projections to be the truth, submitting to cultural beliefs and values. The belief in the power of the mind has taken over from trusting the body. The result of this is we have learnt to disconnect from our true selves. From a physical perspective, not to accept and like our own bodies. Add a dose of emotions we don’t like or feel comfortable with, and hey presto we have a recipe for a complete disconnect from our physical selves.

How often do you sit and pay attention to what your body is telling you through your emotions and sensations?

Do you actually like the body that you live in, or do you prefer to cover it up and make it look pretty to hide that it doesn’t feel pretty underneath?

We need our body to experience and learn the lessons we came into this lifetime to learn. When our house or car needs work done, we invest our time, energy and money on servicing and repair work. Our body needs that same attention and looking after too. Our body is the home for our soul in this lifetime. I love this quote by the French philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin:

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

Do you take time to nourish and nurture your body?

How often do you ask your body what it truly wants or needs?

The body holds so much wisdom that it is communicating with us every minute of every day. It is our Sat Nav system, our emotions communicate with us and help us meet our needs: they help us to survive, they allow us to relate and communicate with others, and they guide us. Unresolved emotional pain manifests in the body as physical pain. We need to tune into our bodies to understand the physical pain, then to realise the message it has for us.

Eight years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, then three years later skin cancer. Up until that point, I took my body for granted and never looked after it. I abused my body in so many ways: junk food, I smoked, I drank excessive amounts of alcohol, I pushed myself to the limit physically, and I hated my body. All of these were coping mechanisms to avoid painful feelings. I neglected myself physically. I had never been taught to develop a relationship with my body and emotions. Cancer was my body’s way of telling me that I really needed to stop and change. To change my relationship with myself and my body, a wake-up call to myself to reconnect, body, mind and soul. I feel incredibly grateful to my body for teaching me a different way of being and living.

Our body is the window to our soul, and intuition helps us to know something and bypasses the conscious mind. Our mind can talk us into and out of anything. Developing intuition, understanding that inner code, that sense and knowing, that hunch, gut instinct, nagging voice, guides us to make the decisions that are right for us, helps keep us safe and helps us navigate through situations. Everyone has different ways that their intuition communicates with them. If you are not used to listening in this way, it is like learning a new language only it is your unique language for your body.

How often do you thank your body for all that it does for you?

Do you need to stop taking your body for granted and start listening and nourishing it instead?

We can never be deceived by our bodies, as our bodies never lie. Trust that your body is a source for intuition. Trust that your body is a source of valuable information and trust that your body holds all the wisdom to guide you. Trusting in our bodies, emotions, and intuition gives us a more grounded, surer sense of who we are: the authentic self. How amazing is it to have our own internal Sat Nav system to guide us through our lives! How sad that at a very young age we learn to shut off from them, as though they are our enemy or only allow ‘positive’ emotions. We just need to tune in and listen, deeply listen.
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Be still and listen to the wisdom of your body.​