Return to your Body.
The ending of one year and the beginning of another is an auspicious time to reflect and consider how you want to feel as the new year takes shape.
It may seem the answer is easy - “I want to feel good!”, but deepen the question and ask what feels “good” and get detailed in your response.
We can do this exercise on any given day and it is just as important, but this time of year is accompanied by the natural rhythm of the earth and well, the calendar.
Getting clear on how you want to feel in your body is an invitation to return home to the source of so much information and guidance held in your organs, tissues, tendons, muscles and bodily energy.
Often disassociated and resentful, our relationship with our bodies could at times rival a marriage of vilian and victim. The thoughts we think about our own bodies, we may not even think about our worst enemies. Frequently, what we feed our bodies is nothing short of toxic, pointless, manufactured, fake food and drink.
A poor relationship with our bodies not only leads to overeating, low energy and agitation, but it can lead to eating disorders, obesity, addiction, illness and disease. The disconnection from our physicality is at the root of so much of our human suffering. For me, the suffering came in the form of a 15-year eating disorder with months and months and months of my life spent with my head in the toilet, caught up in the cycle of shame and self-repulsion, binging and purging, rage and restitution. It felt as if my body hated me and I hated it right back. It was ugly.
If you are struggling to overcome a less than loving and maybe even ugly relationship with food and your body, you may find (like I did), the road towards feeling better confusing. We are often offered, diets, drugs, rigid rules, and restrictions which then continue the disconnectedness and bodily dread.
The thing is, most of us were never taught to turn towards our bodies for the answers. The reconciliation with our bodily intelligence and the relationship that is possible once we begin listening to our bodies, can be life altering. Imagine feeling like your body is your true best friend, ally, and most devoted companion instead of the beast that you cannot seem to slay.
As I found a way out of my eating disorder through yoga and therapy, not only did I heal, but I forged a beautiful relationship with my body. Breathing and moving with my body on the mat, I began to trust it. Over the years I have tried to offer my insights to others to help heal and build friendships with their bodies through yoga and later, The Experience.
What I have found over these 22+ years of my yoga journey, is that so many of us do not understand it is possible to live in unity with the bodies we have been gifted. It is possible to be in a loving relationship with the body that “…gives our soul a chance to be here” (Meggan Watterson) and listen to bodily feedback as a way to find lightness, healing, and most importantly, vibrant, good health.
I believe it is possible to forge a deep friendship with this one body we get. I believe that by turning towards our bodies through yoga, unprocessed nutrition, hydrating well, taking time to go inward and listen, practicing generosity, changing the mind messages that are on repeat and investigating the remarkable intelligence of the body - transformation is possible.
As you consider how you want to feel in 2023, consider cultivating a friendship with your body or enhancing the one you already have - your body is waiting for you to love it as much as it loves you ❤️
Big love,
Tammy