A clear and wonderful truth

If you read last week’s blog post you know I’ve been reviewing my various notes from the past couple years and diving deeper into my study of the interconnected body. Through it all I’ve come to realize a very clear and wonderful truth:

Your body is a change machine that is made to support everything you choose to do, given you choose to practice it often enough. What blows my mind even more is that your body does this in a 100% non-judgmental way.  

No good or bad here

Want to smoke cigarettes? Your body processes the nicotine for you, finding as much balance and homeostasis it possibly can given the input you’ve chosen. It doesn’t say it’s bad for you. It just supports you.  

Want to run a marathon? Your body builds the endurance for you, finding as much strength and stamina as you need, as long as you give it the time to train. It doesn’t say it’s good for you. It just supports you.  

Your body shapes around and supports your habits in posture and in action with as much efficiency as it can. It does the same for your habits in mood and emotion.

Body says, do we need to brace by holding our hands in fists most of the time and tensing up our abdomen? Ok! I’ll just tighten up this tissue and loosen up that one, that should do it. It probably needs a little less fluid circulation because it’s not moving much, so I’ll divert some of that oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange to another area that we use more. Bingo! Now it’s easier to hold the brace. What’s next?  

Your body does all this with its own intelligence and without judging you. It’s never disappointed in you, you know? It just does its best to do what it needs to do to get the job done. Which means that deep inside of you, you know how to be nonjudgmental. You also have sustained support.  

Sometimes, though, the body and I seem to be at odds

This isn’t to say the body doesn’t sometimes go on the fritz. For many of us it might seem our bodies are getting in the way or working against us. The pain in the knee. The IBS. The inflammation that seems to have no cause and no solution. Nevertheless, your body is trying its hardest to support you. To get things right for you. And it isn’t criticizing a thing that you choose.  

Is this a two-way street? Let’s set aside the fact that your brain is your body for a moment and say your brain is the part of you that chooses and your body is the part of you that acts out the choice.  

Deep rest and intentional listening

Is your brain supporting your body? Is it taking the time to sweet talk and soothe your body into rest, and listen deeply to the signals it’s receiving?  

You have far more afferent nerves that send signals from body to brain than you do efferent nerves that send signals from brain to body. Even if you aren’t consciously tuning into them, your brain is getting the message. Are you making regular time to hear it?  

Remember: your body is a change machine that supports everything you choose to do, all your habits, everything you practice, without judgment. Taking time to rest and listen to your body is like closing the loop. The difference between someone hugging you and your arms hanging limp and someone hugging you and you hugging them back.  

You are what you do

Taking time to truly rest and listen to your body is just another habit your body will non-judgmentally accept and support you in, as long as you choose to do it often enough. You are what you do with repetition. Your body (and brain) is designed for it.