This is an article from our spring 2015 issue. Stockists | Subscribe in time for the summer issue.
Transform your relationship with your body
By Sandy Newbigging
One unexpected benefit of meditation is the befriending of your body. If you are engaged in a fight with your physical form, it can limit your body’s ability to be in balance and enjoy brilliant health. Explore these two principle realities – firstly, that your body is working in your best interests and secondly, that you are not your body.
1. Your body is working for you
Battling with your body can be tiring and lead to feelings of confusion or frustration. When your body is presenting physical discomfort as opposed to functioning as you want it to, it is common to feel your body is against you. But your body is constantly responding and adapting to the mental and emotional climate in which it exists. It is always working in your best interests and doing everything it possibly can to heal and sustain life.
Accepting this gives you the right attitude to self-heal. If you believe you are broken then you tend to look to find a lotion, potion or pill to find relief. But if you know your body is adapting to survive, you naturally look within your own mind and life to find the potential causes and solutions. Assuming your body has your back, useful questions to ask yourself might include: What is my body trying to tell me with this physical condition? How might my body be adapting to help keep me safe? How might my body be mirroring something in my mind or life? I invite you to appreciate the wonderful work your body is doing to help you stay alive and then make whatever changes your body needs to return to balance.
2. You are not your body
You know you have a body because you are aware of it. By this rationale, there is a physical aspect of you, your body, and a non-physical part, your conscious awareness. To heal your relationship with your body, it pays dividends to view your body as the temporary home for the eternal consciousness that is your real Self. Learning to be consciously aware with a regular meditation practice connects you with the aspect of your Self that’s beyond the body. As a natural by-product, it becomes very obvious that you are not your body.
Remaining self aware, you experience your still silent spacious consciousness that never gets sick and is perfect, whole and completely calm, now and always. You discover that you don’t need to wait for your body to change or heal before you can access stunning states of being like peace, love, joy, contentment and freedom. Quite remarkably, by resting in your real Self, by disengaging the mind and engaging consciousness, you become able to calmly co-exist with your body in any physical condition.
Within the context of self-healing, experiencing your real Self is paramount. By being calm now, your body is subjected to far less stress. By letting go of excessive thinking and being aware of your Self, your body also benefits from improved communications within the body and mind. Instead of your body being bombarded by a host of angst-mongering negative thoughts and emotions, there exists an inner climate of calm and clarity. As a natural consequence, your body experiences superior levels of rest and becomes more able to perform optimally.
sandynewbigging.com | facebook.com/minddetoxman
