Whether consciously or not, we often sacrifice our physical or emotional health for the sake of our appearance.
While it is fun and important to feel beautiful in our bodies, we often are driven to do so by stress rather than self-love. This is an inevitable result of a culture that has little focus or education around how to nourish the spirit.
Hyper concentration on the finite body is based on our fears. We fear that we are not good enough or attractive enough. We fear that we won’t be liked or accepted.
There is no way out of this obsessive suffering without shifting our attention internally from finite to the eternal-self, the love that exists in us all. Self-awareness leads to non-violence, both mental and physical, against ourselves and others.
The Journey Will Inform the Destination.
However the journey looks is the way the destination will look. If we hate ourselves into exercise and diet, it will end with more hatred. Even if we lose the weight, we will either gain it back or keep hating ourselves fearing its return. The Biggest Loser educates us how to shame ourselves into weight loss. While I am in awe of the strength that each participant emanates, I suspect that unless each found further guidance in self-love, he or she will live forever in shame of their bodies regardless of the number on the scale.
There are two types of people who heal themselves of their health challenges: Those who do it from love and those who do it from fear.
If we are working on self-acceptance, why are we spending all our energy on external results? This leaves little room for focus on the process of self-acceptance.
In my early 20’s I discovered the practices of meditation and yoga that revealed to me a whole new world of mysticism and self-revelation. Up until that time I had been very self-conscious of my body. The movement of my long limbs always felt very awkward and somewhat lifeless. The more time I spent exploring this internal world, the more I started to connect to my body as a sacred space. As a container for my spirit, there was much to honor and be grateful for.
Unknowingly I started to walk differently, I started to be noticed more, and I felt comfortable being seen. By connecting to something greater within myself and in seeing it in others, I felt worthy to take up space in the world. My muscles naturally started to tone and my stride became more confident.
I realized that the state of my body had everything to do with my mind. The subconscious need to “blend in” is what had prevented my body from shifting its shape.
Weight or any other health challenge is the way we express our deeper challenges in the world. In our healing process we are learning lessons that can be very powerful to our growth. These very challenges are the signs pointing us towards our personal development.
Learning to heal involves learning to love ourselves into healing.
7 comments:
Daniel, you are such a gift. I love your insights and perspective. There is a distinction between feeling beautiful in our bodies, and being driven by self-loathing to attain an impossible ideal. You have captured that beautifully. Our bodies are, indeed, sacred spaces, and if we have as part of our practice to give love to our bodies, they love us back. Thanks for this topic!
Thank you! this is exactly what I needed to hear. We are so focused on everything that needs to be fixed, that sometimes we forget to love what we have.
You have really expressed so clearly what is happening in our society and I love how you share it. Thank you for bringing this to the light. I always enjoy reading your newsletters!
Cheers,
Jean
Daniel, this post is a beautiful reminder that inspires me (and I'm sure others as well!) to think and take actions that align us toward true health and being true to ourselves. I will print this out and read it regularly. Thank you.
This is such an inspiring post. So much truth here. It's so true that once we let go of all of what drives us externally..there is an internal sense of peace.
So beautifully said. Thank-you for this!
Hi, Daniel.
Your article makes me think what I am afraid of in my life. My fear comes from uncertainty. It sometimes brings out best of my ability but most of time it puts me in a very uncomfortable situation. I tend to escape from there by doing nothing or trying to find easy answer. It, however, does not take a long time until I realize problem is still there. Problem is still there unless I find true answer as you described in your article. It may be that true solution comes from when I feel comfortable in imperfect situation. Here is another problem. How do I find it? You may say “practice more” right?
Thanks for the great article.
ddmom
Every life is gift - a miracle, really. We take it for granted until something terrible reminds us of our fragility. Daniel, your words are an inspirational gift to us all -- a reminder to take time to pause, be still and listen. I do not struggle with weight, but your words have deeper meaning to me, especially the last paragraph. Thank you for this post - the timing is perfect!
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