YOUR BODY IS PART OF YOUR LIFE FORCE

In the Netflix documentary Stutz, psychiatrist Phil Stutz describes our "Life Force" as a pyramid.

The base layer is connection to body

The second layer is connection to others

The top layer is connection to Yourself

As I often tell my clients, this isn't new or novel. Marcus Aurelius wrote (essentially) the same thing in "Meditations," which were his private notes he made from AD 161 to 180. From Gregory Hays' translation, page 106:

"Three relationships: i. with the body you inhabit ii. with the divine, the cause of everything in all things iii. with the people around you

--

I live in a society where "body" is viewed by a large majority as "something to be tweaked for the purpose of a physical aesthetic."

"I need to lose weight" is something people say a lot.

Well, sure, that may be. But do you know why? Is that WHY something that is truly motivational and/or sustainable for you?

For most people, "I want to look better" is not a big enough reason. Nor should it be when there's a much larger truth at play.

I used to believe that my body was just yet another thing to "work on," but it wasn't until I became a distance runner at 31, and then started running full marathons at 32 that I began to understand my body in an intimate way.

I began to understand its messages when it gave me information about what food it needed to repair itself. I began to understand what it felt like to receive information transmitted through my sacral "gut" instinct. I began to notice how my skin and tissues would give me tensed reactions when I'd defy a well-trodden neural pathway. I also began to understand that while I have a body, "I" am not it.

My body is the greatest source of information I have, which I was completely disconnected from for decades. Why? Patriarchal society. Advertising. Capitalism. Diet culture, etc etc. These societal factors that keep people, especially women, disconnected from themselves.

Your body IS the base of your life force. You cannot be clear if it is unwell. If it lacks rest, proper nutrition, movement, exercise, silence, space, sunlight, and WATER, that body will not serve you in life.

There are reasons to care for the vessel you inhabit. You can become a complete powerhouse in other areas by just shifting that piece...

As for me, "When I run, I feel (God's) pleasure." I had no idea that it would connect me to divinity (Self) in such a powerful way... I wish I could show you, but the divine makes you work for his/her/their/its pleasure. You start off not feeling much of it at all. Then, in time, when you break all of the barriers, the universe opens for you.