Body Talk

Do you talk to your body? If so, what do you say? To you treat him/her like friend or foe? Is it a one-way or a two-way conversation? Do you really LISTEN to what he or she is trying to tell you? 

My time here in Aspen has shifted my dialogue with my body/Inner Self. Before, "she" had slipped into the habits I lent to her, and for the most part she had been obedient. 

I can't blame "her" for the Costco tuna poisoning. She tried to warn me, but I missed the signs. It came on gradually, and with everything else that was going on in my life (my mother's illness and death), it just happened. 

But moving provided its own challenges, as anyone who reads this blog knows. Any time you make such a significant change in your life, your body must change along with you – and vice versa. I had to learn to listen to new signals she was emitting, just as she needed to learn to communicate with me in a way that I would understand. 

Now that a significant part of that trauma is behind "us," we're figuring things out day by day as the seasons change. 

The good thing about her is that she loves physical activity. I suppose all bodies do, as long as they feel like their "owner" (their "mind") is a partner in the matter. If the mind pushes the body too hard, the body rebels. If the mind denies the body its pleasures, the body will "steal" them when he/she/it can. 

Our exercise routine in Aspen is quite different from the daily habits in Atlanta. I still try to work out 6-7 days a week for 1-2 hours at a time, but since my workouts are all outdoors now, there are factors beyond my/our control. Skiing, in particular, isn't such fun for either of us when the weather or conditions aren't favorable. 

So the solution – again – is to make sure she and I are aligned on our goals. That she is as excited to get out there as I am. And that I listen to her when she's ready to quit for the day. Pushing her will only result in her pushing me back. And no one wins when that happens.