Are you at war with your body? Take some time this week to make peace with it

I think the first time I thought that my body was talking TO me, I was doing something to it that I thought felt right.   For the 100th time.  Each time resulted in tension in my body, exhibiting itself through tight muscles, a bad attitude, and a depressed state.   But I finally listened.  My body was trying to tell me, “hey, Rebecca, your body here, are you listening?   I don’t like what you are doing to me!”   Listening for me took the form of accepting myself as I am, and, accepting that maybe the things I was doing to my body weren’t right after all.    Accepting that I was okay as I was despite what society and media felt I should be doing.  You might identify with this someplace in your life.   My body still talks to me, telling me I’m doing the right things to it as I feel more at ease with myself, more welcoming with others, and more at peace with my own body and with myself.

This thread of your body talking to you and making peace with it is something on a lot of people’s minds.  Just click to this link: “Google search results in the past year for ‘making peace with your body‘”  And you will see hundred of pages of results.  All of them with wonderful personal stories of so many people (both men and women) who’ve come to grips with this.

But what did I do?  Well, I’m happy to share, so grab that morning brew and let me share four points that I hope might pique your interest:

1. Recognize you are a whole person but part of you might be trying to get your attention:    You aren’t an android, you are a complete person.  All of your parts are interconnected.   You can’t sustainably keep your parts (mind – emotions – physical) separated and not connected.   So,  you need to understand, consciously, that you are an integrated person.   That might take some practice!
2. Understand that what you think is good for you, might be hurting you:  This takes many forms, from alcohol, to internet addiction, to workaholism, to being consumed by pornography or any number of things.  If you are a transgender woman or man, who you are is not bad.  But, the things you are doing to yourself, in the hope that you are dealing effectively with who you are,  might be.  If you are overweight, you need to understand your body is not an enemy; your weight might be unhealthful but who you are at your core is not.   It’s important to note, the things you are doing to yourself to cope might in fact be your way of waging war against your body.  And your body is talking to you about it
3. Sit and listen:  The first key?  Sit and listen.  Turn off the radio. Turn off the PC.  Shut off your iPhone or Blackberry.   Just sit.  You’ll be bored.   And just listen and be still if you can.    What do you feel?  Write it down.   What do you really need?  Write it down.  On a pad of paper with pen (your computer, iPad, or phone will be too distracting).  Oprah has some thoughts on how this can work at her website here.
4. Make peace with your body:  If you are a Christian, or any other faith, you might want to tell your body, and your God, you are sorry.  Sorry for hurting your own body.  You may think this is silly, but, its important to recognize you are a whole person.  I wouldn’t recommend promising you won’t “wage war against yourself again”, because it is likely making peace with your body and with yourself is a process.  You’ll need to find your way through this yourself as it is your journey.  Friends and articles like this can help but it is your peace you are making with yourself.    And then pray, and ask for help, in your faith, for strength to make peace with yourself.

The peace treaty with my own body is on-going.  The peace gets broken on occasion, a skirmish breaks out, and I know when that happens.  The more I accept myself, the more peace I have with myself, and the more I’m able to do things that nurture my body and my wholeself.  The dividend?  I’m able to nurture others as a result.   One of the nicest “peace dividends” there is.