Love Note to My Body Dear Body, I love you. To move you was once punitive. Now… …Unitive. You take the lead. Move me . . . s l o w l y . . . I love you, Mind
My Mind and My Body have had a troubled relationship. They’re from different places, with different languages and different needs. Mind wants to dominate - and does so very well - until Body says ENOUGH! I’ll show you who’s in charge here. Maybe you can relate?
It wasn’t always this way. I suppose it started as a teenager — ironically, at same time I discovered yoga. I wanted to be a cheerleader like my older sister but I was not flexible like her, so I had to work really hard for it! (You can learn more about my yoga origin story here.)
A few years later I entered the fire academy cadet program my senior year of high school, and my body became a battleground once again. Entering a male-dominated space as a petite female made me hyperaware of my physical shortcomings. My mom’s discarded Cindy Crawford exercise tapes weren’t going to cut it. I needed to lift real weights. I needed to get really strong to keep up.
My yoga practice and study to become a teacher hasn’t been just about what I’ve learned along the way, but almost more significantly about what I’ve un-learned. It has taught me how to take better care of myself. Exercise and food (or lack thereof) are no longer tools for punishment. My prevailing goal is to live well and feel well, do all of my favorite things, and live as independently as possible until the day I die. I know many of my students feel the same way.
I think about death a lot. It feels a bit morbid to admit that publicly, but Ernest Beck would say that preoccupation with death is merely another expression of a love for life. I learned this quote from WeCroak, an app that reminds me to meditate on death 5 times a day. It’s going to happen to all of us. Can we get over the taboo of it? Can we meet Grief and Death with grace?
And what good is increasing our lifespan if we don’t have a corresponding healthspan? Can you afford it? A 2021 New York Times article headline read: Getting Old Is a Crisis More and More Americans Can't Afford. What if no one is coming to save you? Would you do something about it now, while you still can? What a time to be alive, indeed.
This week’s immersion in yoga and fasting began as it has every time — we lay down, breathe, and massage our bellies. I remember the first time I did this, I felt very weird. I had never pressed under my hip bones or dug around my ribs before. I was tense and unsure. It takes time to thaw.
This time I felt my belly soften. I am Inspired by Dirgha. Exhaling, I release the belief that in order to love my tum it must be a six-pack. I slide my fingers under my shirt to receive the heat of my palms on my bare skin. When I meet my belly exactly as it is, My Mind and My Body merge into one. A third language emerges — a wordless one that feels like Love. When I arrive at this place, The O.K. Place, I am truly at Peace.
We meet again later. This time, I drizzle warm sesame oil1 and as it pools in my navel I reminisce on the 3 times my belly button has changed. Hating my belly button. Loving it again. It’s a fascinating little sucker when you really think about it2. It helped me get here! I let my hand rest in gratitude and feel connected once again to…my Self.
Love Note to My Mind Dear Mind, Take a break now and then. You don’t need to wait til the engine overheats. Pull over and pause. Feel me and remember: I am always holding you. Heartbeat beating Breath breathing Peace and stillness, meeting through this simple greeting. We’re right here, right now. I love you, Body
Invitation:
Feel how it is to soften your belly. Take 3 breaths like this - two sniffs in through the nose, and Ahhh exhale through an open mouth. You can make whatever noise you want, or not. Stay with yourself til the bottom of the exhale before you sniff in again. Then pause and ask yourself these questions:
If my Mind wrote a note to my Body, what would it say?
If my Body wrote a note to my Mind, what would it say?
There’s no right or wrong, good or bad. I break poetry rules and so can you! This is just one step you can take to create honest, intentional dialogue between The Mind & The Body, if that is something you wish to do. Comment below or send me a note if you’d like. I love to hear from readers! 🙏
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You can learn more about Abhyanga (Ayurvedic self massage) here. I’ve had a messy learning curve and still find the smell of sesame oil repulsive, so this ritual took some getting used to but has been well worth it! Adding a few drops of my favorite essential oil helps. I like this doTERRA Shinrin-Yoku Forest Bathing Blend - a little goes a long way.
Belly buttons are not just a physical remnant of birth but also an essential energetic, digestive, and healing center in various traditions, especially Ayurveda and yoga. It represents life, vitality, balance, and transformation. It is said that the nahbi has the same amount of neurons as the brain - so it’s like the second brain.