“Most of us still need to learn how to take care of our physical body. We need to learn how to relax and how to sleep. We need to learn how to eat and consume in such a way that our body can be healthy, light, and at ease.
If we listen carefully, we can hear our body telling us all the time what it does and does not need. Although its voice is very clear, we seem to have lost our capacity to listen to it. We’ve pushed our body too hard, and so tension and pain have accumulated. We’ve been neglecting our body so long, it may be lonely. Our body has wisdom, and we need to give ourselves a chance to hear it.
In this very moment you may like to pause and reconnect with your body. Simply bring your awareness to your breathing, and recognize and acknowledge the presence of your whole body. You may like to say to yourself, ‘My dear body, I know you are there.’
Coming home to your body like this allows some of the tension to be gently released. This is an act of reconciliation. It is an act of love.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh, in “The Art of Living”.
Photo: © Russell James
