Healing

The body is much more than the mind. The mind can interfere significantly with bodily wisdom. The body's mindless urges can also trouble the mind. These are challenges of the human condition.

Healing often entails telling the mind to yield to the dictates of the body. A common obstacle to healing, in my opinion, is the refusal of a tired and malnourished person to rest and eat properly. One result of this mind-dominated behavior is reliance upon drugs and alcohol for the facilitation of relaxation. Another result can be obesity, caused by reliance upon fast-food, sugar-caffeine drinks and carbohydrate snacks for energy.

The body's wisdom is simple. It will tell you when to breathe deeply, sit, sleep, eat or fast. However, to hear the body's wisdom, one must learn to shut off the mind's voice to hear the body's voice. This is where meditation can be helpful. By lying or sitting still for ten or fifteen minutes at some point during the day, you can tune into your body's voice and reap the benefits.

The choice to live entirely in the mind is promoted by technologically driven capitalist society. i-Phones, iPads, netbooks...all these devices promote mind-centered living. The eye becomes a portal for overwhelming amounts of mind-centered information. A mental form of bulimia can result. Gorging and purging. Cramming information and then blowing things/people up in computer games.

For the young and healthy, this is all a great ride. However, the ride itself, over time, can erode the health and well being of youth as it advances inevitably to middle age. By then, entrenched habits of being mind-centered, fatigued and malnourished start taking their toll. Healing balance must be initiated to avoid disastrous consequences.

Beginning a daily practice of some form of quiet relaxation or meditation for fifteen minutes in the middle of your day will bring tremendous benefit for very little cost. This can be done in a cubicle or on a park bench. Pay attention to how your body feels after these periods. Thoughts that seem particularly hard to escape while trying to clear your mind are the clues to what requires your healing attention.

Use the information access of technology to read up on good nutrition, the benefits of sleep and meditation. Health entails the ongoing healing of the inevitable toll time and gravity take on our bodies. While the mind may tell you that you are immortal or invulnerable, the body, which includes your brain, knows the truth of being. Living fully and well entails paying attention to that truth.

Heat

The sudden onset of hot days in the high 80s and low 90s is an opportunity to feel and understand the automatic systems that really keep our bodies alive. We do not 'think' our bodies alive, as much as we like to take credit for our state of being. Turn off your mind by lying down in comfortable and quiet place. You can then tune into what is really happening within the complex cellular machine you usually take for granted.

Learning to find the balance of working within and with the body's machinery is what wellness is all about. It is not easy, if you have been raised in an urban, industrial society. It is worth the effort.

Weight

The perception of gravity, a fixed physical constant, does vary. It varies with the heat, humidity, fatigue and body mass. I often measure my state of being by my perception of gravity. If I feel heavy, I know I need to meditate and/or rest. Rather than obsessing about my waistline, I prefer to be conscious of my experience of my weight in gravity. It is important to my practice to remain very aware of my perceptions of those simple physical realities outside my control. Taking a breath, stopping to assess, taking the appropriate measures to remain centered, these are important ways to stay well and in harmony with the Universe.