The Mind Body Relationship

Open the blank page before you

Let your book begin

The rest is still unwritten

These are words from one of my favorite songs and to me they pretty much say it all. Every day is your opportunity to write your story. Just because you have been stuck in patterns of destructive behavior, unhealthy food choices and negative thought patterns doesn’t mean that you need to continue them for one more day or even one more minute. We are going to work through the next 10 weeks to think about your body and treat your soul in a different and more loving way.

When you talk to your body it hears you. Sounds silly doesn’t it. Of course it hears you! I’m here! I’m LISTENING you think….But when you look in the mirror and say negative hurtful and hateful things about your body that becomes a belief system that is self perpetuating. “You’re so fat,” “I hate my body,” all prevent you from recognizing and appreciating the wonderful miracle that your body actually is. Imagine someone or something that works and functions and does the amazing feats that your body does but is constantly abused and berated: would you want to continue to perform at your optimum level? It would be the equivalent of my car. I never wash it or clean it, remember only sporadically to get the oil checked or the tires pressure checked, and then I wait till it breaks down to take it to the mechanic and I am surprised when it doesn’t perform well…. Incredibly short sighted, right?

When I was getting a divorce I was miserable and unhappy and would say to myself constantly in a sort of mantra “I hate my life…I hate my life…I hate my life…” Admittedly, things were pretty sucky at the time but it wasn’t getting any better and it still wasn’t getting any better and it still wasn’t getting any better so I decided to positively reframe the way I looked at the situation. Every time I thought about how miserable I was I would say instead, “My life is filled with lessons to be learned by the challenges I face. Today is a great opportunity to grow.” OK admittedly it was still pretty sucky but it got better and I felt better about the process and myself as a part of it…

We are going to work on positive reframing when we look in the mirror.

“My body is a miracle in every way. I am healthy and strong. I am beautiful in all parts of my being”

“My body is a gift from God and I appreciate this miracle I have been loaned for my lifetime. I will take responsibility and pride in its stewardship.”

This detox is more that just cleaning your body out of all the nasty chemical additives, hormones, preservatives and antibiotics in our food supply it’s also about clearing your own mind of the toxic sludge and residue that have been lingering there for years. Examine, if you will the messages that you have received over the years about food, your body, your health, caring for yourself…I’ll begin with a few from my particularly toxic upbringing to get the ball rolling..

“I can’t relate to you when you are fat.”

“Your not taking care of yourself shows no respect for me or your father and our position in the community.”

“You need to resolve your food problems. People are blaming me.”

OK so my list is endless. No wonder I ended up with raging eating disorders, body dysmorphia and food confusion. I simply couldn’t put food in its proper perspective in my life and I certainly couldn’t love my imperfect body. BIG opportunity for growth here right? So these are my messages to my body and my soul to reprogram the damage.

‘Your body is perfect exactly the way it is. It is strong and enables you to do all the wonderful things in your life. Taking care of yourself is important so you feel good about you and are able to be a better mom, teacher, partner, chef. Making peace with your own food choices allows you to nourish your body without guilt or blame or punishment and to take care of yourself without regards to the thoughts or opinions of others. Your body is a gift from God that has been lent to you for this lifetime. Its stewardship is an honor and a gift, not a burden or punishment.’

Everyone has their own particular life opportunities for growth. Examine yours very carefully in the light of the mirror and see where the new direction lies for you. Make a plan of what you want to overcome and WRITE YOUR OWN STORY. Seriously, write it on a piece of paper and make copies and post them anywhere and everywhere that you get stuck in your head. I had mine in the front of every mirror in the house. And when I was stuck I would literally sit there reading them over and over and over and over. You do not need to continue playing the same old role in that tired soap opera, you can cast yourself as lead in your own thriller.

Homework for next week is to answer the following questions in depth:

When I look in the mirror I see:

The internal belief system about my body/life has been:

The ways I am going to positively reframe these messages are:

If I was speaking to myself as a child what would I say:

Some of the wonderful things my body does for me are:

If I were writing my own story it would go something like this: