Photo by Raphael Brasileiro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-eye-of-anonymous-person-4346583/
People often ask me to help them with physical and emotional concerns related to their bodies. They are unhappy with the way they feel or how they look. They usually say, “I know all the right things to do; I am just not doing them.” They generally hope that hypnosis will force them (so to speak) to do the things they have been told are right – a specific diet or exercise routine, etc.
However, my question to them (when they are ready for it) is what does your body say to you about all of this? And most of them are surprised by the question because they are either unaware that their bodies might have anything to say at all or they have been taught that their bodies do not get a vote. Many of us have been raised to think that our bodies are mere objects of either pride or shame, but not our partners that have a voice in important matters. Unfortunately, this lack of collaboration with our bodies leads to their mistreatment (even if unintentional) as we damage them with the substances that are hard for them to process, age them by pushing them too hard and not giving them enough rest, drain their energy by the things we put in and around them, and break them down by not providing them with enough nutrients. Even when we decide to make healthy changes, we rely mostly on external opinions about how we should look and the best way to achieve it. We do not reach for the wisdom that lives within our bodies.
The truth, however, is that our bodies are meant to be our active, self-aware partners just like in the 80’s television show the Knight Rider, the car named KITT was an indispensable intelligent partner to its driver, Michael Knight. Acknowledging our bodies as our conscious partners is the very first step in starting any positive life transformation, and beginning to communicate with them is the next step.
But how do you communicate with something that cannot “speak”? If you have ever had an animal, then you probably already know what it’s like to communicate without words. You rely on emotions, you rely on signals, and you rely on noticing repeating patterns of behavior. For example, when my dog stands up and stares at me, I usually know she wants to go outside. When I lead her back home after a walk, and she puts up slight resistance on the leash while looking at the ground, I know that she wants to stay out longer. We have a pretty sophisticated system of communication that allows us to understand each other in things that matter, and yet she speaks not one word of English.
So if your body could talk, what would it talk about? It might tell you which foods it prefers and which ones it wants to eliminate, what brands of products it can process better than others, what supplements it would find helpful and in what dosage, when it feels tired and needs rest, when it wants a certain type of exercise and how much of it would be most beneficial, when it feels out of balance or is developing an illness, whether something in the physical environment does not agree with it, and many others things.
There are different ways in which we can communicate with the body, such as basic body awareness, muscle testing, intuition, etc. With some time and effort, anyone can learn to communicate with one’s body, but you can start the process by working with a practitioner familiar with these methods. It is important to realize that when you give your body a voice and honor its needs, you can let go of the belief in one standard of perfection and in one right way to achieve it. Instead, you can discover that what works for someone else may not work for you, and it is your body that has the wisdom and knowledge to lead you down the most beneficial path. So if you want to improve how you look, feel, and function, talk to your body and see what it has to say.
