Day 51 - Form & Function

 "I inhabit my body with inexpressible satisfaction; both its weariness and its refreshments - sweet to me" ~Thoreau

 The mind-body connection was for me a metaphysical expedition in a happenstance vessel. In other words, mind over matter, our psychological and spiritual awareness affects our physical health - which I still believe. However, reversing that notion to include its opposite has been a eureka moment, meaning our physical awareness also affects our psychological and spiritual health. I heard it all the time, understood it on an intellectual level, but never on a physical one, until now.

 The symbiotic relationship between consciousness and corporeal existence is always there, whether we think about it or not. The choices we make create how we function in our form, and our form facilitates how we function in the world.

"The brain and peripheral nervous system, the endocrine and immune systems, and indeed, all the organs of our body and all the emotional responses we have, share a common chemical language and are constantly communicating with one another." ~Dr. James Gordon (founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine) 

 Medicine, before a few centuries ago, treated the mind and body as a whole - a holistic approach to health and well-being. At some point, the mind and body were divorced and looked at as distinct and separate functions. We are now just coming back to the understanding that they are not separate at all, and treating them as such has actually been detrimental to our overall health. Is it great that we have extended physical existence through medical procedures without taking into account the psychological/spiritual illnesses that many carry around? I don't think so.

 We're all coming at life through different lenses, what works for one person may not work for another - so, finding the weaknesses and strengths within ourselves, whether they be physical, psychological or spiritual, will prescribe the direction and care we each need to take in order to live our best lives. 

 For me, the synergistic acceptance of form and function has finally opened a pathway to an understanding that I'd been seeking solely within my consciousness, outside of my body, for most of my adult life. The body is a temple, got it! It is the place in which we accept the grace that has always been there, waiting for us to connect.

 Does that sound cheesy? Maybe. Does that feel True? Definitely.


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