The mind is a tyrant: The body its slave
Perhaps you have a healthier relationship between your mind
and body than I do. Perhaps as a child you were taught to listen to what your
body was telling you about the rest, food, drink and activity it needed. I was
in yoga the other day when the instructor told us to spread our toes. ‘Spread my
toes?’ my mind thought. And in that moment I realised that I’ve got no idea how
to spread my toes. My mind has no idea how to talk to my toes. And in that
moment I also realised that I’ve never been kind to my body – as I count
kindness. By that I mean that my mind has never treated my body like it would
treat any friend or family member. If I’m being generous, my mind treats my
body as a child. If I’m being honest, a slave.
Somewhere along the way I’ve learned that my mind is in
charge. It makes the rules and lays them down. The body follows them.
The body says, ‘I’d like a little more rest, please.’ The
mind says, ‘The alarm is set for six, suck it.’
The body says, ‘I don’t really want to go for a run first
thing every morning. Can’t we go at 2pm instead?’ ‘Nah,’ the mind says. ‘That
doesn’t really work for me. I scheduled a meeting for 2pm and that blog I was
reading on the 100 most successful people alive says you have to exercise first
thing in the morning, suck it.’
The body says, ‘I’m not really hungry right now. Can we eat
later?’ The mind says, ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, suck
it.’
The body says, ‘I need a snack right now.’ The mind says, ‘Hmmm…I’m
busy. What’s easy? Here’s some crisps. You like crisps don’t you?’
The body says, ‘I need some protein right now. Can I have
two eggs instead of one?’ The mind says, ‘Suck it. You’re on the 5:2 diet this
week. Be glad you get one.’
The body says, ‘I kinda have to go to the bathroom.’ The
mind says, ‘You don’t have to go that bad. Wait until you’ve finished this
paragraph and then you can go.’
You get my drift.
Day in and out our bodies work incredibly well. They get us
from place to place. They keep blood going to our brains. They serve the tyrant.
They protect the tyrant. They keep multitudes of viruses and bacteria at bay
and then, when one is stronger than our immune system or when our body gets
fooled by one we berate it, ‘my body’s really let me down on this one!’
With our minds we read that the average woman our age is
able to run a mile a bit faster than we can and we berate our body, ‘Why can’t
you do that? Why can’t you be more like her? I’m going to make you.’ ‘Please,’
the body begs. ‘I just wasn’t made to run. I like swimming’. ‘Too bad,’ the
mind says. ‘All of my friends are running. You’re going to be a runner. You’ll
like it eventually.’
So many of our illnesses result from a breakdown in a good
working connection between the body and mind. The mind feels emotional pain so
it douses the body with alcohol to numb it. The body complains. ‘Buck up body’ the
mind says. ‘Here’s some more water and paracetamol to keep you quiet.’ Eating
disorders are the mind at its most tyrannical. The mind turning on the body in the
most damaging manner.
Have you ever wondered why on holiday we suddenly feel adrift?
Eating too much of whatever is put in front of us? Not moving enough? Drinking
too much? It’s because for years our minds have ruled our bodies telling them
what to eat, drink, when and how much exercise. We don’t have to listen to our
bodies. The body is used to doing what the mind says. And when the mind gets a
holiday? Doesn’t make the schedule? We’re like orphaned children. Are you
actually hungry? Who knows?
Your body sure doesn’t. Your body has spent so many
years being told exactly what it will eat and when that once the mind shuts up
we are lost on how to live. In the face of a Christmas buffet and the absence
of the tyrannical voice dictating our every move our body says, ‘For god’s sake
just eat something to be warm and comfortable until we figure out what the hell
is going on. Have a drink while you’re at it. And maybe sit down and wait for
awhile – the mind will come back. The mind will tell us what to do eventually.’ Normally,
around January 2nd the mind does come back with a whole list of new ways it’s
going to tell the body to be and do this year. And our bodies are actually happy about this arrangement. Like its a hostage with the most profound case of Stockholm Syndrome.
Why we have developed this profound distrust of our bodies
is an intriguing question. The mind’s first and foremost preoccupation should be
with protecting the body, listening to
it, making sure it’s balanced and getting what it needs because without it it’s
lost. But, instead of having a conversation with the body we look outwards to
what other people are doing, saying, thinking, achieving. How they treat their
bodies and we think, ‘gosh, that seems good to me.’
We know ourselves to be absolute individuals distinct and
unique from every other person on the planet but then seek advice and emulate
people with whom we likely have little in common either genetically, culturally
or experientially. It’s quite an insane way to live.
And yet…it's January 3rd and time to go for a run.
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