All through life I have had this body that I have been carting around. An amazing body that I have not really ever stopped to appreciate deeply. This body is my vehicle, my means of getting around from point A to point B, a very useful and practical thing indeed. But have I ever stopped to feel that there is so much more to appreciating this body and all that it can really be, and more importantly, all that it can be a vehicle for?
Well, let’s find out…
For most of my life I have seen my body as just a ‘thing,’ as mentioned before, “something to cart around and get around in.” And most of the time I find myself getting frustrated with my body – why can I not move faster, be less clumsy, get more things done; why do I have to stop to feed, care for and sleep this ‘thing’? Why can I not eat and drink certain foods without the body reacting or getting sick?
This has been my approach for a long time – a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be – an approach that sees the body as a vehicle to be used and quite frankly, abused, in many ways. And I’m not talking here about having a history of drug or alcohol or physical abuse to share. In fact I was not one to drink much at all – I had a few sips (literally, as that was all I could handle and wanted to have, just to fit in a little) out of a glass of beer or champagne on the odd occasion with some friends in my mid 20’s and then stopped the few sips completely in my 30’s, so alcohol was not my way of abusing my body. And though some of my friends in my mid 20’s were into smoking pot and other drugs that were around, this was not something I was drawn to being involved in, so drugs were not my way of abusing my body.
But I still abused my body, in a different way – I did indulge in sports and in studies. Now you might say “Is this not good?,” and it is not that sports or studies per se are abusive to the body, but the type of sports and the way I went around it was abusive. Perhaps not in an obvious way but in a way that was subtle with insidious effects that are far more long lasting, as well as laced with the reasons why I got into these pursuits.
I got into sports (tennis and running) when I was young as a means to get attention from my dad and essentially have a ‘buddy buddy’ relationship with him.
I also felt safer playing the role of being a tom-boy at school as my body was developing and I began to turn into a woman, which I was certainly not comfortable about.
So I got into sports and was especially drawn to tennis and competition tennis, which meant training many hours per week and travelling for comps. There was the hard, physical training I did, the pressure I put upon myself, and then there was the anxiety and nerves of the competitions and the gruelling flogging of myself that I was not good enough, that I had to keep pushing myself to the next level, to keep proving who I was.
From tennis I moved on to martial arts training in Jiu Jitsu, with the excuse that it was good for me to learn self-defence as a woman. I did this for a few years and then moved on to Yoga and running, pressuring myself to run a certain number of kilometres per week and to also train for many hours of Ashtanga yoga, pushing hard even though my body felt tired, run down or I had my period etc., all so that I could say I was fit and healthy.
At the same time, I also turned to studies and University Education. One degree followed another and I nailed them, with each one working hard till the early hours in the morning, sometimes only sleeping a few hours per night to ensure I passed. My first University degree was in a foreign language so I had the added pressure of deciphering the language, in addition to understanding the complex biochemistry I was studying. The rules at the time at the public university were harsh in that a pass mark was around 75% – and if you failed one subject you would have to re-sit all of them.
I also had the added pressure of knowing that if I did not pass then I would have to leave the country we were residing in and hence no longer live with my family and friends. I never once reached out to discuss this with anyone as I felt everyone had enough pressures they were working through themselves and I did not want to be an added burden. I made my life hard and worked hard, never once considering that there was a different way to do this – a way that would actually consider and respect deeply the body I was so-called ‘carting around.’
I got sick a lot, with chest infections (bronchitis), a severe case of glandular fever that knocked me out for 9 months, chronic knee pains and later on chronic fatigue. These were all the messages from my body that the way I was going about life was not working.
Finally, in my mid 30’s, I met Serge Benhayon, and though I did not make any changes initially in the way I was living, it was the beginning of being open to a different way of being. As I began to seek out the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom and had some Esoteric healing sessions, I began to build a different relationship with my body.
I began to understand how I was putting huge amounts of pressure upon myself, how hard I was on myself and how many demands I placed upon myself and my body! I was never one to eat poorly or to drink alcohol, nor to abuse myself in all the other obvious ways that we see and know in society as being abuse, but as I began to develop this relationship with myself, I came to realise that there are a multitude of other ways to abuse the body whilst making it look like you are doing the ‘right’ thing.
Essentially, I got to realise that I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body and not really embracing this body as Me, or even a part of me! Thanks to the Esoteric work and Ageless Wisdom Teachings, which come from a Livingness in the body and not from the knowledge of someone’s mind or head, over time I have come to realise that the body is a tool, but a very precious one… one not to be abused, but instead used ever so lovingly to express that which lies deep within us all, our essence.
How I live my life now is vastly different to how I lived it prior to encountering the Ageless Wisdom. I am far more caring and nurturing of my body than I have ever been, taking the time to go to the toilet and brush my teeth without rushing; making sure my posture is supported at work, in the car and at home; eating foods that feed me/support me back (yes, this actually works!); working and staying active to support myself and my family.
There are many things that I still do today that may not appear different from the outside, but there is a difference in the quality that I am doing them in – in terms of being so much more caring of my body, this amazing vehicle that I have the honour of taking with me everywhere I go.
I say honour, because I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.
But I am also realising more and more how there is a constant deepening of my understanding of the body. And so, very often I will find myself feeling like I am back to square one – abusing my body again but in this I am realising the more insidious ways that I have placed pressure upon myself, or demands on myself etc. So as I grow, my relationship with my body changes and deepens. Wow – what is next?
By Henrietta Chang, BNat, BBio, MApplSciEcol, EPA, ATMS, ANTA
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
The beauty of all is that there’s nothing to develop, no aim to achieve as the aliveness and communication from the body is a constant invitation to surrender to it. From our body we know how precious and sacred we are already and we innately know how to cherish and care ourselves.
The beholding love within ourselves is always there. It never imposes or punish us because our hardness and denying of it, just is there, reflecting us what it’s and what’s not. It’s from the body that expresses so having a deeper relationship supports us to feel the effect of every choice we daily make. As we are human, never perfect, there’s always a new opportunity to address what no longer feels loving. In this way the journey this life makes sense, feels more purposeful and fullfilling than ever, because everything is lived from the richness we carry within.
I have come to know that my body is very precious, it is to be honoured, cherished and loved deeply; I have let go of the old paradigm that it is fine to disregard my body, ‘I got to realise that I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body and not really embracing this body as Me, or even a part of me!’
There is some resemblance of this blog to how I used to live, although I can add, excessive drinking, social smoking and late nights to top the abuse I placed upon my body. And all along my body struggled like you, having regular infections of some kind that would wipe me out, but I did not take heed of what the body was signalling.
That abuse continued for years and all along I thought I was fit, yet I was totally the opposite.
It has taken me years to actually understand or form a true developing relationship with my body and like yourself, only since meeting Serge Benhayon. No one forced me to do anything, but the more I heard his presentations the more life made sense. Ever since then my life has been different and I have never looked back but forward.
I find that it is never too late to implement changes as the body will always respond and love the changes you make especially when it is of the truest form. So starting somewhere is better then no start at all, after all no one else is going to do it for you…
“it was the beginning of being open to a different way of being.” When we connect to the truth of the Ageless Wisdom we know there is a true way to live.
True Mary. We know it because is where we come from. Our body knows this living way as normal.
We do place so many pressures on ourselves and not ever think to reach out for support. Stress has become such a norm. I remember exams at high school, I was so run down that I didn’t realise I had tonsillitis, I just remember not being able to achieve the study I has set myself and not knowing why. If school can introduce those kinds of pressures no wonder as adults we shoulder so much and may feel we are expected to cope with it all on our own.
Melinda study is something I am working through at the moment, it was the one thing that stressed me to the max, always in drive, fear of failing and struggling with the text. This all placed by the education system and yet we all possess such wisdom that this is never marked or accepted.
I’ve been given the opportunity to restudy so it will be interesting to see where and how I take this now and to allow the body to express from its wisdom instead of the mind and intellect. What a wonderful opportunity I have been given to undo something I grew up with.
Thanks Shushila, I can relate. I still see patterns of drive, panic, raciness, etc, come in quite quickly when I sit down to work at my computer, I have felt how these deep grooves of behaviour were established in the education system and the stress of meeting the demands of assignments and exams, without any focus on self care. Like yourself I am in the process of undoing this, but it will be necessary at some point to change the systems that promote such stress in education because it’s so harmful for our health, wellbeing, and for our self worth.
“the body is a tool, but a very precious one… one not to be abused, but instead used ever so lovingly to express that which lies deep within us all, our essence.” Thanks Henrietta, you have a way of expressing things that support me to get it so clearly from the angle you share it from. The quote I have taken from your blog about the body is so deeply touching, I really felt the preciousness of what the body can support us to be when we lovingly care for it.
Our body is made of particles, and these particles belong to divinity – to abuse the body is then to say that we do not belong to where we have come from, and it is us denying our own powers.
How to be a superhero of love, truth and wisdom – take care of the body! 😊
I just had a hilarious experience – I had totally forgotten that I had written this blog, and so I went to read it and then discovered I had written it! Interestingly whilst reading it, it felt so familiar and I was finding I could relate to the whole blog, and I can also feel how much deeper I have gone since writing the blog in terms of looking after the body that much more. These days the detail of care that I give myself is so much more than indepth than ever before, and yet I know that in a few months or years time, I will be ready to take it yet deeper again.
That is so cute Henrietta and very funny, I would have liked to have seen your face when you saw the authors name.
Ha ha that is funny Henrietta. I can relate with much that you have shared, treating my body as if it was an object; abusing myself with study and exercise, getting glandular fever further down the line, and my body struggling with exhaustion for the last 20 plus years.
‘The gruelling flogging of myself that I was not good enough, that I had to keep pushing myself to the next level, to keep proving who I was’, that’s the thing about sport, it tends to mean that those involved are constantly trying to get better at it, which means that there is a constant striving which in itself means that there is never settlement. Even when we win, any feelings of achievement are very fleeting, very fleeting indeed.
We are not taught from young that actually our bodies are sacred because they carry the divinity of God which is the universe within. Quite the opposite in fact we are encouraged/taught from young to discount what we feel and instead use our mind to reason or find a logical explanation to what is happening in our surroundings and so we miss out on the magic that is happening all around us because we have become dumb and sorry to say stupid. We must be stupid to over ride what our bodies are attempting to communicate which is that we come from a universal intelligence that far exceeds what our minds can think.
We are not taught from young that our bodies are sacred. I was taught to disregard my body, ‘I began to understand how I was putting huge amounts of pressure upon myself, how hard I was on myself and how many demands I placed upon myself and my body! ‘
I can relate to aspects of what you share of an addiction to study. I spent years pursuing studies instead of studying life from within. The first gave me qualifications, the second a life renewed and true sense of self.
Kehinde, this is absolutely GOLD what you have said here – pursuing studies from the head perceives us to develops things from the outside but never asks us to study our life and essence within. Of course the qualifications are needed to function and get a job in our current world, but this should never be at the expense of one’s connection with self and the harmony that one naturally holds within.
“to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived” This is beautiful Henrietta and brings purpose to our relationship with our bodies.
This trajectory of abusing the body is instilled in children from a young age in the family home and school. Participating in sports begins early, as do other forms of physical activity, for example, ballet. But we’re not taught to have a relationship with our bodies and no reference made of its divine qualities. The main concern is to use the body through regular physical activity for recognition and reward.
I have come to an understanding that we treat our bodies like a dustbin we put all sorts of food and drink into it without discerning if it is something that our body needs. We take drugs without fully appreciating the effects it will have on our bodies and can become addicted to them without considering why we would want to take such drugs in the first place and complain because we feel our bodies have let us down. What Universal Medicine has supported me and many others is to understand that our bodies are deeply sensitive and all-knowing and if we treat them with disrespect then we have to bear the consequences of those choices.
Henrietta thank you for writing so honestly so that we all have an opportunity from your words to really feel the impact that running and tennis had on your body and why you chose recognition and acceptance over what your body was showing you. I felt tired just reading what your body went through. Many of us do just see our bodies as something we drag round to get us from A to B and this blog gives us all an opportunity, a stop moment, to reconsider our relationship to our bodies which really means to ourselves.
The greatest sadness is to live in a body and not appreciate what it offers and instead ignore, neglect, abuse or blame it. To have deep reverence for our body is to respect it as the precious vessel it is, loving and nurturing it as part of our everyday.
I have to put both hands and feet in the air and say I did not appreciate my body or myself at all. And so to learn how to do this lovingly has been a huge wake up call. I’m so blessed that I have the support in my life of family and friends that have helped me live in a different far more nourishing way.
Our body is indeed precious, very delicate and amazing, ‘There are many things that I still do today that may not appear different from the outside, but there is a difference in the quality that I am doing them in – in terms of being so much more caring of my body, this amazing vehicle that I have the honour of taking with me everywhere I go.’
When we move with presence and feel our body we are offering God’s reflection to all that we meet.
I also discovered too that over-exercising and pushing one’s body hard with exercise and sport is abusive in no different a way to alcohol and drugs. In fact for some period in my life exercise and sport was my drug of choice to help me cope with life and my body still bears the scars today of this excess and abuse.
I can say that for a period of my life I was addicted to exercise, I really pushed my body, but never really listened to my body and what it was saying to me.
There are people who come into our lives who offer reflections of things we can be reminded of. From experience I would say that every reflection I have received from every person in my life has offered me something. However, there are some that we value more than others and we therefore assign importance to them. What is clear is that we know Truth – yes a capital T – and it is when we see, feel and hear the reflection of that Truth that we sit up and listen. Serge Benhayon walks Truth and Love in a way that has no interest in being liked or accepted by others and does not cause any harm to another. Very inspiring.
We treat our body in such a horrible way at times – we over eat, we slouch on the couch in front of the telly, go into relationships and engage in sexual interactions which are clearly abusive, many of us women dress in a way that is disrespectful to the innate beauty that shines through our heart just because we want a bit of recognition, a bit of attention to make us feel good about ourselves. All of these behaviours are disrespectful to the body and makes us feel horrible about ourselves. When we look in the mirror it is not the body that we don’t like, but the reflection of all of these choices because the body does not lie, it shows us very clearly how we have abused it and when we’re faced with that, instead of taking responsibility and accepting what we’ve done – we go into self-bashing mode and cement these behaviours further – a vicious cycle.
Having started back at the gym again after awhile I am noticing how common it is for us to push ourselves to achieve the next level rather than really enjoying where we are at, how our body feels and letting the body , not our mind, guide us to what is needed.
I have very much considered my body to be inconsequential – but the realisation is that without it I cannot bring through what there is to be expressed. The arrogant part of me is getting a taste of humble pie. As my relationship with my body develops (starting with accepting I have to start somewhere), I can see that a possibility of having a relationship with my body that is harmonious exists; because currently there is a wayward part of me that can have a hissy fit at having to be obedient to the universal, multidimensional laws that govern physicality.
We can be very hard on ourselves, it can be extremes of competitive sport and it can also be how we get dressed, brush our hair and walk…it is no wonder we feel bad about ourselves when we treat ourselves rough, without love.
When we have a loving and caring relationship with ourselves through our bodies in how we treat them, life feels full and we feel quite amazing too.
“The Body and My Relationship with it” – The relationship with my body helps me to understand the relationship I’m having with myself and who I am as a woman.
We have these wonderful vehicles, our bodies and they are our pathway back to living connected to our soul, and the question is how are we with them? I can relate very much to what is shared here, how I’ve viewed my body almost as a ‘carcass’ there to do my bidding but not to be listened to, and as I’m learning to listen, I’m learning to more deeply honour my body and understand it is forever showing me the truth.
When we consider that our body is made up of particles, and these particles are energetically communicating all the time without our input or control, that is a reflection of the divine order of our Universe that communicates and functions without our input either. We really are part of a magnificent whole and it is about time we stepped up to being a contributing member of that whole rather than a pesky rebel delaying evolution.
“For most of my life I have seen my body as just a ‘thing,’ as mentioned before, “something to cart around and get around in.” ” I imagine this is the case for the majority of humanity, and the feeling of inconvenience when we get sick or suffer with pain or discomfort is seen as just that with little or no regard for the part we played in the body getting sick in the first place. How life changing it would be to see the body as holding such deep wisdom and love that it actually has the power to heal itself of many many ailments, given the right condtions and true support.
I was very detached from my body and also used to drag it around and treat it with disregard. Since turning this around my life, my health, my wellbeing have also made beautiful turn around….no surprises perhaps, but why then are so many of us avoiding this simple fact of life, increasing disease on the planet says we are avoiding the obvious….
Many would say that you have been successful and champion your actions Henrietta, but what comes across in your writing is how abusive those actions were on the body. As a humanity, we are a long way from seeing that sports and excessive studying harm us if we use the body instead of consulting with the body.
The expectations we can have of ourselves can have a detrimental effect on our bodies, which means that it is one of the ways we can abuse ourselves. Not obviously abusive, but when you consider the effect on our physicality, our wellbeing and the fact that when we have expectations we are pushing ourselves to be someone other that ourselves.
In some circles it has become commonplace for people to participate in arduous sport and other extreme physical pursuits. Why we choose to punish rather than honour and treat the body with tenderness often relates to the emptiness we feel inside and constant search for recognition. When we align to the body’s true essence, which is love, the search for recognition ends.
Learning to love who we are and our body, no matter what is a very big deal. So often we might mentally give ourselves a hard time because our bodies are sick, exhausted, ageing and no longer able to do what they used to do. Our bodies are master communicators. Clear, Always on point, never misses a beat (not literally). They simply know what to do and how to respond to any circumstance. That’s pretty darn amazing.
Its fascinating to read your story Henrietta – this is literally the travel guide of how to toughen up, and ouch. However, this is also seen as the temporal road to success, and would be championed by many… and that is something to be very aware of.
Even doing the ‘right’ thing is abusive to the body, our beliefs and ideals can keep us in the illusion we are doing great, and we do when we follow what our mind is telling us but when we become honest and feel our body and what it needs it is a whole different story as your blog is showing us.
It’s like our mind will agree to any deal, except admit that it’s not the boss. Nothing it can come up with can ever come close to the beauty of a body lead by our heart.
Yes, Henrietta, it is so beautifully humbling that the way back to soul is in our re-connection with the quality of stillness within our own bodies.
Yes, no doing or fixing whatsoever – eeek!
The mind likes to go head of the body as if it knows better, but it so doesn’t.
Very true, it is our body that is wise.
I love the always deepening with the body. When I feel I have hit a rock it is time to deepen again, hooray.
“But I still abused my body, in a different way – I did indulge in sports and in studies. Now you might say “Is this not good?,” and it is not that sports or studies per se are abusive to the body, but the type of sports and the way I went around it was abusive” – yes, the more we love our body, appreciate just how delicate it is and respect that then the more we discover or uncover the abuse we do to it/ourselves. Basically, we are in abuse when we are not holding the body [ourselves] first in the delicacy of love.
This is a perfect example of how much we actually abuse the body with things that are considered healthy or good for us (sport and education)! This is not to say or give us an excuse to sit around and do nothing! But it does highlight the importance of doing something where we are first truly connected, to the best of our ability, with ourselves knowing that if we exercise it is not about pushing the body or any form of drive but instead supporting it; and if we are learning (education) what are we learning, what is the purpose of our learning and not to override the body’s intelligence with our learning. And I love how this has changed for you. Very cool.
And when we do tune into our body, with such depth wisdom and awareness, one of the most amazing miracles of the universe happens, in that we can feel ourselves expand and reconnect with the universe with a deep knowing that there is no separation
‘…there is a constant deepening of my understanding of the body…’ if I really take on what you have said here, I realise the beautiful and endless invitation we have in life to forever learn and deepen our relationship with our bodies as the great guides and support they are.
Thank you Henrietta for bringing this up. I have also mistreated my body through sport. It is amazing the choices we can make when disconnected from our bodies. I always felt that there was something about my body that I needed to understand. I was also a believer in the mind over matter concept which allowed me to punish my body, striving to realise the pictures that I had created in my mind. It is only in the last 6 years that I have allowed myself to realise that the pictures are false and taking care of, and connecting to, my body is the true way of how I am meant to live. There is no room for pictures when living in connection with my body.
Doing sports is higly valued as doing the ‘right’ thing for our body but the way in which sports are played is not about playing and have fun but about competition and getting the body to be superfit and have muscles as you won’t believe is possible. This to me is pure abuse of our divine, delicate and tender body.
When we honour the body and walk the truth of who we are, our Soul can work through us so we don’t walk there for ourselves but for all of humanity
Oh how we take our bodies for granted until something goes wrong such as in an illness, accident or just plain bloating, raciness or exhaustion. Like you Henrietta, I am learning to listen to my body and am beginning to love my body as it is through my body that I can allow my Soul to work through me. So then my body can be of service to others and everyone wins. Part of God’s plan I suppose, to bring all bodies back to the One body (of God!).
Yes absolutely I am learning to respect and cherish my body, ‘I am learning to listen to my body and am beginning to love my body as it is through my body that I can allow my Soul to work through me.’
I have held onto a huge amount of resentment towards myself which is so insidious and deeply hidden it has taken many years to come to the surface where it can be looked at in the light of day and be discussed. This resentment was so strong I did not want to be in or with my body. I feel very fortunate that I have the excellent practitioners of the Universal Medicine modalities to support me in coming back into my body and out of my mind. It’s a great pity that these modalities are not a normal part of our health industry, I feel certain that one day they will.
And one day the world will be structured such that that departure from our bodies you talk about Mary will not be the normal; that we will Iive in a way that supports our staying connected with the wisdom of our bodies, our whole body intelligence.
Henrietta thank you for this insightful article on abuse, I feel I’m just starting to unpick the level of abuse I have allowed in my life and I have to say it has been mostly self-inflicted. Like most women I can feel the lack of self-worth or self-appreciation and so I have allowed myself to be used like a doormat as I was totally disconnected to me. It is in the building of the reconnection to me that I can feel the damage I have done. I have tried very hard to annihilate me and to be honest I think this propensity is within the majority of us. I know this to be true because when I look outside to the world we are all doing the same thing which is being very self-abusive towards ourselves and others.
It makes you wonder – in the end we are our own worst enemy, and can abuse ourselves and end up treating ourselves worse than anyone else would ever dream of doing.
We can drive our bodies to function beyond its natural limits, overriding the messages it is communicating and being disappointed when it does not perform to our expectations.
We can misunderstand so easily that when we make some changes, they may feel correct and better, but actually aren’t really any different. So for example, like going from disregard not looking after ourselves to pushing ourselves with sport is still a disregard as far as the body is concerned. We need to listen deeply to the messages from the body to know its truth.
The way many of us are with our bodies, can be quite the vicious cycle. We abuse it, it hurts/reacts, we resent that fact so often we disconnect from it//abandon it as we don’t want to hear/connect to the truth, and then we abuse it some more. Well done on breaking that cycle and returning to the preciousness that our bodies truly are.
“this amazing vehicle that I have the honour of taking with me everywhere I go.” The more we appreciate and care for our amazing vehicle the more space within for the Divine energy to flow through us.
Every day I have a deeper appreciation of this sentence “to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.” My body is that bridge to the Truth of the Love I am made from and my body never forgets that fact, regardless of what my mind tells it.
A great new revelation in caring more deeply as the depth of truth needs to be supported with the depth of care.
It can feel sometimes like we go around in circles, and return to patterns we thought had long passed. But we are given many opportunities to re-learn something and the body is always there to support the learning so simply with our thoughts and our movements that can bring us back to connection.
Returning to those old patterns we thought were long gone can be quite a surprise until we realise the extent of the tendrils those patterns spread throughout our being and our life while we were living them. These days I appreciate the opportunity to take another look at any that return and yes, there is always something else to learn from their reappearance, sometimes not just once but several times.
Everyone has different markers of what is self-abusing and what is not. The key for me is to ask questions of myself of be inspired by the lifestyles of others.
Self-care in its true application provides honour to the body in a way I did not understand before listening to the teachings of Serge Benhayon.
Most people have no relationship with their body… Or their voice or even their heart.
It’s one thing to stop abusing the body so much, another to surrender and realise it’s the one who’s designed to call the shots.
Getting to know, through respect and decency and then a growing appreciation, our body we realise that our body is the bridge to getting to know the much deeper aspect of ourselves, the true part of ourselves. So much so that what may start as a part then becomes the whole of who we are. Slowly and steadily.
The feeling of being back to square 1 is a familiar one yet is such a good example of the need to be able to tick a box and be done with this getting it right way of thinking and living. The more understanding we have about our relationship with our body and with life, the more clear it is that this is a constant unfolding, and we will only ever be aware of the next level when we are ready for it. A forever deepening of the relationship with ourselves.
Henrietta, reading this I feel how we can take our bodies for granted and often dislike our bodies, rather than appreciate, love and deeply care for them; ‘An amazing body that I have not really ever stopped to appreciate deeply’.
I am building a relationship with my body, appreciating and caring for it with understanding and love.
Reading this brings it home how abusive we can be with our bodies and how hard we can be on ourselves. So, it’s no wonder that if this is the relationship we have with our bodies, then our thoughts about ourselves are not going to be very loving or even kind.
When we realise the magnitude of stillness and love within our body, anything that is abrasive in the way we are or handle our body stands out like a sore thumb.
Our body is not just some thing we cart around, and the sooner we come to realise this, then the sooner our lives will turn around. Our body is this amazing delicate vehicle, to be cared for and used with love and respect. Like having a fancy, fast and expensive car – you would drive it with care and enjoy its power, park it in the garage at night to keep it protected from rain and hail, wash it regularly to keep it shiny and fuel it with the right fuel. When we look at it like this, it seems obvious that we carry this amazing vehicle around and it is an honour to be able to care and respect it/us!
Our propensity to take our body for granted, use and abuse it is massive. Yet, it is the very thing we walk with every day, the thing that takes us around to live life with and we ignore all its signals and communications constantly. Why do we do that?
Most people have no relationship with their body at all. All they have is an expectation and when it does not deliver they feel that it has let them down.
And the awful thing is when they feel the body has let them down, they attack the body and start to fight with the body instead of going into surrender to access what the body needs from them.
Yes, I agree Annelies and Kathleen, Since attending to Universal Medicine courses and particularly Esoteric Yoga, the surrender into the body has shown me that there is so much more, it exposes how we have just a functional, 3D relationship with the body when in fact, it is the doorway into your Soul, into Love – which everyone has access to – its Universal – living WITH and IN awareness of your innermost Love, you understand intimately how living with this is Medicine.
I now know how much joy and loveliness we miss out on when we treat our body as a ‘thing we just cart around’. Our bodies are finely tuned, delicate and instantly responsive. It is through the body that we feel life, which is much more real than what we receive through the clouded perception of the 5 senses.
How did I not know this from birth?! There are generations of people who have not been brought up this way so the more we make a choice to investigate it and live it for ourselves, the more we contribute to a change for our society as a whole and generations to come.
‘But I am also realising more and more how there is a constant deepening of my understanding of the body. And so, very often I will find myself feeling like I am back to square one – abusing my body again but in this I am realising the more insidious ways that I have placed pressure upon myself’ So true Henrietta the relationship we have our body deepens our awareness of what abuse is … and is always developing.
I love the word ‘honour’ and to apply it to the way we are with our bodies brings a whole new quality and reverence for this vehicle that guides and supports us through our lives of learning. Thank you, Henrietta.
In order to allow our essence to shine we need to take care of the body that carries it.
Henrietta, it is beautiful to read about the relationship that you now have with your body. Reading your article I can feel how we take our bodies for granted and often do not nurture, honour and care for them in the way that they deserve.
It’s amazing really that we make it possible to ignore this body that we ‘cart around’ with us, when it is sending us so many messages about what it really needs. The energy we use to ignore or dismiss it could be so much better directed in ways that would leave us feeling much less tired, and plus it would support us and others at the same time.
It is astounding really to what extent we can push our bodies, when in truth if we stopped to feel the effects of this striving is easy to expose how damaging it is. The mind with all the beliefs and ideals it can feed is a hard taskmaster, whereas the body when listened to is respectful of the whole body and being.
“To care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.” If we only thought or addressed our bodies like this, then the saying “my body is a temple” would come alive – for how could you mistreat your access to truth, or why would you ever cut down your access to truth and to the one thing that makes life make sense?
The relationship with one´s body is a forever deepening exploration and activation of awareness of that which the body receives, resonates with, responds to and expresses – the body is the vehicle for us to return to who we are until we don´t need a fleshy body anymore.
And when we accept the facts you share here, Alexander, it becomes simple and clear that we honour, nourish and stay very open to the communication from our bodies.
To care for our bodies is ” to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.” What a beautiful place to come to from the inspiration and teachings of the ancient wisdom by Serge Benhayon , Universal Medicine and The Way of The Livingness.
I am really inspired by this blog and the ever-increasing comments as it confirms there is no end to the deepening connection we have with our bodies when not ruled by the the mind.
It is not only studies or sports that in a subtle way have insidious effects on our bodies that are far more long lasting. Also relationships can have that effect, even the ones that look ‘good’. There can be investments in a relationship which drive it like ‘I don’t want to be alone’ or ‘he takes care of me’. The reasons why we got into these relationships are interesting to explore and to wonder: am I in this relationship for comfort, a certain need or is it truly supporting my body and me to grow together with the other? Less than love is abusive. The body will tell.
“The Body and My Relationship with it” – deepening the connection I have with my body I can feel deepens the relationship I have with myself, with life, my work/job, and with those people in my life too.
Isn’t it amazing how our body is actually our access to deepening all the other aspects of our lives. Could it be worth properly and truly investigating…..?
We are always in the process of refinement when it comes to self-care and listening to our body.
” An amazing body that I have not really ever stopped to appreciate deeply.” So true and so different to what we know when we recall the ancient wisdom and all its offers us in connection love and communication with ourselves our soul and the bigger picture of the universe.
We as a society (humanity) still have to realize what the body is truly about before we change any of the grievances we see everywhere in life. Before we don´t know how to honour the body and make use of it as the vehicle of expression for the Soul we have not yet fully developed the relationship with our body.
A great point Alex and beautifully expressed. This brings a whole new understanding to the relationship we have with our body.
Agree Alex, when we live in respect to the body we inhabit we live in respect of every-body; and in relationship with all of life that we are a part of.
This is a super important point you are making, Alexander. Whilst we stay disconnected from our bodies, focussing on ‘any of the grievances we see’ we are simply circulating in the grievances. When we ‘honour the body’ as the precious vehicle through which we can connect to Soul, and build this relationship with care and commitment, we reset the standards by which humanity lives and the grievances will become a thing of the past.
Our body will always send us a message for us to stop and listen to take responsibility for what we are loading the body with, and it may only be something subtle and if we ignore, or override it, the messages get louder until we cannot help but stop and observe what is going on.
It is great to become aware of the many ways we have put pressure on ourselves. I am finding that most of these pressures come from long held ideals and believes of how I should be in life and the more I untangle the more there is to untangle. But it feels beautiful to live more and more free from these ideals and beliefs.
“…. it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.” This is beautiful. So many feel the mind is the be all and end all. This palpably isn’t so when you invest love and care in your body.
Beginning to access the wisdom within, I realise absolutely that my heart is central office not my mind.
“How I live my life now is vastly different to how I lived it prior to encountering the Ageless Wisdom.” I agree Henrietta – for me too. I would regard illness as a nuisance and something to be got over. Nowadays if I get ill, I know something in my livingness is awry and it’s a good opportunity to stop and take stock of how I have been living.
Once we start listening and developing a relationship with our body, it is like you have a constant ‘best friend forever’ that’s always with you and who has ‘got your back’ – and you’ve got theirs… and this relationship has no end.
The body – the bridge for the spirit back to the one body we belong to, the Soul.
We conduct life like it was our God given right to experience consistent grandeur. Anything less and we get angry that we’ve been hard done by. We are designed to experience perpetual beauty, true but it’s initiation and maintenance all comes down to you.
‘ … over time I have come to realise that the body is a tool, but a very precious one… one not to be abused, but instead used ever so lovingly to express that which lies deep within us all, our essence.’ – What kind of tool do we consider the body to be when we dishonour its preciousness? It is like abusing a Stradivari for a hammer and instead of producing utmost beautiful rich sounds settling for the monotonous beat of metal on metal.
“An amazing body that I have not really ever stopped to appreciate deeply.” I ask myself this question today and also don’t feel that I deeply and truly appreciate my body, more that it is there to allow me to do what I do but I feel a deeper level of care and tenderness when it comes to knowing the power of my body.
I am deeply appreciating my body today as over the last few days it has given me very clear signals of what was going on and what I needed to change.
Our bodies are so beautiful in their constant communication, indeed showing us the next step that needs healing or reflecting our next area of expansion in life.
Most of us think that we have the right to abuse our bodies and there is nothing wrong in it if we are not hurting anyone else. This in itself is rubbish for the unseen consequences of abusing ourselves runs deep energetically and effects all around us and the planet, universe etc.
“….over time I have come to realise that the body is a tool, but a very precious one… one not to be abused, but instead used ever so lovingly to express that which lies deep within us all, our essence.” Indeed, this is something that so many of us not only overlook, and often because we are unaware of the subtle levels at which we abuse our own bodies.
Looking after our homes or cars requires constant attention, care, cleaning, servicing and so forth, and in our lifetimes we may have a number of moves to different locations or cars. Our body stays with us for our entire life and in this way is unique – it requires care, love, refills and services and is a lifelong vehicle for us to look after.
It’s amazing how we tend to live right next door to people but never go past saying ‘hello, nice weather!’. We come nowhere near to maximising the depth of connection that’s on offer. So it only makes sense that we have this frosty attitude to ourselves too. It’s where it all starts
“There are many things that I still do today that may not appear different from the outside, but there is a difference in the quality that I am doing them in” this is the potency of living in a way that deeply cares for oneself to the inner-most, others get to feel this and know that there is something different – not because it looks any different but because they sense the energetic quality of the body that is simply ‘doing’ life/work/family, just like every one has to.
” I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.” What a beautiful understanding to share with the quality of how we live and move everyday from listening to our body and our divine connection that is within us all.
Our body is the greatest friend we will ever have, as it tells us the truth no matter what and patiently persists in its communication until we learn from its wisdom.
I wonder if there is something deeply inspiring for us as friends in this – that it is not about being heard by another but about being the constant reflection of Truth, Love, Joy and Harmony.
Every moment counts and thus it is the quality that we chose to be in in every moment that determines how we feel and go about life and never the doing as such.
Movement is endogenously generated by our previous movements. We cannot change movement at will without healing the reason why we move as we move in the first place and then learning how to walk in a way that honours where your body is at.
“There are many things that I still do today that may not appear different from the outside, but there is a difference in the quality that I am doing them in – in terms of being so much more caring of my body, this amazing vehicle that I have the honour of taking with me everywhere I go.” This is beautiful as this is felt by others. The quality is the key, not what you do, but the quality in how you do what you do.
Henrietta, I have also felt that frustration – why can’t I eat and drink whatever I like without my body complaining? But it is so great we have the body which so gently supports us by the adverse messages we get sometimes, depending what we have put in it. It constantly brings us to realise we gave a responsibility to look after it, and we cannot live recklessly without consequences.
Henrietta, this is really interesting to read; ‘I also felt safer playing the role of being a tom-boy at school as my body was developing and I began to turn into a woman, which I was certainly not comfortable about.’ I can feel that because I was feeling uncomfortable about turning into a woman because of jelousy and because of not wanting to stand out, that I also chose to be a Tom boy and so I hid the beautiful, curvaceous woman that was developing under baggy, unattractive clothes and by moving in a very harsh, driven way.
It is interesting to consider how we push the body in sports and in life past its limits to prove ourselves. What and who are we really proving ourselves to? Does the body not know a natural rhythm, balance and harmony? If so perhaps we should consider the being in the body that drives the body into disharmony all for the sake of an experience or sense of individuality.
I have come to realise that so much of what I have done in the past has been to prove that I am ok, that I have value. Now that this way of being is unravelling, the relationship with my body is entering a new chapter, where I listen to it’s communication rather than the critical voices in my head.
Janet it is amazing when we let go of the critical voices that we can truly connect to the beauty within, without any judgment and allow for that to come to the surface.
We have made life such that it pushes the body from many angles and does not leave it the space to simply be. While we think, because of this construct, this is how life is, that there is no another way, there is another way if we are brave enough to stop for a while and allow the body to take the lead over our thinking mind instead.
The ageless wisdom that emerges from the body gives us a way of living that is gracious and not of this world.
How I have gone against and abused my body to ‘fit in’ in life. Thank God I am now listening to it. Thank you Serge Benhayon for ‘the body is the marker of truth’.
So simple and true, and this we cannot escape. I love this quote from Serge Benhayon, “The body is the marker of all truth”.sb
The pressure we exert on ourselves can be huge and create an enormous tension that affects our whole outlook on life. Your blog is so important in highlighting the fact that this shouldn’t be the ‘norm’ and there is another way to live.
Indeed Suzie, because everybody is abusing themselves and we can call it the norm, we have to be aware that it is not normal, that there is another way to live that is honouring our being and brings back the graciousness of the love that we are back to into our lives.
So true Nico, we need to change this normal which is not normal, by living the truth ourselves and reflecting it to others.
“had this body that I have been carting around…” Carting is so descriptive of how we humans just move around without considering exactly ‘What’ we are moving around… I have found that the modality of Esoteric Yoga has been such a pioneering way of discovering that so much more lays within our body than meets the eye… a Stillness so deep, that makes you aware and definitely not wanting to simply ‘cart’ the body around anymore.
If I am aware of the truth – the way I live needs to match this. Any discrepancy causes toxic and poisonous results in my body.
An amazing expose of how we are with our bodies right from young Henrietta. I can relate to the tom-boy time myself for years as a child largely because of having two older brothers. These past ten years since my 30s, as i grow to know myself and more through my female body i fall in love with myself and with my womanliness … and reflect on how come that was not the case for me (and also many female friends of mine who also fell into the tomboy-ness too), as a young girl to have been embracing the loveliness that she was and always is.
‘..I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul..’ This is beautiful Henrietta. I too realise how important it is to listen, honour and deeply care for our body, it is the gateway to our Soul and our connection to God. Our body is very precious, sacred and divine, why would we choose to abuse it?
The pictures we have of our body often demean us, rather than supporting us. That alone tells us that there is something fishy going on. Every single body on the planet is different. Why should we all be measured against a picture of perfection that has been decided on largely by advertisers to sell products. Rather how about we connect with our body and as Serge Benhayon has said for nearly 2 decades, let the body be our marker of truth. It is our own personal all knowing point of truth with us every day.
When I first came across this idea of being connected to my body, I thought I was connected to it- or at least to the edges of what I knew was there but didn’t want to look at or deal with, i.e. A lot of anxiety that was carefully managed yet constantly bubbling away under the surface. What’s been quite amazing to feel is that the anxiety is not me, and that there is a far deeper level of connection to my body always available, but that I’d never realised before. Underneath the anxiety and whatever other behaviours and ways of being we’ve adopted over the years, there is a deep settlement and knowing of who we are that is foundational to everything else. When I connect to that, being abusive to and with my body really stands out. Then, making choices that really support my body, and that connection to steadiness, consistency and solidity, becomes very normal and natural.
It is so cool to have this open developmental relationship with our bodies and enjoy how life offers us new opportunities to learn so regularly.
I can connect with the more subtle messages and quality of movement in the body, rather than leave it to illness and dis-ease to shout to me that there is something needing a correction.
The more awareness we connect to the more our body gives us messages of what is going on in our body. If we respond to those messages we can move in away to support our body from going into deeper illness or dis-ease.
I have just gone back to do further studies and can feel how easy it is to study without disregarding myself when I listen to my body.
“a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be” I’ve had this feeling as well, growing up I wanted to look a certain way and I didn’t. I felt like I did not fit in or would not get loved because of the way I looked. Yet in truth it was never about the way I looked or not, it was about how I felt inside. The relationship that I eventually built with myself after putting into practice the teachings of Universal Medicine are what has without doubt transformed my life.
What I find interesting and keep developing my consistency with is how one second I’m fully there in connection with my body and feeling solid then not long after that I am totally disconnected to it. Less and less this is happening but the more awareness i am bringing to my body the more I realise how much I actually do this.
Same for me Natalie. Having this awareness is great and being open and honest about this supports us to learn and grow. The observation period is part of the process and as long as we don’t shut down our awareness and our willingness to learn, this can be a beautiful process of evolution and a continuous building and deepening of our relationship with our body.
“The Esoteric is not secret, hidden or mysterious in any way, shape or form. It is inclusive of everyone and treats everyone as equal” – because it is, and that is, simply love.
Our relationship with true equality and our honesty around this is a profound point of transformation and one to pay particular attention to.
Matilda I agree, it comes with true honesty, we have to start with honesty with self first and allow the equality too, otherwise we can get so caught in judgement, jealousy and comparison.
“An amazing body that I have not really ever stopped to appreciate deeply” – when I re-connected to what is inside my body, my essence, spark, light, fire, connection, being, i started to appreciate the (importance of) physical frame of my body, though it was the gentleness and (self) care of my body that happened prior which allowed me to realise all that i.e. what was within me, and hence leading to the appreciation of me.
I find it fascinating how we can convince ourselves that we enjoy things that actually are abusing our bodies and go against the way they are naturally designed to live.
I find this only occurs when we are choosing to seek approval or recognition, and then listening and honouring our body very quickly goes out of the window.
It is delightful; how you remind us Henrietta that the body is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing, to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived. This is really a profound understanding and changes completely how we can live our lives in connection with the body.
We think that we have been carting the body around and yet it is our bodies through which we can express everything we are and never stops communicating to us.
I wonder what could be possible if we made the relationship we have with our body our primary focus for just a week – could it be the key to so much more than we realise?
Meg the truth is we actually know what is possible, we just have not been choosing it, rather avoiding what can come through.
The more I get to know my body the more I understand just how much I have been reckless and abusive with it. I cannot ever remember anyone telling me to take care of my body, we seem to just take them for granted and it’s not until something major happen that we are pulled up and for some people even then the pull up is not enough. So my question has to be why do we treat ourselves in such a disregarding way?
I definitely saw my body just as a thing and did not think about it more than getting me to one place or the other. How I am now is like another life, I care, listen and support it and override what it let’s me know so much less than I used to, this is so much more worthwhile a life I live now. Much much more joy, purpose and vitality.
Anything that ignores our divine essence is a form of abuse.
We know from day one how to play the game of hiding and holding back from not living the love we are. I also found life easier to play the role of a tom-boy at home and in school from a very young age. It felt safer to fit in life living this way yet when I went to high school this changed as I started to physically develop into a woman, most of all the relationships around me began to change. On reflection, I can see how I knew exactly how to be in life to the finest detail to fit into life including with those around me at the expense of my body and wellbeing.
I have come to realise that the body is a tool, but a very precious one… one not to be abused, but instead used ever so lovingly to express that which lies deep within us all, our essence.’ I can’t but stop to consider how humanity would be if we were taught from young to know how precious our bodies are and understand what exactly they are a vehicle for – the light of our soul.
Having a relationship with my body whereby I listen to what it is telling me seems very normal to me today even though it is something that is continually developing. But it has not always been the case. There was a time when I would not have really understood what it meant, but thanks to the teachings of Serge Benhayon and Universal medicine I have come to understand the significance of the messages that are offered to us from our bodies in every moment of everyday.
Knowing what I consciously now know about my body, how every word, thought, action and emotion effects it, it is seriously worth making the effort to make sure that every word, thought and action is well considered from a deep quality first.
Is it not surprising that there is ever increasing illness because of the way we are living? The body has to shout really loud to get us to stop, or give us a big illness to make us pause and realise it is unhappy with the way we are living. Still then, people can sometimes think how the body has let them down, rather than understanding it is trying to help us and show us a different way to live.
So true its crazy we play this game. Its about educating people to read the body differently and not get overwhelmed when we have an illness, but give our selves the space to read what the messages are and how have we been living, what changes can we make to change this. It is a process of unfoldment.
It’s incredible to realise that many of the things we think are ‘good’ for us are actually abuse.
The mind can be senseless leaving the deep sensitivity of the body out of the picture, but it is our bodies that always have to suffer and bear the consequences.
The body can be considered to be a burden. Until we realise it is smarter than our mind …
The body is the gate to the stars, i.e. back to our divine origin, the soul. As long as we don´t want to return or delay the return we know exactly how to disturb the relationship with our body or the body itself, that is we know how to lock the door or seemingly even forget about the gate to exist. We are the masters of the relationship to our bodies, masters of destruction just as masters of connection.
It can take some of us a very long time to learn life’s lessons and that can be because we analyse and come to conclusions in our head or we emote and find solutions from our emotional reactions or we suppress what we know and shut down our expression. Whatever it may be the beauty is that it is never too late to connect to our bodies and their endless wisdom, expanding our awareness and opening up to a new way of being, reaching for support, if need be, from those we trust and know come from a place of truth and love.
It’s interesting how much we push our bodies, when the body is the thing we need to take special care of because it is what carries us through life. More awareness of this would benefit the whole of humanity greatly.
“I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.” what a beautiful appreciation and love of your body shared here and anything less being abuse is very honest and inspiring to realise. The real nurturing of who we are feels so beautiful and warming in side to read and radiates through my whole body.
The impact that sports had on me and how that choice to go into extreme hardness has been a long ingrained effect on me. Even though i didn’t go into it as professional as you did just the school level and the competition that it asked of you was now looking back on it hideous. At the time however, everyone or at least most did it and if you were semi good or great at it you certainly were liked.
I find it fascinating that we know exactly what to do to trash our bodies so that we stop feeling the natural beauty of who we are. I can now understand that we are masters of this way of being. So imagine what life would be like if we used that knowledge to reconnect back to our bodies and reignite the evolutionary steps necessary to get us all out of here.
Our body is our vehicle of expression if we are not relating to it how can we possible relate to the world in any real way?
Appreciating our bodies and the exquisite way they feel when we choose to move with delicacy and honouring of ourselves makes it easy to say no abuse whether that is from another or to ourselves.
I can relate to that, the deeper I go the more space for its particles, so the relationship is constantly changing.
It is the ways in which we can be abusive to our body which we hide under the guise of being healthy that we can be surprised by. Even in our established western science it is not disputed that elite sport is not healthy because of the training, stress and exertion required of the body and yet we put these athlete on pedestals as role models yet they are promoting abuse, knowingly or unknowingly.
‘I did indulge in sports and in studies. Now you might say “Is this not good?,” ‘ – It is a common perception that sports are good no matter what, and that pushing ourselves to reach a ‘higher goal’ is the way to go, rarely do we hear that we need to listen to the signals of our body and always adjust to our individual limits.
A lot of people get physically hurt pushing too hard but I observe people harden when they engage in sport and I wonder how much this hardening affects them?
Abusing myself through taking substances was not my thing either but I was still abusing myself through being good, polite, nice. I would say the latter is far more abusive, many would disagree but the impact of giving my power away left me depressed, helpless and not knowing where to turn many a time during my life. I am still not free from these behaviours yet but as my awareness grows they are becoming a thing of the past.
Caroline I can relate to what you share, I never used substances to abuse myself, but I too got caught in the good, nice and polite, constantly pleasing. This is more abusive to our body as the poision is buried deeper.
Not before we start honouring the body as the precious vehicle it is will we as a society overcome abuse, violence, corruption, obesity, checking out, exhaustion or any other dis-ease that plagues us.
We do need to really start with honouring our own body and live with this truth that our vehicle is precious, before any abuse, violence, corruption etc can be overcome. We are the living reflections for society.
Self care comes with bucket loads of honouring.
It is crazy, all the different ways that we dull down and avoid true relationship with our body. The ways of the world are specifically designed to keep us away from the sacredness of our body and beauty of its divine nature, to delay and keep us from knowing who we truly are.
When we honor and respect our body as the vehicle of expression it is and we treat it with love this enables us to take on more work as we are able to handle the load.
‘Essentially, I got to realise that I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body and not really embracing this body as Me, or even a part of me!’ – yes, Henriettta I can totally relate to this and now realise how when I depended on my mind alone I would feel driven to follow a lifestyle that was lived at the expense of the body and certainly not honouring of it. I am now beginning to understand the depth of wisdom and love that is awaiting when I listen to my body.
‘An amazing body that I have not really ever stopped to appreciate deeply.’ this is something that we are not taught when we are young and to the contrary we are taught about its functionality but not about the immense wisdom it holds or that can be connected to through it when we treat with the regard for the instrument it is.
So often I have thrown up my hands and gone for the ‘everything out, total change, baby out with the bath water’ approach, when it wasn’t what I was doing that was causing the problems but the how and why. I love the simplicity of realising that it is not what we do but how and why we do things that is really significant and leads us to true revelations and opportunities to grow.
I have been so caught up in my head with continual doing, with little regard for my body, forever burying what I did not want to feel, until one day it decided to speak loud and clear with a nervous breakdown, this was huge jolt, and a wake up call to healing, healing the abuse I held my body in and learning to bring love to this most amazing vehicle of expression I have for my essence to express through.
‘I also felt safer playing the role of being a tom-boy’ – It is the sad reality that we find it safer to play a role in life, rather than simply living and reflecting the natural beauty and sweetness that we all innately are.
No wonder our relationships with other people don’t go so great when we ignore, override and suppress what our body has to say. What kind of relationship is that? Abusive I’d say.
I resented my body for most of my life, judging it for being such a let down as it prevented me from doing what I wanted. But now I deeply appreciate that my body was telling me to slow down, take more care and not treat it so badly. And now that I am finally listening, there is great joy and insight as I deepen this most precious relationship.
I love the guidance my body gives me as I deepen my relationship with it and how I care for myself. Sometimes it is subtle as in the message I need to move or to be still, other times it is loud like with an illness. It is always showing me my next step.
Well said Ruth – the different messages from our bodies are always available for us to discern.
The body is a vehicle designed with immaculate precision and all we need to do is pay close attention to which source of ‘fuel’ we use (prana or Fire) in order to use it to its full capacity. Prana will burn out the engine and Fire will be very respectful of what the body can and cannot do in each given moment ensuring we get ‘more for our mile’ without the collapse of the vehicle in the process.
I have treated my body with much disdain and resentment… it always fell short of my needs and expectations. I realise now that this was simply an extension of how I felt about myself and the part I played in the world. Working with Universal Medicine has changed all that, supporting and healing me back to a quiet and sure place of self-acceptance and appreciation for the learning we are all doing together.
Yes, it is so easy to lose the connection to the body when we have study deadlines etc. I find that every half an hour I have to get up and stretch, do some exercise or even do a little dance sometimes to check in with myself and what is needed to support me.
I love this Janet – great reminder. I feel the same when my work keeps me at my desk for periods of time. Great to get up and walk around the office, connect back to my body and the other people I work with.
I found it was only when I didn’t need to push my body to that extreme level that I realised the damage I had done to it in my blind obedience to fill the aching need. Blogs like your offer me an opportunity to appreciate the care and tenderness I now take as my bodies normal and wonder how much deeper this relationship can go.
If we are not having a true relationship with our own body how are we faring in all other relationships? It would not be outrageous to suggest that how we are with our own body could be a maker for all our relationships.
Great sharing our relationship with our bodies is a reflection of our relationship with others.
It’s interesting how, when we get sick, we can tend to ‘think’ there is something wrong with us, as opposed to allowing our first response to be to question; what is it that my body is sharing with me, what is the deeper meaning in what is being offered to me? With this openness and understanding we can then show a deeper level of love and care for ourselves, as we embrace the healing/clearing.
The difference between having a respectful or resentful relationship with our bodies, which let’s face it is the foundation for our relationship with ourselves.
‘How I live my life now is vastly different to how I lived it prior to encountering the Ageless Wisdom’ same here, how I am with my body today is far far from the neglect I had with it a few years ago. I wouldn’t have imagined I would be this way then.. and there is always more care and love I can bring in my relationship with my body.
We live in such an incredibly sensitive and finely tuned body that knows and responds to the future, in essence our very own “Time Machine”! No amount of academic education can ever match the amazingness of tuning into this inherent wisdom and subsequently living the future now.
It is crazy how we can resent our body for not fitting the pictures we have imposed on it and the communication about how much we are abusing it by e.g. getting sick. I have been so hard on my body for many years but am now appreciating more and more the nuances that it so lovingly reveals to me when I make choices that are not honouring of myself and my body.
I keep coming back to these words
“For most of my life I have seen my body as just a ‘thing,’ as mentioned before, “something to cart around and get around in.”
Because I feel that for most of us we sleep walk through life and I have to be honest and say I know I was a ‘sleep walker’. Coming across Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine was a literal life saver as I have been supported to wake up and embrace life again rather than withdraw from it thinking life is too hard and so checking out which is what ‘sleep walking’ is.
It feels amazing to me that now in my late sixties I appreciate and value my body and its messages more now than I ever did before, all thanks to the Way of the Livingness – and the changes in my choices.
‘ There are many things that I still do today that may not look different from the outside…..’ this is true for me also, and for many students of the Way of the Livingness, ‘ but there is a difference in the quality I am doing them in.’ The consequences sometimes may seem obvious however, for example in closing doors and drawers gently, rather than just banging them shut.
I also care far more for my body these days, part of it is because I am getting older and my body simply refuses to work like it could 20 years ago and needs more rest and recoup time but also because now I am gaining more and more respect for this vehicle I have a lend of.
It’s great how the natural processes our body goes through, such as ageing or illness, can bring us to a deeper understanding a relationship with it. I know when I was younger i felt invincible and I could put my body through whatever I chose to – now I have far more regard for it and am deepening my relationship with it returning to a time a knew it to be sacred.
An amazing sharing Henrietta that really makes sense and i can relate to so much listening to ones body and learning to live from here deepening with a harmony and joy is one of the many gifts Universal Medicine offers us all to bring a loving relationship to our bodies our lives and our families beautifully with an honesty and willingness to go there.
How about we would learn to really like or even love our bodies from childhood on instead of being bombarded with pictures and expectations of how it should be and or simply degrading it to be an object that is supposed to function due to its mental master´s whims and wishes? Doesn´t that sound like the most natural thing, how it actually should naturally be? So we have to honestly explore and discard what goes wrong when we want to change the many grievances that result from a lack of love and care for our bodies.
The body is worth so much more than simply ‘being carted around’, yet this is what most of us do. Paying attention to the quality in which we move turns everything around. We can offer so much beauty to the world when we move with love. If we move in any other way we are simply in reaction to our own issues or to the world.
It is indeed through the body that we can access and then live the universal truths and maybe this is why we abuse it so, as through the abuse we will not hear it’s communication that brings the wayward spirit back to the soul.
Currently I am find that the way I move my body is having the greatest effect on my wellbeing. Awareness of movement is an incredible medicine and instantly changes my relationship with everything around me.
It may seem too simple and something our mind wants to corrupt, but how we are moving really does change everything in an instant. There is enormous detail and bigger mechanisms at work within these loving movements, and we connect to God and the grander picture that we are part of.
Like it or not, the body communicates with us all the time, so we can choose to listen to it or ignore it. When we ignore it, we get another message and another until such time that we decide we have to pay attention to it, because the repetition of our actions has given us an illness at this stage. But the body is not cross or bothered, it is simply responding to what we have done to it and it continues to support us because the illness will hopefully eventually get us to wake up. The more we love our body and listen to it sooner, we build a deeper relationship with it.
Absolutely Henrietta, what is next? As we deepen our relationship with ourselves the depth on offer is incredible. The more I scratch the surface in deepening love for myself, the more I get shown another layer of distraction I have used to avoid this incredible body and all it offers; the bridge to my soul.
As far as my body goes, I’ve gone from pride in having scratches and bruises (as to say look how outdoorsy I am) to the stubbornness of not listening to what’s going on to the surrendering to what it’s telling me.
Our bodies may be great at functioning in the world, because they carry us around all day, and we use them to express what we feel and think but they are also capable of operating at a much deeper level. our bodies can read energy, we can feel a person and how they truly are regardless of the words they speak.
So beautifully said Carmel, and thus in only focusing on the functionality of the body we can miss out on the blessing that the body is and brings to us.
Yes, and when we accept this fact and start to listen to our bodies’ readings, life becomes richer, simpler and clearer.
Yes Carmel, bodies read energy. When we are functional and disregarding of our bodies, is it because we don’t want to read and feel energy around us?
Over the past 9 years of being a student of Universal Medicine and having a deeper level of awareness and commitment to life, there have been many changes within my body from how it has been nurtured and cared for. This is constantly being refined by choice, for the body to be a vehicle of expression for the soul to communicate throigh and re-imprint this loveless world we inhabit.
Thanks, Henrietta. I too have lived most of my life through my mind at the expense of the body, but thanks to the teachings of Universal Medicine I can now say that I am starting to listen to my body first, and then respond to life from the connection to the truth of what I feel inside. As a result, life is becoming simpler and I have much greater clarity.
When I was involved in sport I saw the body in relation to performance and was always interested in its ability to develop to meet demands made of it. This was not the body doing this though it was the domination of it by the mind, making it do what it deemed beneficial.
I am in awe of the bodies ability to adapt, yet I now wonder if we are abusing this ability for no real gain other than a short-lived pleasure or external approval.
There is an exposure here of how much more subtle the toll on the body can be when we do the things to extreme that society finds more acceptable – like sport or education. They tick all the boxes, but the damage it can be doing in the background are so well highlighted in the blog.
Henrietta, I can very much relate to this; ‘All through life I have had this body that I have been carting around. An amazing body that I have not really ever stopped to appreciate deeply.’ It is only recently that I am really starting to appreciate myself. I have started to feel how precious my body is and that if I nurture and care for and am present in my body then I feel amazing and can offer huge support and inspiration for others.
We can cause our bodies a great deal of trauma in the guise of sport, then kid our selves that we are looking after it and back this up with strange sayings like “No pain, no gain”. Who ever thought that one up was clearly not in touch with their innately fragile and incredibly wise body.
I feel I must be very humble and honest to my body that I have abused it a lot and possibly at times still do. Thought the years I have found that the body is so delicate tender and absolute in its sensitivity and awareness of energy, so much so that I start to appreciate it more and more for the gift it is for me instead of just a body that is to be used to live through.
I agree Nico, and the more I listen the more I realise there is to hear and open up to… in fact I get a sense of a depth to life and our reason for being here that is very rich and inspiring.
Indeed Matilda, you could say there is a purpose to life, the purpose of returning to a way of life that is respectful to our being and from this beingness we will all unite as one. Which one day will be our reality.
Our body is the temple of God, the art is to live this in full appreciation of the divine beings that we are.
When we connect you our body, we too connect to the continuous communication with it. The communication that tells us what depth of Ageless Wisdom and knowledge we can access, that tells us what true love is by living it as an example in the body for everyone to see, that tells us that we are all equal and that borders, languages, cultures and such we have created do not make any difference. It is about the living essence that is of the same source in every-body.
It’s great to expose how we can do ‘good’ to our bodies when in truth it is harming – ie we can think sport is healthy but if we push our bodies then it is still abusing them.
It is onyl in recent years that I have become fully aware of what foods my body wants and doesnt want. On some level I always knew that there were certain foods that disagreed with me, but I never really put two and two together. Our bodies speak to us all the time – we would do very well to pay more attention to what they are telling us.
We are so blessed with being surrounded with numerous immensely supportive factors in life, that help us heal, deepen our awareness and evolve. Our body is but one such support and we have it 24/7. We are far too quick at complaining about things we don’t like, which ironically tend to be there because of our own ill choices, and we don’t stop, take note of the immense support and appreciate nearly enough.
‘most of the time I find myself getting frustrated with my body – why can I not move faster, be less clumsy, get more things done; why do I have to stop to feed, care for and sleep this ‘thing’? Why can I not eat and drink certain foods without the body reacting or getting sick?’ – You have described so well the reality for a lot of people, the fact that we tend to blame our body for our so called ‘short comings’.
I think it’s great to realise or be open to discovering deeper levels of appreciation for our body and all it offers us, not just as a means of moving around, picking things up etc but the actual wisdom that we all have within us in our body…
Agreed Fiona its that appreciation that is so key, if I feel a little “off” then when I bring in appreciation that feels disappears as I realise I’ve just not been appreciating me and being connected to me.
In modern day life it seems normal to abuse our bodies because what you are describing as your life before is the way many people live or at least partly live. We push our bodies in academics, sport or spirituality because we feel it is about what we achieve that matters but in the end it is abuse to our bodies just like it is abuse to our bodies to smoke cigarets or drink alcohol. If we look from the perspective from our body our life would look very differently.
Our bodies are very good at signalling that we are not treating them well but we are not very good at listening. I used to have lots of coughs and colds especially in the Winter, and they were often accompanied by a sore throat or losing my voice altogether. Since going for a dairy-free diet my health has changed dramatically and the coughs and colds are pretty much non-existent.
Right now I am experiencing my body telling me that there are certain foods that I cannot eat and if I do not heed its message I will be in big trouble. Not listening to our body is how illness and disease starts.
When I started to appreciate all that my body offered – in the way it teaches me to understand the world and myself, ie my relationship with myself, I was able to start offering it back the kindness, tenderness and nurturing it deserves and thrives on.
I understand how we can build a resentment towards our body as you describe Henrietta – when I was not prepared to look honestly at how I was living I was far more inclined to blame my body for not doing well (and resent the fact) than to take responsibility for how I was treating myself.
Yes, Henrietta, my deepening relationship with the body is opening up a new level of awareness which leads naturally to a sense of greater responsibility for the quality of every breath and movement. This is a constant learning and I still get it wrong, but open to what it shows me.
‘…a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be…’ it’s incredible how we have learnt to not only be unaware of the communication from our body and it’s true purpose but to have expectations of it to simply do as our mind instructs and all of this in the face of the ill effects that such ill-informed actions have on us.
Since attending Universal Medicine workshops and presentations I have also had a shift in how I perceive my body. Once I used to struggle, to even reconcile that I had one, and would find many faults with it – this was simply a symptom of a lack of self-worth and lack of connection. Now I find that I can really enjoy being in it and whilst my body isn’t perfect there isn’t one part of it that I would dream of criticising.
For most of my life I have ignored my body and the messages it has clearly given me. Now that I have reconnected back to this precious part of me I cannot believe I have been so stubborn in my ignorance. Which then leads me to question what energy are we all aligning to that says its okay to trash our bodies rather than take great care of it?
I love this question as it fundamentally doesn’t make sense that we would choose to disregard ourselves over loving and appreciating our preciousness. Introducing the fact that we have chosen to align to an energy that keeps us locked in that choice, ultimately is the key to understanding all of it.
Fully accepting that we are not autonomous beings but just vehicles of expression governed by energy is a huge paradigm shift for humanity and hence those who are beginning to fully grasp and respond to this reality, as you are Henriette, are living at the cutting edge of our scientific understanding. One day this will be common knowledge and we will begin to fully appreciate the importance of deeply nurturing our physical bodies so as to enable us to make the conscious choice to align to a wise and compassionate energy within us as opposed to hooking into an external source whose only agenda is to drain our life force.
And that naturally leads to us being more of who we truly are – living to our full potential.
Our body is so much more than something that carts us around. It is alive and pulsing with information about how we have been living, how we are truly feeling and what we need. To ignore it is ridiculous.
I love how this article draws attention to, and allows us to consider what it means to be truly ‘healthy’. Not in terms of meeting an ideal or expectation, but from a lived connection with and a deep honouring of our body and it’s infinite wisdom.
There are a myriad of ways that we can choose to abuse our bodies which all have the same result of disconnecting us from ourselves and it is only when we commit to making loving changes that our bodies have the opportunity to communicate with us and be listened to about what will truly support us. The more I am building a relationship with my body the more I appreciate how it is constantly communicating with me and now I am becoming more willing to listen.
We abuse our bodies so much in so many ways. This is one story about one body and how many bodies are there in this world? Almost 8 billion….that is a lot of abuse in this world. Good on you for turning the tide…it is up to each and everyone of us.
Henrietta, I love reading this, it really brings an appreciation of my body, rather than taking it for granted; ‘An amazing body that I have not really ever stopped to appreciate deeply’
I know I used to live totally ignoring my body and overriding the messages I was receiving but over the years I have learnt to develop a relationship with my body as well. Through honouring my body I have felt the constant communication and wisdom we all have available to us, it seems crazy that we would ever want to choose otherwise.
We’re driving Ferrari’s like they’re old bangers clattering and clanging our way down the road.
Your blog describes a very common functional relationship we tend to have with our body – A body that in society encourages and champions us to compromise or push ourselves into ‘doing’ in order to achieve a list of ‘must-do’s’ that we think will make us ‘be something’ or feel a greater sense of who we are… but what you have shown is in developing a relationship with our body first, it is this quality and presence of ourselves that surpasses all functional behaviour and tick-boxing of achievements because everything you do comes with a fullness of grace, a quality of love and wisdom well beyond what the realm of function can achieve.
And when we recognise that is a source of wisdom, it comes with a respect for the body. It then feed a virtuous cycle – we honour the body and it can share more of its wisdom, the honouring deepens, more wisdom and so on.
I love the opening line: All through life I have had this body that I have been carting around. This is how I’m sure many of us treat our bodies.
It’s interesting that to some extent we have trivialised and made having a relationship with the body as being sacred a thing of humour. People joke saying ‘my body is a temple’ and mimic those who have said this previously, but this is exactly how we should be regarding our body; as being sacred and a temple and vehicle for our own Soul to express on earth.
“To care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.” Could our body and our relationship to it be much, much more important than we give it credit for? Could the most physical thing about us be our access to our most un-physical and grandest thing about us?
Thanks Henrietta for your blog, which comes to me in the right moment.. I’m deeply revising the way I take care of myself on a daily basis and realising that there is much more love I can live when I truly honour my body in every detail. It’s not what we do for ourselves, but how lovingly we treat ourselves what makes the difference.
This is very beautiful to read. I have known the body is the vehicle through which the Soul has access but still I have continued to abuse it. Reading this and having done sacred movement as presented by Universal Medicine recently, I am surrendering to the beauty that is inside me that is grander than anything outside myself that I have given importance to. There is a beautiful way of the soul to be connected to and it’s through my beautiful body. It does hurt feeling the abuse I’ve inflicted on myself but this is something I can feel and let go of because I can always return to love.
The deeper and more refined the relationship with have with our own bodies, the more beautiful the relationships we have with others, hence a major part of our education on a daily basis should include Body Studies that support us to reclaim this innate wisdom.
The amazing thing is that it is never too late to awake from the abuse we have put our body’s through! Ok, we may have a bit more rubbish to shed that we have collected and have to remove the dust bunny’s lurking within. What we find within is still as pristine as the day we tried to walk away from all those years ago from something that can never be less. Like a dog that waits patiently for us to return and never holds any judgement.
The statement that it is through the body not the mind that we access the Soul is the real show stopper here, amongst the gold presented in the blog. It raises the question how do we view our bodies, merely as a thing that allows us to function and get through life, or as the vehicle for which we can connect with our soul and express through?
When we choose to re-connect with and live from our essence, we are expressing our love within, in dis-connection, we are expressing something else entirely. We are at the mercy of whatever energy we are allowing in and aligning with.
‘… most of the time I find myself getting frustrated with my body – why can I not move faster, be less clumsy, get more things done; why do I have to stop to feed, care for and sleep this ‘thing’?’ As we connect with and deepen our relationship with our body, all these questions are answered. We realise, that our body, with it’s infinite wisdom, is supporting us to feel how to move in a loving way which revitalises the body, rather than depleting it. Our body is constantly working to keep us in a state of harmony within, when we listen we know exactly what is needed to care for ourselves and to live the love that we are. In disconnection, we are allowing another energy outside ourselves to ‘run’ us, exhaust us and deplete us.
The more focus and attention we give to our relationships with our bodies, listening to our inner wisdom and intuition, the more fascinating life becomes, as we begin to feel and appreciate the very real effects of everything we choose to do, to our bodies and to one another.
And how much simpler life is when we don’t think about what we should or shouldn’t do, or how much there is to do, rather we respond to our impulses from within. Letting go of control and feeling into what is there for us to do in each moment and being open to this changing as things are constantly constellating around us.
‘I began to build a different relationship with my body.’ And this is the key to developing a true understanding of why we make the choices we do through the effects they have on our body.
We cannot go anywhere without the body – in essence we are ‘stuck’ with it whilst we are alive…and so we can only disconnect from feeling what it is saying to us. And though the fact that we cannot seem to be ‘free of the body and its communications’ might seem like a curse to some, it actually is the greatest blessing ever. The body is our greatest responsibility and really it is about treating it with much care and respect rather than running it ragged or using it and abusing it. After all it is the bridge to Soul, and beyond.
My relationship with my body has been reversed, I used to lord over my body, beating it into submission. Now my body has become my master and I a servant to it’s needs.
A ‘role reversal’ in the truest sense! And which the body loves you back 10x fold when we listen
We can have the most distant relationship with the person we are physically closest to – not even our partners or family but ourselves if we devalue our worth.
For a few seconds my eyes were pulled towards a beautiful wedding cake that was being cut for the guests to enjoy. In those few seconds the choice was made to eat a piece of the cake (gluten, dairy, sugar free). Ha, ouch! for the past 12 hours my body has been feeding me back its very clear reactions to this choice, that has mede it uncomfortably clear, that it was a very silly thing to do. And so the learning continues…..
I can tell that caring for my body is far deeper than just having a healthy body or avoiding illness but that my body and its divine particles is actually an access point to my soul.
Awesome point Andrew – Caring for the body is so much more than ensuring the mechanics are functioning and that we are not getting sick…if we leave our understanding of health at that, then we are selling ourselves short, and missing out on the truth of vitality and health and healing and most of all missing out on our access point to the Soul and what lies beyond this too.
Women can dress to protect themselves, either frumpily to look unattractive or masculine to not look feminine. I tend to wear trousers and jeans a lot because they are practical and I find trainers really comfortable to wear but on occasions it is lovely to dress up in what I call full feminine gear with sexy dress and heels and then I am celebrating myself as a woman.
I am learning more and more that woman can still be sexy in jeans and trainers because this, true sexiness, is a quality that emanates from within – out. I get what you are saying though in that wearing a dress and heels can confirm this celebration even more.
So many people feel that they do not have a relationship with their body, that the body is just there to be sort of put up with for all its imperfection. There is a great need for this attitude to change within people and see the beauty of having divine particles that tell us the truth of how we are living.
So true, Elizabeth, we are quick to blame the body for our ‘perceived imperfections’ when in fact, our body is a constant reflection of the truth, the truth of how we are choosing to live and our forever guide and support on how to re-claim the exquisitely divine being that we are.
I feel you have hit the nail on the head with this one ‘I have had this body that I have been carting around.’ As predominately, currently that is what I feel many of us do ‘cart our body around’ rather than truly deeply appreciate, cherish and nourish it knowing that it is a vehicle of expression. I am still very much learning this one!
That’s beautiful Jane. I’m learning to let my body be sensitive and not try to “correct” it back the the skewed normal I subscribed to.
“have I ever stopped to feel that there is so much more to appreciating this body and all that it can really be, and more importantly, all that it can be a vehicle for?” I was pondering on this this morning Henrietta as I could feel I have been allowing more and more the beauty we hold and emanate, naturally so, yet because I have not been in the habit of appreciating this much I’ve not valued ‘the more that it can be’, and as a consequence been able to disregard and abuse my body in those subtle ways, – though now I’m on to it and building an honourable relationship with my body.
I like this Richard. If I stopped and really appreciated what my body is a part of, that it belongs to the universe and so by its nature is innately in tune with energy, constellations and so on – then it would be much easier to surrender it to the energy that is passing through it rather than trying to control life from it, forcing it into expressions that are counter to the harmony it naturally is.
As a young child I had severe asthma and so it did not feel great to be connected to, or be ‘in’, my body and hence grew up having a somewhat distanced and mental attitude about it. It is only recent years through my involvement with Universal Medicine and The Way of The Livingness have I started to appreciate and learn to be at one with my body. By doing so my whole relationship with myself and the world has changed to one of far more involvement, commitment, fulfilment and enjoyment.
Reading your comment, jstewart51, I was reminded of the constant nosebleeds that I had when I was young, to the point that I had to have my right nostril cauterised. It’s only now that I can appreciate the clearing that was being offered by my body, yet without this understanding at the time, I just wanted them to stop. A great reminder that everything happens for a reason and it’s up to us to allow the space to consider why something is happening – what is the learning being offered?
Playing sports and going into this as a distraction to not feel and connect to the womanliness qualities that are deep within us was my go to as well. It did a great job of numbing that which we can’t deny. Releasing these old ingrained patterns and behaviours is truly freeing.
It’s curious how we can be so physically active and yet totally unaware of our bodies! It needs a deepening in oneself and a dedication to listening to the body to actually begin to truly live in it and honour it.
Well said Rebecca, though what this reveals is that there are activities that we can engage in that can numb us out from feeling the body.
I agree. I could do a lot more exercising when I wasn’t being present – as in walk further, lift heavier weights, exercise for longer and so on. Lifting a 2 kg weight with presence is quite different to doing the same weights or more checked out from what you are doing.
“The Body and My Relationship with it” – can start at the most subtle form of bodily communication like a burp, bloating, having a runny nose or getting indigestion after food. To the body everything is registered; to the body relationship is therefore everything.
One of the greatest revelations I’ve had over the last few years is allowing the awareness and understanding that has enabled me to feel and deeply appreciate how incredibly amazing, supportive and absolutely honest my body is.
Alison the same here its’ like I had not taken notice of the greatest gift to be in connection with myself, my body.
Re-reading your blog again this morning, Henrietta, I really got a sense of how we dis-connect from our bodies, not only in terms of viewing it as something that is there, that is a part of us – but we are controlling it, telling it what to do and it’s often not meeting our expectations, physically and visually. We also fragment our body, treating certain parts with more care and respect than others. For most of my life there have been aspects of my body that I’ve not liked and outright rejected, but I now realise, we can’t reject an aspect without actually rejecting the whole that that part belongs to.
“a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be”
As i read this Henrietta its suddenly so clear how led and dictated we are by our minds, how we don’t see the value in listening and cherishing the bodies dialogue unless it calls us to stop.
‘…I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul.’ This highlights how powerful it is when we connect to our body. This makes me wonder, what is going on in our world, because currently our mind is being sold as the champion and our body seems to be disregarded and often abused?
So, what I understand from reading your comment and this awesome blog is that if we want to live harmoniously, all we have to do is listen to our body, honour its messages and our body will naturally guide us back to love and harmony.
And love and harmony are key ingredients in the Oneness that we are all from and so in leading us back to love and harmony, the body also leads us back into the Oneness and hence we are reunited with God. Let the body lead the way.
And to what ends are we driving our selves with such a relentless force, if the end result does not deeply honour our body, our well being and vitality? No amount of degrees, sports accomplishments and the like can ever equal the incredible feeling of a deeply nurtured body and a strong connection to our soul. When we make these our primary pursuits the wisdom we access as a consequence underpins everything else we choose to do in life.
In that return to harmony our bodies (a correction) are very quick to communicate what does not belong with it.
‘a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be ’ how common is this in our society today? When we try to live to the many pictures and expectations, usually from what we have given our power away to from the images fed to us in the media and life etc, then we are contorting ourselves and setting ourselves up for self bashing, self loathing and lack of self worth. However when we start with the fact that we are already everything and then honour that everything in our bodies, our body starts to feel delicious, and self acceptance develops.
‘ I came to realise that there are a multitude of other ways to abuse the body whilst making it look like you are doing the ‘right’ thing.’ This is true Henrietta, and it is not until we start to listen our body at a deeper level that we can feel what impact our actions and in-actions are truly having.
‘it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.’
This gives caring for our vehicle (our body) a different perspective and also shows us the simple gateway to Heaven.
It doesn’t make sense for us to continue to abuse the body once we realise that is the one way we can access the Soul and its expression, but we still do it, using our minds to convince us that overeating is in our interest when all it means is comfort to stop us feeling the tension of not living life as the one true Soul
It is a tad ironic, isn’t Carmel? It defies all logic and so just goes to show how stubborn our spirits are in hanging on to individuality. When I overeat, which is most days, my body bloats and gets uncomfortable and yet I still do it rather than make the choice to connect to my soul and express from that connection.
It’s interesting Doug because I would say I had a relationship with my body but a very unloving one before Universal Medicine! I would constantly push it to the extremes and test its limits and then get frustrated when it let me down. It is like I wanted to use it as much as possible to maximise my experiences during the day rather than looking after it. The way I move with my body for example can completely change my day and the thoughts I am having and the more I value it the more I actually want to be in my body rather than wanting to numb and distract myself with any and everything possible!
I agree and we have asked why and then the next step is doing something about it! Not only for ourselves but also to show everyone else that there is another way.
The understanding of the body working with us and us working with the body deepens our understanding of us living in a body and supports the human and the being part of us.
The body and the being part of us are always there supporting however it is the human part of us that often is the one who wants to not play the game and is more inclined to do its own thing at the expense of the body.
Very true, Johanna, it’s the human part of us that craves recognition and validation – in order for this to happen we have to see ourselves as separate from everyone else – and so the dis-connection from the whole that we are a part of begins.
Interestingly I was invited out to dinner to a Persian restaurant for supper by my work colleagues, and some of them know that I don’t eat gluten or dairy as a preference to my body and how it reacts to those foods. But they were not aware of just how I have refined my body so that I eat a very simple but well balanced diet. And it started a conversation on awareness of what my colleagues eat and it became apparent that they just eat without any discernment of what they are eating. I explained that I was exactly the same I used to eat and drink without once checking in with my body if it was the right food to be eating. One of my colleagues admitted that if they go without coffee for a few hours they get a blinding headache, if they drink something with caffeine in it the headache goes away and they feel fine. This shows me that there is a lack of education around food and drink and the affects it has on our bodies.
Yeh totally Mary, it is crazy how such an important subject is not part of our education and the fact that our own bodies know best and do have the answers as well if we care to listen.
This is what I am discovering Kev for years I have dismissed what my body was trying so hard to tell me. Now I have started to listen and quite honestly I’m blown away by what it knows. The other thing I have discovered is this intelligence that it knows is not coming from me my mind because I know my mind just isn’t this intelligence. What I’m sharing is huge because we rate our minds and it’s intelligence so highly in our society but actually it knows very little in comparison to our bodies so to me I feel we have been completely hoodwinked by a lesser intelligence.
Yes, it all comes back to our willingness to listen to our body and how honest we are willing to be. We know a lot more than we ‘think’ we know.
I love your comment, Mary, it raises the question about how much we know and how much we resist being aware of what we know. If we eat something and feel sick afterwards, we can join the dots and recognise that either the food was off, or we have reacted to it for some other reason. If going without coffee for x hours gives us a headache and when we have another coffee our headache goes away, that is showing us that we have a dependency on coffee (caffeine). This may sound harsh, but I feel we are very good at playing dumb and seeing what we want to see and ignoring what we don’t want to be aware of to stay comfortable.
Henrietta, it is incredible the abuse we put our body under to get recognition and acceptance; ‘then there was the anxiety and nerves of the competitions and the gruelling flogging of myself that I was not good enough, that I had to keep pushing myself to the next level, to keep proving who I was.’
I have also walked in those shoes of championing disregard to my vehicle of expression. It took many years to reach almost total disconnection of my body, but it is an adventure to come back that is well, self-worth come home again.
It’s embarrassing enough to see how we have been using our violin as a sledgehammer – but more confronting to realise that we were given every operating instruction from day 1 to make beautiful music but chose to use this instrument of God for demolition instead.
We are all born with the same box of tools. That free will thing allows us a free hand to build or destroy. So, why do we choose the path that requires force and effort over just being?
Well said Joseph.
I love your analogy Joseph, how are we choosing to use the divine instrument that is our body – to create heavenly music or for demolition.
Great analogy Joseph. Why indeed? it makes no sense the way it is now.
When we uncover more pockets of abuse, it may feel like we are back to square one, but we are not, our normal is shifting all the time as we deepen our level of self care and our foundation of love that we live from.
As we uncover more layers of abuse, it’s important to take the time to appreciate how differently we may be living today compared to a year ago, or 10 years ago, and all the loving choices that we have made leading us to where we are now.
Something to deeply appreciate and to keep in the forefront of our awareness.
“I have come to realize that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul” What a life changing realisation this is and one that brings us back to the simplicity of connecting to our flesh and bones, honouring what we feel within, because what we feel is so much more than sensible than the many and varied thoughts, doubts and ideals we entertain about life.
Connecting to our body which allows our connection to our soul, is a more tangible experience than getting caught in the mind.
I love how you ended this blog, Henrietta, with the question of what is next, as there are no limits to the depth of relationship we can have with our body that is then beautifully expressed in our every movement.
‘For most of my life I was a walking head will little or no regard for my body…’ this is so true – well said Elizabeth. This really reveals the level of disregard we have for our bodies until we choose otherwise.
It’s amazing how subtly the body can communicate if we are open to listening to it, so that we don’t have to have the huge knock backs of being sick. We do tend to ignore the body’s signals at our peril.
When listen to the body and what it communicates, we can honour what will support it and this supports the body to stay vital and not fall sick.
If we honour the fact that our bodies are vehicles of expression, then every choice we make needs to be made with the awareness of that fact. Our only true choice is based on the question ‘what energy do I want coming through my vehicle of expression’? With this simple question in our awareness every day our choices are simple.
Great point, Rebecca – what energy are we saying ‘yes’ to and, therefore, what energy are we allowing to be expressed through every cell in our body.
Very true Rebecca, ‘what energy do I want coming through my vehicle of expression’ is a great question to continually ask myself and be with. The answer is obvious but living it consistently is what is important. The more I live it the more I get supported to bring it to all areas of my life and the same goes the other way. So it comes down what I want most and then putting that into action.
Great comment Rebecca, it is a powerful and simple choice. Also, to be aware and know we can choose what energy we allow in and through our body to govern our every expression is a responsibility we all have.
When we make a point of observing how we use our bodies, we can feel how hard we close a door, how hard we turn off a tap, how our whole body goes hard when we ‘try hard’ to get it right, and all that is a form of abuse. When we are tender with our touch, the body simply melts.
I have been allowing much more awareness as to how I sit in my chair at work – as things become very ‘busy’ am I still taking the same care and allowing the same quality in terms of how I sit down and stand up to go somewhere. Sounds very simple, which it is, but it’s also a very powerful reflection of how I am in my body at that moment. Am I with myself, or am I getting ahead of myself.
Giving ourselves the space to observe our movements is a great learning and understanding of how we are truly moving and living.
I too have spent most of my life regarding my body as an inconvenience… something that wasn’t following suit to all my life choices back then. It annoyed me that it was so sensitive and gave me cracking hangovers even when I didn’t drink that much. It annoyed me that my stomach was super sensitive to different foods and stress. It annoyed me that I couldn’t do just what I wanted with it without it reacting in some way. Now since understanding more about the body and its many ways of communicating to us, and the fact that it is a marker of truth, I appreciate its sensitivity and how it shows me my unloving and disregarding ways so that I can then take heed and turn these choices around to more supporting and nurturing ones.
Alienation from our body starts young and often nurtured by parents. I heard an adult boast of taking a four year old to play rugby. When we know a four year old’s body is still tender, deeply connected to their essence and universe. The push to disregard these gentle, precious qualities in children in pursuit of sport is intrinsic in many families.
We continue on the path of history repeating itself until we say, (and it is up to us, every single one of us) “enough, the way I am living is not working”. Only then are we open to true change.
I can say that without a sound and true relationship with my body, I lived my inside or inner life in isolation, feeling a sense of disconnected(ness). These past few years, getting to know my body, listening to it and how it communicates, what it needs or not, has brought a level of richer understanding about myself; myself in life, and above all it’s brought connectedness. Getting to know our body, is getting to know us in life.
So beautiful Zofia, there is greater understanding and awareness that is offered through the connection with our body.
Why do we continue to move the line we have drawn in the sand; what is and is not abuse?
Steve so true, that line is something we take over just about everything in life. The more we stand firm on the line that is or is not love the greater we will feel and society will benefit beyond words.
It is crazy the lengths we go to in abusing our bodies one way or another, I played rugby in the front row of the scrum and if that wasn’t enough abuse for me I also drank heavily, smoked and took drugs. Sometimes when I feel a bit tired or exhausted from life now, I wonder how I would feel if I hadn’t stopped all that so long ago thanks to coming across Universal Medicine and learning that even some foods that I deemed healthy weren’t actually doing me any good.
We have become the world’s biggest and best liar when it comes to what we think is the best for our body. Why do we justify our harmful actions towards our bodies? I am like you Kevin, with my past self-abuse and without finding Universal Medicine would I be here today?
When we give ourselves a moment to stop and consider your opening statement …”All through life I have had this body that I have been carting around…” it is a great moment to stop and turn inwards towards our body and feeling perhaps for the first time in a long while, this absolute love in the body that never ever wants to let you down… and then perhaps more sobering… you get to feel how little attention and appreciation we have towards this quality of our being… What relationship do we have with our body?… Self care and self-love are certainly the beginnings of a long lasting and forever deepening relationship that totally has each other’s back!
‘I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.’ – when we dis-honour our selves in any way, we are dis-honouring the gift that we are here to share, our love and the infinite wisdom that can only be accessed in connection with our soul.
While we are on this earth, we will have a relationship with our bodies, so we might as well get to understand it physically and energetically, what it means when it gives us messages. It talks to us constantly, we are the ones that muddle the meanings of its communication.
I was never one to abuse my body with excessive exercise or anything like that, rather I disconnected from my body and went into my head, to escape having to face the world and deal with my hurts. Thankfully my body and I are re-kindling our long-standing relationship!
It is quite strange how we are so resistant to understanding that when we feel ill, it is often due to consuming something that our bodies cannot digest. It was not until I had maneuvered myself into a pre-diabetic condition that I began to truly join up the dots, realizing that the intense sleepiness I felt after lunch was directly due to the carbohydrates I had consumed. Fine tune this process with The Gentle Breath Meditation and it soon became very obvious as I learnt to sit within my body that what I eat and drink has a big effect, positive and negative. And then the next step arrived, which was in understanding that the positive was worth treasuring and the negative well worth leaving behind!
There are many out there (and I have been one of them) that do not join up the dots when the body gives them a clear signal. Sleepiness after eating is a good example of this and yet for many it has become accepted as normal. When we disconnect from our body we lose connection with our closest friend and no longer hear its messages to us. The Gentle Breath Meditation brings us back to self and supports us to feel again.
In todays society abuse is only recognised, when you take drugs or do other extremes. But doing excessive sports or indulging in thoughts for hours is numbing your body in the same way and pouring poison in it like when you take other substances. You might look much healthier in the outside but in fact a total disastrous looking person is more honest with their abuse, than someone who is totally disconnected to their body and hard inside being though super successful and good looking in life.
If the mind and the body would be truly friends, the mind would never arrogantly demand the body to function to whatever it desires.
I totally recognise the things that are done to have a certain type of relationship with our parents, such as sports but then in my case when this did not work I also recognise that behaviours followed which were still disregarding but with some intention of being rebellious against my parents but all none the less disregarding to myself and in truth all others too.
‘There are many things that I still do today that may not appear different from the outside, but there is a difference in the quality that I am doing them in’ – A great point, the key is not WHAT we do but HOW do we do what we do.
At the moment the current thinking is that sport is a healthy occupation, but when you look at the body injuries so many children and adults get, I ask the question, Is it really? And when you look at the psychological aspects of competition, where only one person wins and the rest are ‘losers’ then there is no equality and mentally children and adults can be permanently damaged.
It is a big slap in the face moment when we realise all that our body has to offer us and how much we ignore and push it to the brink of breakdown till we (sometimes) listen.
‘have I ever stopped to feel that there is so much more to appreciating this body and all that it can really be, and more importantly, all that it can be a vehicle for?’ ….. the reality is, when we are able to let go of ownership and individuality our bodies are a window for heaven to pour through us – how exquisite is that 🙂
Watching a baby, laying on its back and moving his arms and legs in wonderment at what he can do with them and his eyes following the sunlight, made me realise today how much joy there is to be had in and from the body, this vehicle for our connection to the all.
Beautifully said Conrad – there is a beauty that is waiting for us all to tap into and to express from this body and in that expression it can be magnified.
I too used to abuse my body by working really hard. These days I work even longer hours often starting at 2:00am, work 7 days a week and am far more productive but it is done in a totally different energy. Our bodies are actually made to work so it is not about what or how much we do, but the energy we do it in.
In the end it is all about Love. Love is the energy that our body loves 🙂 and true love does not have one ounce of emotion in it.
Yes there are so many ways we can abuse ourselves beyond the more obvious ones. Rushing, pushing oursleves, negative thoughts, listening to our thoughts rather than our body, listening to outside of ourselves. All of these and more I have done and have felt the impact on my body through exhaustion and illness, my body flagging up that this is not a loving way to live.
This is a fantastic reminder how our bodies have an important role to assist us with connecting to our Soul. As Serge Benhayon presents the principles of The Way of The Livingness the Soul is our innate being and it is about us living in a way that supports us to return back to what we are divinely designed to be.
Our body is remarkably intelligent if we listen to it. We do not give it credit for it knows exactly in every moment every movement that will support us. At the weekend my family and I went on an outing. I could feel a tension and agitation in my body the morning of the event. My son clearly felt and expressed that he didn’t want to go but because thoughts such as ‘it would be great to catch up socially with people we haven’t seen in a while’, ‘it was my husband’s birthday and so I better make the effort to go’ and ‘it would be good for our children to mix socially with other children’ etc, we decided to go. Boy, did I feel not myself and so did my family feel the outing was not for them either! It felt so peculiar placed somewhere where I knew from my body communicating with me we weren’t supposed to be there! It made me realise more deeply the responsibility I have towards myself and my family to listen and respond to my body.
If I continue to abuse my body the way I do I’m going to get very sick and that’s the bottom line, thank you for the reminder that my body is worth caring for.
Our bodies are constantly trying to heed the pull of the Divine and yet we are constantly trying to haul them in the opposite direction, is it really a wonder that life is such a struggle for so many of us?
Not at all – and yet, instead of seeing the struggle as a consequense of our own choices, we deem it to be accidental or even unfair and some sort of punishment.
and we actually bring in more struggle to deal with the struggle, which simply ensures that we stay on the merry go round of hardship and unease; rather than allowing ourselves to be taken by the current of life and enjoying the ease and flow that comes with it.
Struggle exposed ! We complain but in truth we have signed up for the struggle in our life .
Love what you are exposing here, Henrietta, about us being honest, not only about the way in which we do things, but, what it is that leads us to choose the things we do and how insidiously abusive this can be when it’s not coming from a loving impulse, rather a need to fit in or perform in a certain way to be recognised, or whatever it is for us … ‘I got into sports (tennis and running) when I was young as a means to get attention from my dad and essentially have a ‘buddy buddy’ relationship with him.’
“But have I ever stopped to feel that there is so much more to appreciating this body and all that it can really be, and more importantly, all that it can be a vehicle for?” Quite a stop moment when we truly consider this question Henrietta. One, do we deeply appreciate all that our bodies offer us in their wisdom… and two, do we truly understand the enormity that our inner essence can offer ourselves and the world, and in that, truly support our bodies to do so?
Building a relationship with our bodies is such a fascinating process, learning to read all the messages and understand how to respond, like learning that I get hiccups after eating something that my body was not expecting and had not asked for.
We make our mind far more important than our body as if we can operate without a body. I had to learn it the hard way too, but it really is body first and the rest will follow.
Me too and what is fascinating is the more I look after my body the more my thoughts change. Away from the self bashing, angry, resentful, everyone is out to get me thoughts, to ones which actually embrace others and myself. It is like my words and the energy they come with change from abuse to appreciation its quite remarkable.
That is beautiful, James, thank you for sharing. You confirm how key taking care of your body is and how it influences literally our whole life. It makes it even more questionable why we don’t do this as a human race, for our whole wellbeing is dependent of it.
It sure is, yet we can blame everything and everyone else for what happens to us when really it all comes down to the choices we make, we either say yes to love or yes to anything and everything else which is not love. The rest is merely an outplay.
Our bodies are the vehicle through which we express in so many ways — voice, movement, feelings, activities, our heart and soul — if we are not accepting it and nurturing it with tenderness how can our expression be true?
The title alone of this blog is very revealing, we do not grow up with it but it is so important to understanding that we have a relationship with our body and how important it is to nurture and deepen this relationship with ourselves and not just let it happen and maybe not even care.
‘I have come to realise that the body is a tool, but a very precious one… one not to be abused, but instead used ever so lovingly to express that which lies deep within us all, our essence.’ – When deeply honoured and cared for, the body is a master piece that hands out any information you would ever need.
” I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.”An amazing place to come to in ones life for all of us and a real inspiration.
Articles like this are great. It is crazy that we live in the most amazing vehicle ever that can support us beyond our imagination, not only through the physical function, but also a far greater awareness and intelligence than we otherwise tap into with our brain alone (a great video to watch is https://sergebenhayon.tv/episodes/whole-body-intelligence/), yet we tend to do little more than “cart it around” and pay attention to it only after its function breaks down.
Another way we abuse our bodies is being disappointed they don’t look a certain way. This absolute lack of appreciation takes its toll so the more critically we look at ourselves the more so-called ‘faults’ we see and the harder it is to appreciate ourselves for exactly who we are and how we look.
It is important we expose the ‘good ‘ we put our bodies through. This is so critical to see what this does – still being abuse in the sense that we are not honoring our bodies but rather a picture of what good looks like. So pushing our bodies through sports and studies is still not us allowing our bodies to speak.
It’s very humbling to surrender in my body, feeling how much there still is to let go of, and allow the space to appreciate how incredibly wise and supportive my body is. It is here to support me in seeing the truth, always – that’s a gift to be treasured.
‘I find myself getting frustrated with my body …’ – we are very practiced at nominating all the things we are not and where we feel in adequate, but not nearly as forthcoming when it comes to deeply appreciating, or even just allowing our selves to feel the amazingness of all that we ARE. It’s through this appreciation that we deepen our relationship with our bodies, allowing us to further develop and refine how we care for ourselves, enriching and expanding our platform of love inside.
“For most of my life I have seen my body as just a ‘thing,’ ” I can relate to this, as Im sure many of us can. It wasnt until I came across Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine that I began to appreciate that the ‘quality’ of how I lived actually had a deep impact on myself and everybody else. It was a revelation, and with it came a much bigger sense of responsiblity for how I was living.
I love the reverence in the word honour Henrietta. Our bodies are amazing, not only in the spectacular anatomy and physiology of them, but also in their being the place within which we can be with God.
This is so simple and yet so profoundly powerful. We are able to access our Soul and a universal intelligence beyond anything we can imagine through our body if we treat it as sacred and honour it in all of
our choices. It is no coincidence then that we have mastered many ways of not doing this for in doing so we will collectively have to face the erroneous results of many, many choices made from an intelligence far less, this meaning we are the cause of all of our own ills and therefore a huge amount of pride to let go of and take true responsibility.
Although we may never make the commitment to follow a particular diet, it’s still commonly thought that if you WERE to ‘become healthy’, that this would look a certain way, and involve eating certain foods, when actually health is to do with having an evolving relationship with ourselves and the process of finding out what makes us feel truly vital, rather than trying to live to fit a picture.
This article beautifully exposes the accepted norm of ‘fit and healthy’ is simply not true. To listen to the body and be responsive to its invitations (sinus, sore body parts, bruises, aches and pains etc) is the way to true health and well being.
I love this Elizabeth. I feel that one of the ways we can deepen in this way is to let go of pictures we have around what our bodies need to look like or how strong or not they are. When we can simply connect to them and connect to the stillness within, the energetic expansion that happens then takes care of all the rest; we are impulsed to take more loving care of ourselves in whatever way is needed at the time and to build new platforms for that care. When I have observed others doing this I have been incredibly inspired by those choices, especially when someone feels more solid and loving within themselves.
When we beat ourselves up and fight love, illness awaits in the wings to give us a wake up call.
Yes, Henrietta, your sharing is a great example of how we can make life hard for ourselves, creating struggle and pressure at every turn so we do not have to feel the harm we are doing to our bodies by simply not feeling what is really going on inside us.
It is a constant, development of deepening the relationship with the body and sometimes it does feel like I have gone backwards abusing the body but moments like these are natural steps in bringing a greater love towards my body and wellbeing.
For our first 18ish years we are driven everywhere by others. When we get our licence to drive ourselves, there is only one person driving us.
I know the dishonouring of my body very well. For decades my head was the ruler of my body. I could get annoyed when my body would come up with inconvenient feelings like tiredness or sadness. The body should act according to my likings. There was a little tyrant housing in my body. Very much opposed to now: there is a servant in me honouring the body deeply with so now and then a disregarding or dismissive gesture. But…my body always let’s me know in a clear and in-my-face way: ‘a bit more loving please…’
Most of us live without even the slightest idea of all our body parts – let alone their energetic significance. It’s like receiving the most amazing present and just leaving it in the box unopened.It’s time we took an interest in the purpose of our cells.
Yes, among many other benefits it gives us a level of confidence that our mind can never deliver.
My body is smarter than my mind. That is one of the biggest and unexpected understandings that I have had.
I too struggled with growing into a young woman. It felt much safer to hide behind a tomboy facade then show the world my fragility. Hence it was easy to abuse my body because I didn’t know how to cherish my delicate and graceful qualities.
So true, Rowena, and I can now appreciate that being a tomboy also made it hard for those around me to cherish me for the delicate, fragile woman that I am, as I was already rejecting being this for myself.
So many of us are chameleons, morphing into whatever ideal or belief is around and or imposed upon us, always seeking something we know is missing in our lives… and that something is us! Reconnect to ourselves, our innate essence, and there is no need to play the chameleon game anymore because we know who we are – there is no interest in external games.
I also arrogantly saw my body as just a thing, with no appreciation for the most amazing wonderment that it actually is. More and more I am wising up to this fact as my appreciation grows.
We can use our mind to impose on our body what we think is good for it (that we have heard from others or read somewhere) or we can use our mind to connect truly with our body and sense from inside of ourselves what is needed to support it and us.
Do we perceive our body as a ‘lump of lead’ that we cart around begrudgingly from A to B or do we truly honour that it is a temple through which divinity can express?
Liane totally there with you, for most of my life I gave no consideration to my body. But more and more I give it everything.
And this all starts with just letting ourselves connect with ourselves and feeling what the body is actually communicating.
Without naming it you have brought attention to the fact that there must be an instance or aspect in and of us that is geared not by the body or the soul but acts on its own, follows its own agenda, willing to make the body even suffer as long as it can have its will over any of the love based impulses of the body or soul. It may make one wonder how this is possible that we are harming ourselves consciously which makes not much sense from a human physical perspective as we clearly feel the pain and suffering it causes us, hence why the teaching of a spirit inhabiting the body makes perfect sense as presented by Serge Benhayon – it explains many things in human life that otherwise remain incomprehensible.
Yes indeed why do we do that to each other and ourselves?
It is interesting to read at the start of your blog about all the demands and abuse you placed on your body because in many ways we do that with every-body – wanting others to move at the speed we want and do and say things that way we want even in subtle ways which are really no less than obvious ways and sometimes even more harmful as you share.
“I got to realise that I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body and not really embracing this body as Me, or even a part of me! ” I know this one well, I used to think all sorts of things including that I could think myself to happiness. This never happened and never was sustained more than just a few moments.
There are so many ways to put pressure on my body. I keep discovering new ones every time. The pressure hardens my body and tightens my connective tissue which leads to feeling less spacious and vital. What I can feel is how spaciousness actually supports my connection to God and or the universe.
I share your love and awe for the body Henrietta, it is a magnificent and wondrous tool that is much wiser than the mind could ever be without it.
“I say honour, because I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul…” – This is a Truth that I have only recently began to really honour and accept, as my whole life I felt I could just intellectually ‘figure things out’. Even when it came to something like reconnecting to my soul, when I knew it required a surrendering of my body to that connection that is there to feel, I would ask the question “Ok, well, what do I have to do to surrender?”, which is funny to think of now, as there is absolutely no ‘doing’ in surrendering one’s body to the soul!
‘This has been my approach for a long time – a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be’ – I can so relate to what you have written Henrietta, although the way it has played out in my life differs greatly, it was still the same dishonouring of the body.
I am forever appreciative of the new relationship that I am building with my body. Our bodies are so responsive to whatever we put into them and this is a huge blessing for us.
What if we were an immortal being trapped in this physical body?
Would this make us all feel like a super hero or maybe that we just relate to being a super hero and this is why these moves attract so many.?. Stop and ponder for a moment feel from our essence and then we may find the Truth.!.
And we also see that we could be one day at the top of the rankings in our preferred sports or do we just relate to the top echelon as they are the super stars.?.
Being blessed by the Truth of living for our essence as a Student of the Livingness has shared so much about why life is so.
As a health care professional I have witnessed clients who are addicted to exercise in no different a way then alcohol or nicotine addiction. When they have got injured and cannot exercise for 1-2 weeks they actually go through withdrawal symptoms which can be very strong. So I totally get what you are saying here that we can use any behaviours as crutches (even so called healthy ones) to try and cope with life but in the long run they do not work, only cover up the inner emptiness we don’t want to feel until such time as we face that emptiness and start to get honest about why it is there.
When we understand how much we drive, it makes so much sense why we get so tired and exhausted. The relationship with our bodies is so clear to show us how we are living, and then we have a constant opportunity, without criticism, to deepen our connection with the body.
Small steps of simply doing what we know honours and supports ourselves and our bodies lead us to a relationship of deepening the love in our bodies.
The Ageless Wisdom is truth that delivers a way of living today yet suited to any era, past and future, never out dated and for forever on point.
This paragraph for me encapsulates the changes that The Ageless Wisdom offers us – that many of the daily things we do don’t really change but the quality we do them in is completely different. As is the evolving relationship we have with our bodies… “There are many things that I still do today that may not appear different from the outside, but there is a difference in the quality that I am doing them in – in terms of being so much more caring of my body, this amazing vehicle that I have the honour of taking with me everywhere I go.”
To me it feels like the best way to make life simple and uncomplicated is to listen to and connecting deeply with our body.
Simplicity is so powerful and supportive when truly lived.
Very wise words Henrietta, loved reading each of them and can not agree more with your sharing. Can relate to a lot of what you have written too – the abuse in being hard with ourselves is very insidious as it can be ‘seen’ as being a ‘good’ thing in terms of working hard, making efforts… all of these at the expense of our bodies.
It is interesting how we generally do not register that we carry our body around with us always so it is key to look after it and listen to what it is communicating about how we are feeling, living, moving, interacting, relating, eating etc
Before coming across Universal Medicine I drove my body from ideals, beliefs and images of how I thought I had to be but then when I saw and felt the reflection of what Serge Benhayon clearly lived in his body I knew something else, something far truer was possible and then I began to make different choices to support and listen to my body. Still a work in progress – but today it is about how spacious my body feels and what quality I bring, not about meeting an image.
When something doesn’t fit the picture of how we want it to be we don’t usually see it as building resentment, and if it is, in the case of the body we are actually building a resentment directly against ourselves and causing an inner conflict that can eat away at us from the inside. Recognition of this process is the first step to becoming aware of what is going on and from there we can gain greater honesty with ourselves, understanding that the body has much to tell us when we are humble enough to listen.
Years ago I read about a scientific experiment with snowflakes which showed that depending on what type of music is played the snowflakes take on the shape accordingly. This same process would apply to our thoughts about our bodies; when we have ugly thoughts about ourselves the body acts according to that message, and when we consistently appreciate ourselves, this changes how we feel about ourselves, and we can feel the body responding positively. So much of our thought process is geared to fit a picture of changing ourselves in some way for a multitude of reasons, which only leads us to have thoughts of a constant discontentment with our bodies, therefore, a continuous barrage of abuse. If this is the case, then it makes sense that we are feeling so unwell within ourselves.
Well said Julie – the picture we think we need to fit is very much to our own detriment and crushes our natural beauty and expression.
That resentment of the body for not fitting a picture and how abusive this is really takes over your life. It’s like it demands so much of you by way of thoughts that you are constantly fed that your not good enough. Breaking free from such imprisonment is life changing and thanks to the teachings of Serge Benhayon I have been able to truly heal this.
Yes, these thoughts are absolutely an imprisonment that we have accepted. When we break free from them we have access to great power and can’t be controlled. Have to make you wonder what is it about society that does not welcome that kind of freedom and therefore perpetuates the lies and abuse?
I love your honesty here, Henrietta. It is so common for us to change our shape to fit in with what we think another wants us to be, or to get the affection and attention from a parent as you say. When we compromise our bodies in this way, we are dishonouring the most important relationship of all, which is with ourselves.
I agree, Janet, I love Henrietta’s honesty to look beyond what others would seem abusive to the body. Compromising our body makes sure we disconnect from ourselves and can’t connect to another also.
Henrietta, reading your article I can feel how we celebrate it when we study long and hard and even end up exhausted as long as we get our certificate and pass our course – however unlovingly this was achieved. And then with sports and exercise how we can be in complete disregard to the body – training long and hard, overriding tiredness and even injury – and think this is good. It seems that we have a very warped version of true health and fitness and true intelligence.
What you have written is so true in as much as many of us do just cart our bodies around constantly on the go to get the things done that we think are important and so we live in the doing. We eat lunch on the go or while working at the computer or in the car while driving, we don’t feel there is any time to stop as there is so much to get through in our day.
But I have discovered for myself this other way to live thanks to the support of Universal Medicine where it is not about the doing but about being with myself while I go about my daily life. And the biggest missing ingredient to my life was appreciation. In the lack of appreciation we can and do dishonor our bodies.
I love this piece. I feel so humbled to know that every challenge presenting in life is reflecting an area of deeper connection with the body. There are no issues and so much empowerment to steadily, patiently and humbly live this inspiration.
I agree, there are no true issues and hence really no excuse to avoid our own grandness.
Beautifully said Jane – and in this realisation, coming to terms with the fact that this is not a weakness but rather it is a strength when we connect to the delicateness and fragility that lies within.
‘I also felt safer playing the role of being a tom-boy at school as my body was developing and I began to turn into a woman, which I was certainly not comfortable about.’ – me too, in fact it has taken me a very long time for me to be able to claim myself as the gorgeous woman that I am. It feels very beautiful to be finally embracing all of me and enjoying choosing what clothes to wear, no holding back, but allowing the love I hold for myself to be expressed.
Love what you share here Jane… I’m just beginning to be aware of just how sensitive we are, and that its ok to feel this frequently. It has been confronting as sensitivity is not something that is encouraged, indeed the opposite is true… but it is in fact a very loving way to be with ourselves.
“I also felt safer playing the role of being a tom-boy at school as my body was developing and I began to turn into a woman, which I was certainly not comfortable about.”
You are not alone in this Henrietta… and it makes me wonder…Why is it that we are more comfortable playing a role than being the gorgeous, beauty-full women we innately are?
‘Why is it that we are more comfortable playing a role than being the gorgeous, beauty-full women we innately are?’ – That’s the question Paula. Could it be that we learn from very young that there is a certain safety to playing a role rather than taking the discomfort that comes with jealousy and comparison directed towards our natural beauty and sweetness?
Great question Paula. I also struggled with this and felt safe with the boys playing the tomboy role when younger, even though I have a deep delicacy which was, and will always be there as part of who I truly am.
I know for myself I found it ‘easier’ to slip into being a tomboy as it allowed me to seem ‘tough’, I could keep people at bay without showing my vulnerability and fragility, in fact, I didn’t even have to feel these hidden qualities for myself as I hardened my whole being.
This is a great article as it expands on our usual understanding of the ways we can abuse our bodies. We are told that lots of exercise/yoga etc is great for us but not when it comes with a push. We also think that study and acquiring credentials is great, but study can be extremely abusive to our body if we get stressed, stay up late and lose our natural connection with the body. Realising our body is the way we can feel and ‘hear’ our souls voice is a huge game changer.
The souls expansive call back is never ever far away, it’s simply that we have all bunkered ourselves down, to the point of almost burying ourselves alive in this contracted version of life.
I can totally relate here, Jane. When I was introduced to Universal Medicine I was cycling about 100km per week. I often didn’t even want to go, but I knew I’d feel guilty if I didn’t …. and here’s the kicker – by exercising I felt it allowed me to eat and drink whatever I wanted, and I craved foods that numbed how I was feeling because I didn’t want to feel how I was flogging my body. I understand this now, but I didn’t 10 years ago, yet, my body was trying to let me know, I just wasn’t listening.
When we understand that there is nothing that we have to prove to anyone, it takes away all the ‘need’ we may have had previously to do anything. Instead we do what we are given to do with purpose, with no ‘self’ getting in the way, and everyone benefits.
I had surgery last year and the total blessing was to feel the tenderness of my body, and how amazing it is. and when we are hard on our body and on ourselves, that it causes such undue strain on it.
Organised religion employs strategies that ensure people abuse their bodies, e.g it introduces concepts such as guilt, sinning, repentance, blindly following doctrine etc, all of these things have a harmful effect on the body. So, as God comes through our untainted bodies, what organised religion does, is it ensures that God will not be felt by the person who is tainting their body with things that don’t belong in it.
So many of us question, why can’t I just have a bar of chocolate, what bad will it do. But as you say, as we deepen our connection with the body and we begin to cherish it, we are unlikely to want to bring any harm what so ever.
Thank you Henrietta for a great sharing, showing the many insidious ways that we can abuse the body, rather that the most obvious one, I lived with anxiousness most of my life and I am only now feeling more deeply how it has effected my body, it is calling me to be more tender in caring for my body and observant of the messages it is sending me.
Your story sounds similar to mine I played competitive tennis for years as well as doing Ashtanga yoga and running, all the time hurting my body under the guise of being fit and healthy. I did the drugs and alcohol as well, they were all as bad as each other at least when I was doing drugs and alcohol I knew I was abusing myself with the former distractions I was under the illusion I was doing ‘good’ for my body.
This is so true Elizabeth, and humanity currently grade our intelligence based on what we can achieve but not on our level of love.
Seeing another level of abuse to clear can make you feel like you have ‘failed’ – but truly it’s a great sign. For without feeling this discomfort there’s no inspiration to change.
‘And so, very often I will find myself feeling like I am back to square one – abusing my body again but in this I am realising the more insidious ways that I have placed pressure upon myself, or demands on myself etc.’ This lack of self-regard is a continual developing self-awareness, because as we become more regarding in our choices, other not so regarding choices get highlighted with a big spotlight.
Ahhhh…What absolute pure Gold you share in your experience Henrietta …”the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived….”
Our bodies are amazingly sensitive and there are a lot of things going on that our bodies can feel but our minds don’t want know about, so we override our body’s actual needs and numb the awareness with excess food, excess activity and anything we can think of to distract ourselves from knowing what is truly going on.
Awesome to feel how your relationship with your body has gone from abuse to appreciation and openness to constantly expanding your understanding of what it is communicating with you.
I recall commencing Ashtanga Yoga many years ago. I was attracted to it for its fitness and that it looked pretty cool. My body was very quick to tell me that this was not for me. I was pushing my body, and so was the instructor, in ways that it simply did not go – or wanted to go. Fortunately I listened to my body at that time, otherwise I know I would have really injured myself.
I appreciate your honesty here, Henrietta, that more subtle ways that we hurt our bodies are still being revealed, and that this honest relationship with the body is key to re-uniting with the soul.
Vitality, fitness and health are qualities to build gently and steadily with real regard as to how much and what type of exercise, diet and work really supports us based on nurturing our selves from the inside out with immense tenderness.
Henrietta, thank you for sharing your experience of going from abusing your body to taking care of your body. Reading your article I can feel how ‘common’ it is in society for us to abuse our bodies – whether it be with foods, alcohol or drive and competition in sports or at work. It is rare to hear of someone changing these abusive ways and instead nurturing themselves and treating their body as the precious vehicle that it is. Thank you for your inspiring story.
“I never once reached out to discuss this with anyone as I felt everyone had enough pressures they were working through themselves and I did not want to be an added burden.” This I have found to be one of our greatest detriments, that we simply do not speak to each other what is really going on with us and how we are truly feeling. Because if we do we will see how much we are keeping an outer appearance and how everybody else is doing it too.
So true, Esther, I have certainly suffered from this feeling of ‘I should be able to manage things myself’ and felt that to share with another person the truth of how I was feeling was to ‘let myself down’ in some way. I was more concerned about how I appeared on the outside than supporting myself on the inside. I can feel the sadness in my body as I write this, but it’s the truth and I am sure many of us have felt the same way in our lives. As you share, we can offer each other so much if we can just let go of the facade and love our selves enough to talk openly with each other.
Yes, and one thing that has kept me in this ‘I can and have to deal with everything on my own loop’ is that I always thought it is too late now, I should know it by now, I waited too long, but this is just another trick to keep me in the same tracks. It is never too late and nor do we have to find the ‘right’ person nor the ‘right’ time to speak about things, if there is something that bothers us it simply is important to talk about it so it does not get the chance to circulate endlessly in our bodies and minds manifesting itself more deeply into us.
Being willing to have a deepening relationship with our bodies is a great way to bring greater understanding with ourselves and the choices we make. Understanding with ourselves is very much worth developing, so we do look at our ways of abuse in a way that’s abusive. Abuse does not beget abuse.
There is a myriad of ways in which we can punish our bodies, and one of those ways which we believe is harmless is through our thoughts. But what if we stop for a moment and ask ourselves that if another person were to stand next to us and say things like ‘Your legs are too fat’ or ‘You’re never gonna get a boyfriend because you’re too ugly’, wouldn’t we turn around and tell them to sling their hook. And yet this is what we tolerate with our thoughts. Wouldn’t it be kinder to ourselves to examine if that thought is even true or not? It seems the more we allow the ugly thoughts to take over, the less appreciation we have for ourselves, and when we have appreciation, these types of thoughts don’t get a look in because you can see them for what they are – abusive.
When our head is in charge, does it consult the body if it is capable of doing whatever it has planned or is that reason we have A&E’s?
I like this. The head acts solo, whereas the rest of the body acts in union and respect of the all.
At the mercy of the ever-demanding mind for creating and striving for perfection in all things – the antidote to this self abuse we continually heap upon ourselves is accepting and appreciating our inner beauty, that is always there.
It’s so interesting that we think of our body as separate to us, when actually for our own growth and evolution we need to become at ease and at one with our body.
Very true Rebecca, our body actually supports us to evolve so far from hating or disliking it we should be embracing it and all that is has to offer.
I love that as our relationship with ourselves and our body changes, deepens and grows, what used to feel okay and normal, starts to feel abusive. Through this ongoing process of refinement, we continuously learn what feels good and what doesn’t, and tip the balance sheet in our bodies towards more love and less abuse.
I can’t imagine the stress of studying an already complex subject in my own language, let alone another language entirely, then added to this having a pass mark as high as 75% is very brutal. The pressure and expectations you faced must have been enormous, Henrietta. How amazingly supportive it is to now have the understanding that we can approach study from our body first, using our innate wisdom to help guide us with a flow and rhythm, staying present with ourselves knowing first and foremost that we are already enough.
Every pursuit of the mind that is not connected and therefor in disregards of the body is abuse in its true sense.
While we think it is a good thing to learn to defense yourself as a woman. But we forget that in the first place women have to go to that because of the violence and abuse that is around, which to me is not normal, and secondly that the self defense techniques are of the same order of abuse but mainly to the detriment of our own bodies first.
We seem to have an arrogance when it comes to our bodies that we can do what we please with it and expect it to put up with everything in reality we treat it like a rubbish bin. Where does this arrogant attitude come from? It’s almost like something else is running our bodies contra to what we feel is true.
I spent years abusing my body with little thought of the consequences it may have down the line, because the thing is when I numbed my body that much even though the signs were obvious I carried on and probably only severe illness would have broken that cycle if The Way of the Livingness hadn’t.
So arrogant are we that we continue until we are forced to stop rather than to be humbled by all the signs along the way.
“this amazing vehicle that I have the honour of taking with me everywhere I go.” what a difference in the way that you are sharing how you treat your body, with honour for all that it allows. It is sad to see so many of us hating our bodies when it is our bodies that should we choose to connect with allow us to have the one relationship we seek more than most, a relationship with ourselves.
‘.. most of the time I find myself getting frustrated with my body …’ – we are fed pictures and beliefs about how we should be from such a young age and tragically, but inevitably, this starts to breed the feelings of inadequacy, of not being enough. Without any of these false images and distractions we would naturally treasure our selves and our bodies as when we are born we are connected with our soul and know absolutely how amazing we truly are.
…yes a mind that drives us without consideration of the effect this is having on our body could not in truth be deemed as intelligent. There is much wisdom reflected in nature.
Yes this distinction is beautifully exposed in this blog, doing the ‘right’ thing or ‘being’ true to what is felt.It may look good from the outside though if our way of being/living is at the expense of our body and well- being then it could never be considered truly successful.
Absolutely Jane… it really doesn’t make sense, when we have so much more in the way of knowledge and treatment for illness and disease, that we are getting sicker and sicker – clearly there is an important part of this jigsaw that is missing!
When we are honest we begin to see that many so called ‘good’ behaviours we adopt in our lives can actually be a form of abuse. The way we eat and exercise are two such examples.
‘Being healthy’ and exercising can be a great cover-up for abusing our bodies. It is healthy to take care of our body but the important part often missed is the quality of that care… whatever we are doing may look good to the outsider but what is the energy we are doing it in? Are we mentally driven or are we honouring our bodies and what they need in that moment?
I find it incredible how driven we can become when our mind is at the helm and our body’s are suffering the consequences of this. I also ran this way for many years. Re-connecting with and honouring my body, which is an ever-refining movement has completely altered the quality I now live with. Thank you for sharing how it is possible to develop a loving relationship with our body and being.
Our body is our greatest gift. If we choose to listen to it we have all the wisdom we could ever imagine we would need.
Yet we choose to abuse it, neglect it, over-exhaust it, bash it etc.. It makes no sense yet we call ourselves ‘intelligent’ when it is the one thing that is with us 24/7 regardless of what we do.
I spent years abusing my body, using it to do the things I enjoyed with little regard to its needs or innate wisdom and tenderness. Consequently I spent a lot of that time in pain, severe headaches and crippling periods being very common. What a massive transformation it has been to truly understand that my body is actually a divine vessel and not a toy for me to do as I like with. Big learning, huge shift in self-care and a big change in the quality of my health as a consequence.
Everything that is of truth has no beginning and no end, our relationship with our bodies is one such example of this.
How vital it is to bring appreciation for the amazing body we have ,and love it in all the ways we can.
Great point about how some of the things that you do now are still the same things, but it’s the quality that you do them in that has changed. This may not look like an enormous change on the outside, but often it’s our smallest changes, made incrementally over time, that have the biggest impact. A beautiful reminder to bring awareness to the quality that we’re moving and speaking in, and feel the cumulative effects, without judgment.
It feels a trick that we think we are back to square one Henrietta. As the energy in the world changes, there are many new layers exposed that seem to be similar to what we have already worked through, but in truth, changing the quality of the energy used is the game changer here.
I feel totally different towards life and my relationships in it when I take care of my body, and I appreciate now the role my body plays, and the importance in developing that nurturing relationship.
Much like a car, our bodies do get us from A to B but if we do not tend and care for them both they can break down and wear out very easily.
‘I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.’ I am learning this too, we cannot find the Soul through our minds which makes a nonsense of all those deep and meaningful theosophical conversations, when all we need to do is breathe gently and feel.
What is clear from your sharing is how abuse feeds abuse. We actually end up with a life that justifies our reason to abuse ourselves.
I am enjoying the most amazing moment with my body today – it is accepting absolutely no rush, push or drive in any activity and quietly holding an awareness of deep universal space that I am part of, however much I may resist this knowing at times.
I have always marvelled at the incredible way every aspect of our body works together. It is quite remarkable. Even when there is illness, disease and injury, there is a whole lot of extra teamwork and activity kicks in to respond to what is going on.
And thanks to the teachings of Universal Medicine I now know that there are also energetic dynamics at play and that it doesn’t even end there: there is an intrinsic relationship at play with other people and in fact this can and does include our interaction with the whole of the Universe.
We live in a microcosm of everything we might need to learn and know about the true harmonious working of any aspect of life!
I have been so driven by ideals about who and what I should be, it is only now that I am accepting, thanks to the teachings of Universal Medicine, that I am no good to anyone unless I love and care for myself and my body first of all… I can only offer another what I am living myself.
Slogans like ’no pain no gain’ were denying our body any voice and when our body is given a look-in we can still jump to conclusions that keep us from what our body is truly sharing. When our body is being nurtured with a gentle approach to exercise and the focus firstly being on our breath the body is given permission to return to the vitality and strength we had in our youth. Re-connecting to our essence firstly through our breath is great place to start our “beginning of being open to a different way of being.” So what our body starts to share is that “there is a difference in the quality” of not just our breath but many other things that gentle-ness does for our body as a part of our daily rhythm. Then as you have shared Henrietta, “as I grow, my relationship with my body changes and deepens.”
I wonder about our future sometimes and how long it will be until we will see sport especially contact sports as a total abuse to our bodies and not something to be championed. Or seeing someone who climbs the highest of mountains or swims the channel as completely mad instead of great heroes as the body is under absolute abuse to achieve these goals and for what?
I am constantly seeing and feeling how I can love and listen to my body more .. I just need to honour this.
You don’t have to study physiology to be an expert in the body – we can learn so much from our own anatomy.
Anything we do or say that is not done or delivered with love is abuse. Understanding this, it becomes very clear, and confronting, if we are wanting to be honest how much we actually abuse our selves and others.
The energy that runs most of this world is arrogant and acts just because it can. It expects to get what it wants ‘on demmand’. The energy of divinity is naturally full of wonder – for it appreciation isn’t an activity just a natural side effect.
We think we are looking after the body because “use” the body, for eating well, eating the ‘right foods’, getting enough sleep, exercising, working out, being fit, healthy, getting massages, going on spa breaks, having long soaking baths, doing yoga or meditation and so on … I did all those things in the past too and yet until I came to Universal Medicine and understood fully that quality and specifically energetic quality is the deciding factor of the type of connection we end up having with our body, to then determine whether that connection is truly caring or at times even abusive, I can say i had ZERO quality or true connection, care or love with my body. Upon establishing a quality based on energetic quality there are certain things that one becomes aware of that can detract, numb, quell connection even though one is “using” the body, seemingly looking after it. We don’t look after the body until we look after the quality of it through the energetic quality of ourselves.
If, as a society, we can begin to see and accept these less obvious forms of abuse on our bodies then that would be huge. This brilliant article lifts the lid on it all and starts to ask the questions; how can someone who doesn’t drink, do drugs, takes exercise and works hard get….”sick a lot, with chest infections (bronchitis), a severe case of glandular fever that knocked me out for 9 months, chronic knee pains and later on chronic fatigue.” On the surface this makes no sense and so we have to start looking under the surface – something that Universal Medicine has been doing for almost twenty years.
So true, Otto, and rather than just looking to stop the symptoms – antibiotics for the chest infection, anti-inflammatory drugs for the knee pains it’s important for us to stop and take the time to understand the whole message from our body. What is it that we are still holding on to, what hurts are we still carrying around with us that we buried rather than trying to resolve and let them go? It’s only when we uncover and resolve the root cause of the problem that any ‘healing’ can truly take place. The amazing thing is, once we allow ourselves the space and honesty to let go and truly feel from our body what the problem is, it’s amazing how quickly and simply we can resolve all sorts of issues which we’ve been carrying around with us for decades.
This is a great blog to read as it does expose how we treat our bodies that we do just take for granted and when it gets sick we blame the body rather than take responsibility for how we have treated it. It’s shocking how many of us take our sick bodies to the medical profession and expect them to fix us as though we were some kind of robot. You just take the rotten bit out and replace with a brand new part and go back out to life and carry on.
Reading this I could so feel the abuse that you placed on your body. Absolutely fascinating and hugely important to see these different ‘angles of abuse; aside from the more accepted (but no less indulged in) forms of abuse like drugs and alcohol.
I have discovered that when we are moving in our day to prove something it feels very different in the body then just expressing what is naturally there inside us.
I get the sense that our relationship with our body is much more important than we could ever imagine, and like you I’m learning to take much better care of mine. When I do take great care over my body my thoughts are clearer, my head is clearer, life is simpler – and that is just the beginning.
We make demands on our body from the mind, without considering if it is harming and abusive or not. Sport is one such demand, the mind drives the body at the expense of the body and then complains when it breaks down. This may not be seen as abusive but it is through our body we are able to connect to and feel God and not through the intellect of the mind.
We can spend our lives like the dog chasing its tail or asleep on the floor in pure comfort; both are abuse. Or, we can choose to live in our fullness.
I love the analogies Steve.
It seems most of us chase our tail during the day interspersed with the disengaging on the floor part: a relief in the evening, the weekend or a holiday.
I guess after years of not living in our fullness, the relief from the intensity of the day seems like a cherished reward and is not seen as the abusive capping of our expression that it truly is.
I love the analogy steve, I vote for the fullness one yet throughout my life I was mostly on the floor!
I can relate to both of these Steve! Waking up from the sleep to a deeper awareness is the beginning of the end of constantly chasing round and round in never ending circles.
While that Ageless wisdom is always there for us to reconnect to we tend just to go that other way in our pursuit of exploring the creation of life.
Honouring the body is at the start of returning back to God.
When we realise that we have taken for granted our body – that it moves and travels wherever we want to go, eats and sleeps when we choose to, is put under stress and strain by the choices we make… we realise just how much our body is like a most ‘loyal servant’… and then we have the insight to ‘turn the table’ so to speak, to turn towards it and treat it, to listen to our body, with much more regard, love, honour… With Self- care and self-love, the body loves you back 100x fold…
The body will always reveal the next step.
The forces that are constantly trying to derail us from our connection to God know that they can’t force that disconnection, they know that it is us that has to choose it and so they employ an endless array of things that distract and detach us from our bodies and we choose them. Lifetime after lifetime.
Love this question … ‘have I ever stopped to feel that there is so much more to appreciating this body and all that it can really be, and more importantly, all that it can be a vehicle for?’ – we ‘think’ we own our intelligence, yet, when we’re open to considering that we don’t own wisdom, it’s there for everyone, it poses the question, where does it come from? If it’s held in the universe for us all to connect with, then does that also mean that when we’re not connected with our selves first, we are open to other energy coming in and ‘running us’? We have free will to choose which fuel we have in our vehicle of expression, love and universal wisdom or something else entirely.
What a great blog to return to the appreciation of how we can fall into a pattern of not honouring in the smallest of ways. A reminder that every movement counts and the impact is felt.
The resentment spoken of here is so prevalent and something I know, that push and drive with the body and it’s not the obvious ways so much but the subtle ones where we allow our mind to drive our body for our own good that we need to watch, a very timely reminder to read today.
I am very inspired by this sharing which brings a respect and offering to how the body is so much more than a thing, but houses and can be moved by the very essence that resides deep within us. It is our body that gives us lots of signals to how to live in it and allow the essence to be ignited, but when we abuse the body which we do in many ways, the essence is not activated. Living in a body that is moving from essence is a very different quality.
I can so relate to this Henrietta… “…I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body and not really embracing this body as Me, or even a part of me!” I lived as a head with feet for many years – totally driven (literally) by my mind – and pretty much ignored everything else in between. It has taken time to come around, to acknowledge the amount of control my mind has had over my life… and to start embracing all of my body and the loving messages and wisdom it is constantly offering.
There is a lot to appreciate about the body and so much to appreciate concerning making space to observe it and the foundation that naturally grows from that of self care and responsibility. It is much more tricky to abuse ourselves when we consciously observe what is going on with our body.
There is a lot to appreciate about the body and so much to appreciate concerning making space to observe it and the foundation that naturally grows from that of self care and responsibility. It is much more tricky to abuse ourselves when we consciously observe what is going on with our body.
A great exposé of how we can abuse our bodies … exposing the not so obvious ways we misuse and mistreat the vehicle that is our bridge to our soul.
I have seen the irony in how we can get frustrated with our body when we are the ones that completely override it and currently on the whole do not truly cherish, love and nourish it.
At 68 I now know more about my body than ever before and as a result my relationship with it has deepened immensely. But even with the wisdom I now have I still find myself slipping back into old self-disregarding patterns. I have finally figured out that these old patterns are so deeply ingrained in my body that they often override the wisdom and the common sense. To understand this has been a powerful learning and with it I no longer have a reason to beat myself up if I stray from my self-loving path.
Yes, the beating ourselves up afterwards is just as abusive – if not more so – than the initial disregarding act.
This is so supportive Ingrid – when we bring understanding to ourselves then we do not need to default back into our abusive thought patterns but can lovingly say Oops and choose to return to our self loving ways.
I love how you have expanded on this Helen. Yes we may default to our ingrained pattern of not loving ourselves as deeply as we could but we don’t need to default to ‘our abusive thought patterns’. Those gentle ‘oops’ are such a loving reminder that we do trip and stumble at times but that we can make the next choice one of self-love, not self-abuse, and then move on to what’s next.
It has been interesting to notice when I am in rush mode my mind avoids caring for the body, for example things like going to the toilet, taking a break from work, going for a walk, stretching the body, etc. my mind thinks of many excuses to distract me from listening to my body. My mind is telling me I do not have time but my body doesn’t care about time. My body is communicating to me self-loving messages and my mind is resisting every part of self-care. I have been learning to listen to my body more and more, but it has been very interesting to notice the resistance my mind goes into when it comes to deepening my relationship with my body, with self-care and self-love. I know the resistance is only present because I have given it more power and this is something for me to observe, understand and to work on listening to my body more and more.
I love the “wow, what is next”! It is how we can all view life and the opportunities that come into it – supposedly good, bad or ugly, they are all opportunities for deepening our relationship with ourselves. The more we deepen the more we have a front foot approach to life. What is next indeed.
“I came to realise that there are a multitude of other ways to abuse the body whilst making it look like you are doing the ‘right’ thing.” This has been a bit of a shock and also a humbling reflection that MY body has given to me. I would be very unintelligent if I didn’t listen.
I think you have just illustrated quite beautifully Henrietta how abuse comes in many forms and disguises and that we need to be constantly vigilant in our commitment to expose its ugly head whenever we see or feel it.
“I got to realise that I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body and not really embracing this body as Me, or even a part of me!” What an illusion it is to believe that our mind is the most important aspect of ourselves!
“a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be” Ouch Ouch Ouch. This is so true and a bit painful to read and to feel. Painful because how can we resent something that all it does is want to keep us alive??? But we do, and that is why it is painful to read – but totally good to be exposed.
Doing ‘the right thing’ and pushing ourselves so hard is just as if not more damaging to us than alcohol or drug abuse. It is because we can do it all the time, we can push ourselves with our thoughts day in day out constantly and often it seems we are doing nothing harmful to ourselves so it is also very acceptable and hidden abuse. With alcohol and drugs it is very obvious which in a way makes it also more easy to be aware of.
It strikes me that getting heavily involved or invested into study and sport can put the body into an enormous amount of nervousness, and/or tension. With some big exams coming up in the next few weeks I’ve observed just how perfectly they are set up to encourage people to go into into a state of panic and stress, and it’s assumed that this will ‘kick you’ into action, into ‘working hard’ for the tests, when in fact it also does a lot of damage to student’s health and wellbeing.
In the same vein, we’re often told that ‘a little bit’ of stress is a good thing, as a way of motivating us to get on and do things, drive us into action etc. But why do we need stress or adrenaline to get us going? What is it about the way that we’re living that means that we’re missing that sense of connection to a greater, grander purpose? A purpose where no driving, striving or stress is needed to motivate us to get something done, but where we are continuously in the flow of feeling what to do, and the great joy there is in simply doing it, because it is there to be done, with no expectation, outcome or reward.
We also often punish the body through exercise, clothing, surgery and a plethora of products when it doesn’t look the way we want, constantly criticising it and trying to make it change, rather than being able to see a beauty in ourselves that is more than skin deep
True Rebecca, and we have build industries around that that will serve us in many ways, always supplying to our demands until we will come to our senses and understand that our beauty is only from inside.
I agree – there is an endless supply of support for our wayward behaviours
‘then there was the anxiety and nerves of the competitions and the gruelling flogging of myself that I was not good enough, that I had to keep pushing myself to the next level, to keep proving who I was.” This kind of abuse is known to most people as it does not only apply to spirts but pretty much every area of our lives.
I appreciate feeling the tenderness and preciousness of the body. Not perfect in this but the inspiration is there is always deepening.
I know I’ve abused my body but here it is the perpetual servant constantly reflecting what it is to be obedient to the ways of the universe, even when ill. Last night I looked at it and saw all the many veins beneath my skin – something I usually shy away from – but didn’t and such a feeling of love and appreciation came up that I then took myself to bed with such love and care. There is nothing stopping me from being this way with my body 24/7.
Seeing the body as just a ‘thing’ is how many of us live and when we truly live love in our bodies and treat them as precious then we reap the benefits of the love and wisdom we get back.
The more I take care of my body, the more I nurture it with clothes that feel nice as well as look nice, with hot baths, early nights and expressing when it tells me to express (apart from other things) the more I want to do all those things. Feeling a sense of enjoyment by being in my body is something that is constantly being refined but is a feeling that is also growing.
It is interesting how you write about a resentment from the body for not fitting a picture we have had, but when we understand it as a tool, it serves us so well.
Your sharing here exposes just how incredibly ignorant we can be about our bodies and all they do for us without question, putting them through some very gruelling punishments and then wondering why we get sick. Learning to truly respect and cherish our vehicle of expression, the flesh and blood we reside in is very healing in itself and a deeply needed lesson in Appreciation.
When you look at it it’s quite amazing that we are looking for answers to why we have illnesses and diseases, yet we do not fully look at what the body actually communicates to us every single day. Some things we keep on doing even though our bodies are saying no thanks and we seem to be unable to stop it, and it also seems like we have a hard time putting two and two together why that is. Serge Benhayon explains this very clearly when he presents there being a difference between spirit and soul and which one we are connected to brings us either a more harmonious life (soul connected) or one filled with everything but harmony (living impulsed by our spirit) (My words).
Oh yes, resenting the body has been a big thing for me too, from trying to make it keep going and perform in ways it simply refused to. I now appreciate its wisdom, and the occasional illness was a clear communication that there was a more loving way for me to look after myself.
We do tend to ‘cart the body around’ instead of live in it. This is a great oversight. How do we think we can get from A to B without it? It is not an inconvenience, it is a necessity. And more than that it is a beautiful guide. If we live in it in full we can embrace all that is available to us.
I simply have taken my body for granted, expected it to perform without any appreciation of it carrying me through life. I have come to realise that looking after it with care and nurture is something to be developed for the preciousness that it is.
I would say that most of us ignore our bodies and the messages they constantly give us. I know that I completely ignored what my body was communicating to me, looking back I can say I was willfully ignoring me, I allowed myself at times to become totally out of control. I have discovered that our minds are a corrupting influence and we as a race of human-beings are not at all as intelligent as we like to think we are.
It’s cringeworthy when I think about the abuse we can put ourselves through and believe that it is good for us or in the pursuit of a healthy body. The thing is we can believe that we are so indestructible and have this arrogance that tells us we can push the body to its limits.
Leading the ‘healthy’ lifestyle where we put all the supposedly healthy foods into our bodies, drinking and eating the rights things and doing all the forms of exercise that deem us fit and healthy, is a great abuse on our bodies and a huge dishonouring of our vehicles. Choosing instead to live in the body in a way that honours it as a vehicle for the soul is a huge shift, which asks us to really listen to the body and not the mind. It is an exercise in honesty and listening closely and openly, and it’s a constant deepening.
The forces that are employed to knock us off track know very well that our salvation lies in our connection to our bodies, which is why all of their efforts are concentrated on preventing us from re-connecting with our physicality.
We have lorded over our bodies for eons, totally missing the fact that it is through our bodies that the body of God is delivered.
‘All through life I have had this body that I have been carting around.’ …. this is a very accurate description of how the vast majority of us live, we have very little to no appreciation of how incredible our body is and how devastating the consequences are when our body fails us – and we are certainly not very forthcoming in taking responsibility for any malfunctions – opting to blame our body, as though we’ve been given a dud, rather than realising that any problem is actually a consequence of how we are living and an opportunity to develop a deeper more caring relationship with our body.
“The Body and My Relationship with it” – the relationship we have with our body is the relationship we have with life that includes work, relating, people and relationships. If we ignore the body we are ignoring life and everything else too.
Hearing people talking about the achievements of their children and the physical rewards often given to them for ‘doing so well’ (e.g, money, new bikes, clothes etc) in beating others, is the imprinting of a cycle of re-enforcing the constant ‘trying to please’ and receive validation, adulation and recognition from outer sources. Lives are then set up to be seeking to always be more in the constant, impossible search for perfection.
Henrietta, I can relate to feeling this way; ‘a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be’. I used to abuse my body with alcohol, smoking and carrying heavy things. I took my body for granted and expected it to do whatever I wanted . My body showed me clearly that this was not a loving way to live and I ended up in hospital with alcohol related illnesses. I now don’t abuse my body with alcohol and smoking and instead enjoy being gentle with myself and taking care of myself. This feels great and enjoy feeling vital and committed to life.
Our body is with us 24/7 no matter what so to treat it in any way other than love is absurd yet we do this very thing and then blame it when we cannot do something without looking at the way we have been living and thus treating it. I find the more I work with my body the more my body reminds me of the love that I am in so many different ways and now see it as on my side rather than constantly fighting it wanting it to give me more.
I can totally relate to what you are saying here about competitive sport as I used to be an elite athelete and I can remember how hard we had to push our bodies in order to win or succeed at sport and also the pressure and stress of competition was full on. I used to often be physically sick before a major competition. All signs that what I was doing was actually not good for me although at the time I kept telling myself that is was as did everyone around me. Eventually there were injuries to the body that meant I could not continue. So listening to our bodies rather than our heads feels super important in terms of health and wellbeing.
How many people are hiding in caves of their own making buy dulling themselves with, no end of things outside of us and the things we put inside of us? Then, there are the ones that create their own Sabretooth tigers to keep them in motion. The Ageless Wisdom is the path back to where we all came from and who we all truly are and is always just a choice away.
It is amazing the many ways we can abuse this wonderful vehicle we go through life in, some more subtle than others but still abuse nonetheless less. It is good to uncover even the slightest abuses so the bridge to the soul has a more solid foundation.
It sure is Kevin, it seems to start with calling out the big things and then the more I do this the more I am finding all the subtle ways I am abusing my body – things before which I used to think were ok and normal now I know are far from love. The more we set this standard of love in our lives the more anything less will not be tolerated.
Well said, Kevin. If the body it the gateway to the soul it does indeed make sense to respect and care for it so that we can access greater wisdom.
Indeed Kevin, it can be very subtle, but abuse is abuse and our body does not deserves to be treated in that way as it is from a divine origin. A truth we all one have to return to.
The amazing thing is that we abuse our bodies and yet our bodies just love us back.
So true Otto, there is no ounce of resentment, judgement or hatred in our body, only one movement that is to return to God, the love that we are.
Living proof that we are living gods.
The obvious abuse is something most of us can deal with but the subtle abuse is often not so easy to realize. Because of not realizing it so easy it has a big effect on our body. Therefore I love it that you have put your finger on this topic Henrietta as without awareness we are not able to change it.
Very well expressed Ester, and you are spot on. I agree, it is the subtle forms of abuse that are equally as harmful as the more extreme ones because abuse is abuse, no matter how big or small. Also, the subtle forms of abuse often go undetected and then they often lead to and feed the more extreme forms of abuse.
So true, Ester, if we are not willing to get real about how we are actually choosing to live, with honesty but without judgment, and bring understanding to the consequences that our choices are having on us and everyone around us, nothing will change.
If we lug our body around with us, what can we expect? If we treated another person the way many of us treat our bodies, that person probably wouldn’t stick around. But our bodies do and continuously communicating to us lovingly. When we care for the body and come to a place of living harmoniously…well that is rather divine – and allows for divinity.
Yes I agree it is useful to think of our relationship with our bodies the same as if it was a relationship with another person – puts things into perspective in terms of how we are treating our bodies and even ourselves.
I agree Nikki. This is what is so amazing; I mean what other relationship would tolerate such treatment? Frankly, the way most of us treat our bodies, we shouldn’t be surprised if our bodies just gave up on us and packed up and shut down. But they don’t, they keep on sending messages; detailed, accurate messages that pinpoint exactly where we are going wrong and exactly what we need to change. True love.
It puts it into perspective as whilst my self-care and how I treat my body has come a long way, I certainly wouldn’t accept being treated like that from someone else – forcing me to stay at my desk when my back needs to move, pushing to get a few more things done just to feel the relief of getting them checked off my list only then to placate the body with some stretching or a walk. I love the way I do treat my body with such things as how I move, what I eat and so on but there is definitely and up/down relationship rather than one of consistent love – on my part at least. My body is consistently showing me love.
I’ve been seeing how poisoning and abusive it is to my body when I put pressure on myself to be a certain way, especially with being a mother, and being over responsible for what is not my responsibility. These ways of abusing the body are not ones that we commonly say are abusive, but they are just as damaging to our body and relationships then drugs and alcohol, and in many ways more sinister and hidden.
That is a great one to expose Aimee, and when we are open to look at the many ways we say yes to abuse with absolute honesty, it can be quite shocking how many very, very subtle ways of abuse are entwined in our lives. And, some of these subtle forms of abuse come in the guise of looking after our body and being healthy. For example, our society grades sport as falling under the healthy banner, but when we look at the impact of sport, what is it actually doing to our body, both physically and energetically?
Great question Chanly88. When I was heavily into playing many different sports, yes there was the physical abuse to my body how I used to fling it around a court or dive to tackle, but it was the emotional abuse that I feel was far worse. I say emotional because playing sport brought up competition in me and with that many emotions of frustration, annoyance, panic, stimulation, exhilaration etc. that left my body in a constant state of tension and stress. This is often not talked about when it comes to sport.
This is awesome to discuss the relationship we have with our body and what goes on for us when we are heavily involved sport in a competitive way. What you’ve shared Aimee opens up a conversation that is very much needed. The emotional abuse on the body through competitive sport is not recognised and not many people are aware of the many potential harm this can cause. But in our society, we celebrate, award and encourage children and adults to be a part of competitive sport. It has been accepted as a form of success if you are good at sport and have completed and won many awards etc. How healthy is competitiveness of any form? To me, from what you’ve describe, it is not healthy at all because it puts stress on the body and our body’s natural state is not stress but absolute harmony.
Our body ends up being an accomplice in abuse when it’s true role is a visionary leader. Instead of instructing it to numb up and work harder it’s time we asked it to lead from the front.
It is our relationship with our bodies that determines our relationship with God.
“Very often I will find myself feeling like I am back to square one – abusing my body again but in this I am realising the more insidious ways that I have placed pressure upon myself, or demands on myself etc.” – I can so relate to this feeling of going back to square one and love how you have said it is actually because of deeper awareness you are being open to.
‘I got to realise that I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body‘ When we drag our body around from our mind it is our bodies that cop the result of that. Everything in life is a cause and effect – a science that we seem to ignore when it comes to our bodies.
As a society and looking at the health statistics globally, it is clear that human beings do take there bodies for granted. Not seeing our body as our life long vehicle is a great detriment to ourselves.
Your honesty and realisations in this blog are super supportive Henrietta for anyone who reads this blog. Years ago I also did not consider my body in the way I do today thanks to meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
We are all forever students of life and our body is our greatest ally in this. As soon as there is an arrogance of thinking we have it sorted we get another lesson.
Of course we can ignore it and hold on to our arrogance as I have so often, but we are none the less shown that there is another level to go to. A wonderful gift because we are constantly reminded that there is so much more to this limited life we have chosen, and we only get it one layer at a time at a level we are ready to face, heal, expand and evolve.
What would happen if we taught all children from a young age to trust, listen to and honour what they feel from their bodies.
It is very humbling to accept that the way we have been living with the best of intentions is in fact abusive to ourselves and others as our reflection inspires others. Your change and humility is inspiring, thank you for sharing.
Great to expose that abuse of the body is not just the obvious forms of abuse and instead anything that is not loving and nurturing of it – even those activities that are generally accepted as being ‘good’ for one. Congratulations Henrietta for turning your life around.
Thanks jstewart – this is so true that sometimes we think the activity is good and supportive even though it is actually working against us! And it is an on-going process of learning, where our standards change little by little and we get to feel more what supports us as well as that which does not.
And as we do that so life becomes simpler and an ever increasing harmonious flow.
Most of us have an ambiguous relationship with our body and it shows, in many ways. From abusive to glamorous. Does that possibly indicate that we were not meant to be in physical form?
The more we show ourselves love and true care we begin to see more of what and how we have chosen to live that is not that. This then allows us to let that go. For some things we let them go completely, but for other things we still do them, we just change our approach and bring a much more loving way to how we do what we do.
I have experienced that although you live a life that is better in improvement of how you have lived in the past however, without accepting and setting standards of what and how to live in the body there is no foundation that will hold true to you. It will be an otherwise false ideal or picture driving you and keeping you from the responsibility of claiming the qualities of who you really are.
This is a great sharing Henriette as you have clearly pointed out that we don’t have to use drugs and alcohol or even over eating or rich food indulgences in order to abuse our bodies as we can poison them in many ways. I have come to realise that over the years I had poisoned myself just by the way I self-talk and treated myself, or even by putting everyone’s needs before my own even though I have given up all harmful substances.
Amazing Henrietta, and I can relate to everything you’ve shared. The relationship we have with our body is very important and worth developing and forever deepening the connection. For example, it is when I feel disconnected from my body that I am more likely to have accidents, have thoughts that leads to self-abuse and disregard. So, I too have been deepening my relationship with my body and this has been the best support ever. Also, appreciation is key, our body is amazing and every part of it is worth cherishing, nurturing, caring and loving from head to toe.
I think this might be a challenging article for some people to read as you widen the circle of what society considers abuse and many are not prepared to see this. Especially the child/parent relationship regarding sport – what you are describing with your father happens a lot in the western world around sport. Well done you to being open to seeing abuse in many of its different forms and choosing differently.
So true, there are many packages we are sold as being good for you though with an honest look they are clearly exposed as anything but that.
This is very true – hardness and emotions are not good for our body. Nor is chronic overwork and the resulting exhaustion.
“For most of my life I have seen my body as just a ‘thing,’ as mentioned before, “something to cart around and get around in.”” whilst I never would have really admitted this, its exactly how i treated my body, Seeing it as nothing more than something to get me what I wanted, and in most cases what is ironic is I would abuse my body as I felt something was missing. Now I know what was missing was there all along but it was my connection to me that meant I did not feel it.
This blog is a great opportunity to appreciate what our body reflects to us. I know I put a lot of pressure on my body to fit a picture without considering the implications this has on who I am or what I reflect to others.
Fantastic blog, thank you Henrietta. I think it’s really helpful how you shown/ shared how we can be appearing to be doing the ‘right’ or ‘healthy’ thing but actually harming ourself in the way that we are going about it, or even that it just may not be healthy for us.
There are a lot of subtle ways to abuse the body that actually are not subtle at all, like you say Henrietta, it looks like we are doing the ‘right’ thing and maybe it is in the view of others or society, but when we are becoming more honest we feel there is more than function that there is a grander quality in ourselves that wants to be honoured and lived.
The more we listen to our bodies the easier it becomes to recognise the amount of abuse we have subjected them to, and abuse can be as simple as the thoughts we have about ourselves.
Great point Carmel, often we think of abuse as physical and as something we can see with our eyes that is obviously and adversely affecting someone. But unless you can read someone’s thoughts it is very difficult to spot the form of abuse you are referring to here. Abusive thoughts are not detectable with our 5 senses by other people and therefore, they can easily escalate, go uncheck and undealt with, and often falls under the radar and may not be recognised as a form of abuse. Is it possible that the more hidden forms of abuse are the ones that can be the most destructive?
In our treatment of it, the body is a given till it presents an illness that makes it a gift.
I too can sometimes feel I am back to beginning Henrietta, but as we become more sensitive, we become so much more aware of feeling something we were previously completely numb to.
Before now I used to perceive the ‘back to square one’ feeling as a failure, a re-sit of something I had failed but actually now I see it as the same again but much more refined. Life is only dull and same each day if we don’t deepen our sensitivity and awareness of the many layers that are occurring each day.
This is a very good point – life goes in cycles and we keep being at a beginning of a new cycle and can review how we evolved.
I am definitely starting to realise and appreciate that there is far more to my body than it just being something that takes me from A to B.
Great title Henrietta, learning to have a relationship with the body is key to everything we do whether it is sport or study. I find it amazing how many different ways we abuse the body and how willing it is to repair it’s self from the things we do to it. In my 20s and 30’s I rode horses and I had some crashing falls that were similar to car crashes without the protection of the body of the car, yet I continued to ride, annoyed that my body was not able to do all that I needed it to do. Looking back it was incredibly abusive to my body but that was because I saw my body as a functioning tool and didn’t appreciate it’s magnificence in any way.
“it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul, and this is the blessing: to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived.” This is beautiful reminder of the truth of the body and exposes all that we are prepared to dismiss or avoiding when we stay in the abusive behaviours and patterns.
Wow. An incredible turnaround of a most fundamental relationship. Beautifully shared.
It’s strange that we literally have to train ourselves to take care of the body. Most of us are so separated from it that we do not realise or admit that we are abusing it. It’s such a common thing to push and to strain and literally force the body into doing what we want it to do, and we do not stop to consider that we might want to listen to it and honour it. This is the kind of education we need, as when we do start to honour the body and its messages our whole life starts to change and we can feel completely amazing.
When we fight the wisdom that our body is offering us, we take a long and difficult path…but how simple is it to realise this and to change the course by listening to the body first and foremost and then learning to honour what it is telling us. A two step process always.
It has amazed me how many ways there are to abuse our bodies, some of them obviously damaging like drinking copious amounts of alcohol and others far more subtle like putting off going to the toilet. For me it has been the subtler ones that have been challenging to clock and to change but these are the initial building blocks in the foundation of self-abuse that the bigger forms of abuse are built on. These days I come back to the fact that my body is very precious and very breakable and it is up to me to ensure that the way I treat it is the way I would treat a beautiful new born baby.
And somehow it is logical, we wouldn’t go from absolute love to rape, for example. It is a step by step straying away from our truth that then lets us end up in the extremes of abuse we have today. So it is a step by step coming back to the truth we know deep inside and the love we hold for ourselves and others, until there is nothing left but the love that we are.
I used to think I was super healthy, over exercising, working hard, and pushing myself nearly all of the time, but underneath all that frantic activity my body was depleted and exhausted. I feel like a lot of people live like this; pushing ourselves and propping ourselves up with stimulating foods and activities so that we never have to truly stop and feel what we’re doing to ourselves.
That pattern of pushing myself is still around, but the more I focus on making choices that really support and honour my body, the more the pushing on through really stands out, and the less inclined I am to do this- it just doesn’t feel good.
When I really go for it on the self care front and commit to looking after myself with deep care and a loving quality, it affects everything I do, and everything around me. I have this feeling of steadiness and solidity, and can feel what to do and when to do it much more clearly.
I felt exhausted just reading about your life! What I can feel (because I know it from how I have lived) is the constant drive in life to do things, achieve things, ‘whats the next thing to do’ this is exhausting and as you share completely overrides the body including how we approach sport. It is clear to me that we need to throw away all the pictures, ideals and beliefs of what health is as this is not true health at all. Your blog also supported me and probably many others see just how much our body is a vehicle and needs to be cared for, loved and cherished.
It’s great when we recognise that we are putting pressure on ourselves because then there is a chance to back off and give ourselves space. We tend to think pressure is coming from the outside and that is what we have to tackle but in truth that is what we have to observe and understand in order to come from a pure place inside and respond.
What you described about your life beforehand is everything we consider ‘success’ to be; physical fitness, intelligence, studying, having a job and so forth, but as you shared there is a whole other dimension of emotions, feelings and self-value (or lack of) that we neglect to prioritise for us and for others. Sometimes one of the most loving and honouring things we can do is to take a stop moment and reflect on what our life is truly like.
Generally most of us take our bodies for granted and use them for whatever we want and it is not until we have an accident or an illness that we really take notice of how amazing our bodies are and then learn the care and gentleness needed to guide this wonderful thing through a long healthy life.
“Essentially, I got to realise that I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body and not really embracing this body as Me, or even a part of me!”
Henrietta i can so relate to what you have shared, for this lack of relationship with our own bodies has such an impact on how we relate to others. Today i see that all of my past relationships were tainted by expectations and demands due to my own lack of self regard & love.
Thank you for sharing Henrietta, great blog. I love how you say about our bodies that ‘to care deeply for the bridge that allows the Truth to be accessed and then lived’ allows the Soul to come through and be with us. The more we bludgeon our bodies the less access we give our Soul. So we could say say do we choice Soul or not – the choice is always ours.
This is what I love about the Ageless Wisdom because it reminds us that in order to truly understand our relationship with our body we need to have an understanding of what is going on ‘behind the scenes’. If our physical body is the vehicle, then there are two drivers that can potentially steer us – our spirit or our Soul.
The Soul, which is a body of pure love, will always move the physical form in respect to the greater all that it belongs to. That is, it will not move it in a way that creates tension in or to this vehicle or anyone else’s vehicle, as it is governed by the qualities of love, truth, harmony, stillness and joy.
On the other hand and in striking contrast, when the spirit gets behind the wheel it will move the physical apparatus in a very discordant and dishonouring manner because it is the part of us that has separated from the love and light of the Soul and in this contracted state it chooses to indulge in temporal excesses because it knows it is immortal and will get ‘another one’ when this body is used up.
At any one moment we all have the innate ability to discern who exactly is in the driver’s seat if we are willing to embrace this awareness and not shut it down.
Well summed up. Maybe the question to ask ourselves is who’s holding the keys?
We have developed a very narrow definition of what it means to abuse the body and yet what you share here Henrietta paints a much broader scope under the umbrella of “fitness”, but it feels punishing. To redefine abuse as anything which is not loving or nurturing supports by setting a standard and as you share, should we fall below it, we have a clear marker from which to observe our choices to make some refinements.
Thanks, Henrietta, for sharing your journey of return back into a loving relationship with your body. I too have come to know that our bodies are the gateway to the soul, and that what we seek is within us and not outside of us.
When we are at least open to the fact that what we seek is within us, we can’t help but have a more honouring relationship with our bodies.
I feel very blessed that my body is still functioning the way it is after the abuse I have given it with drink, drugs, over working and excessive sport. It made no sense what I was doing, on the one hand I would party hard and then in the next moment I would be wanting to detox, eating healthy food and doing yoga or what I thought was healthy. None of it involved listening to my body, I overrode the loud and clear messages from hangovers and carried on with a life I knew I didn’t like living whilst searching for something more. It wasn’t until finding the Ageless Wisdom that things started to change and over time I learnt to trust my body and feel that abuse no longer has a place in my life in any form, this is taking time to unravel as the more I say no to abuse the more I see areas where I still allow abuse even if this is on a very subtle level.
I like how you describe the body as a tool, it makes so clear all the work it is doing day in day out and how important it is to take good care of it in order to do its work well. Simple and practical, something we all ought to learn when little to then build a foundation of love and care towards and with our body that can deepen with every year more.
Yes deepening our care, connection and honouring with our body is always on offer. The question is do we make the most of this? And if not, why not and what are we resisting?
Henrietta what I noticed was all the qualifications you have BNat, BBio, MApplSciEcol, EPA, ATMS, ANTA and yet you are honest enough to admit these are nothing in comparison to building a relationship with your body; thanks to meeting Serge Benhayon and partaking in the Esoteric healing modalities he brought through.
What we are all re discovering through the teachings of Universal Medicine is that our entire bodies are intelligent not just our minds.
“… there are a multitude of other ways to abuse the body whilst making it look like you are doing the ‘right’ thing.” Thank you Henrietta for exposing the insidious ways we trick our selves in to thinking we are caring for our selves and our fitness but are in fact doing the same amount of damage as some one who abuses them selves with alcohol and drugs. What an amazing transformation this must have been to come home to the truth that our bodies are immensely powerful, precious and sensitive tools that deserve deeply caring from, a core teaching of the Ageless Wisdom that Universal Medicine consistently delivers.
Abuse is anything that does not hold our body in deep honour, love and care. And the ways of abusing differ from person to person. Some may abuse with substances, others with overdrive, others with giving power away or not expressing, others with indulging or playing ignorant. Each a different flavour of abuse but all abuse as they are the specific design to keep that being away from and less than their grandness.
‘…as I began to develop this relationship with myself, I came to realise that there are a multitude of other ways to abuse the body whilst making it look like you are doing the ‘right’ thing.’ So true, Henrietta. How we choose to care for ourselves is very important in terms of what we choose to do, but the quality with which we do things is equally important. We can still bash ourselves if we are applying body lotion in complete dis-regard and dis-connection with ourselves. There will be a harshness to our touch as opposed to our natural loving gentleness.
I have taken my body so much for granted and never stopped to consider it needed great care and attention and looking after. I have run it into the ground, overworked it, exhausted it, pushed it, made it run on nervousness and anxiousness, overfed it with junk food, not exercised it or rested it well. Then I have wondered why I have found it difficult to feel great about life. Looking after my body, really has been the key to turning my life around.
” I have come to realise that it is the body (and not the mind) that is our means of connecting to our Soul,” Yes, yes. Connecting with my body enables me to connect with the divine – because of the divine particles we are made from.
‘This has been my approach for a long time – a resentment of my body for not fitting a picture that I have had of how I should be’ – oh my goodness, I wonder how many of us are not guilty of this in some way. I have always been so critical of my body for not fitting a picture of how I’ve wanted it to be. How shallow, that I only ever considered how my body looked without even stopping to appreciate the unfathomable complexity that was going on internally just to allow me to stay in good health, let alone the amazing wisdom that was constantly being shared with me, if only I hadn’t been too arrogant to listen.
Ah but there is so much at play Alison to distract us from what we already know. When we are born we innately know and appreciate what our body can do, you only need to watch a baby or toddler looking at how their hand moves or their legs etc. to see this. We either get celebrated for what our body can do i.e. taking our first steps, rolling over etc. or we hear the anxiety and worry of ‘my baby isn’t doing that yet’. I can remember it being talked about when I was older how I didn’t walk until after I was 1 and it being joked about and how they wondered if I would ever walk at all. So is it any surprise that we then grow up and look at our body with disdain when it doesn’t do what we ‘think’ or we have been told it should do? Then we have our own flavour of arrogance and resentment and think it is who we are. Time for a detox or decluttering of the pictures we have taken in of how our body should be.
“I got to realise that I was living through my mind only at the expense of my body and not really embracing this body as Me, or even a part of me!.” This was me too Henrietta. Attending Universal Medicine presentations and then having Esoteric healing modalities has literally changed my life. I now inhabit my body and can receive its messages!
The body holds volumes of wisdom and speaks to us quietly and loudly sometimes to make us hear. A constant and faithful wise friend, we do well to respect it, listen and learn.
For a long time I too thought I was caring for my body going through different diets until I realise that it wasn’t working. Have you heard of the saying “Everything in moderation” well, that doesn’t work either! Readjusting is a constant exercise where we learn to know the body by listening to it and it is a constant learning. The obvious poisons are not part of my life anymore (alcohol, cigarettes, sugar, Cafein, gluten, lactose…) but the less obvious poison which are harder to detect are still creeping in (being racy, even though it looks like the food quantities are ok on a human level, I am still eating more that what my body truly needs and this from not connecting to myself enough. Daydreaming and staying too long on social media) this usually translate into my body by being over tired.
The “everything in moderation” argument loses all credibility when you apply it to things like poison, evil, rape, murder…where is the line drawn with what is ok with what is to be moderated?
That is beautifully described how life is a constant deepening of the relationship we have with ourself in every area, Alexandre, and I love what you add here Nikki, so very true rape, murder etc. do not leave any room for moderation, thus how much do we fool ourselves with everything else that we apply in moderation. If we know something is not good for us, why should a little doses of it be good for us?
I also ponder on this with how we treat newborns and babies. Quite often it is very absolute what is good or bad for a baby – as in, we wouldn’t give them alcohol for example. Same with kids, we don’t let them do certain things because we know they are no good for them. But where is the line that you cross that suddenly makes it ok because you are an adult?
Yes, it seems we hold us as little babies still very sacred but then little by little dismiss this sacredness and do not hold us as equally precious when we grow older. I feel it has a lot to do with us thinking we are ‘nothing’ when we come to this world and need to be formed into something to fit into life. And it shows how strong beliefs are, as how could we possibly think that we are a blank page when we are born – everyone can feel and see the preciousness of a new born baby. There is so much to us we do not allow ourselves to see or feel.
Henrietta, what you share is crazy, but true. it is hard to understand the degree of disregard and abuse we heap on our bodies knowing it is the very vehicle that carries us through life. To not be aware the body we inhabit is a sacred vessel is at the heart of problem. Only when we treasure our body as the divine vessels it is, can we begin to love, nourish and support it in every activity we choose to do.
It is amazing the changes that happen to our body when we get back in the driver’s seat of our life rather than being driven.
I know the feeling of being back at square one with the relationship I have with my body but as you say it is not really the whole truth. This way of thinking might also be a left over from how we have been raised and educated in life – that it is a linear process and when you feel more self-abuse against your body again it means you have dropped off the ladder so to speak. But life is not linear and the more aware we become of our body the more we feel and the more we also feel what is abusive to ourselves.
The more we honour our body, the more refined our senses become. To lovingly acknowledge a pattern that we think we have passed, when actually it is simply being revealed at a deeper more insidious level in our body is truly loving of ones self and all others equally. As to live in the healing this offers is to live as a loving reflection for all others to see.
I love what you have shared here Lieke. We judge our body and our selves based on a linear process (as that is all we see around us growing up)… we should walk now, we should talk now, we should be able to say the alphabet now. And if we can’t, there is then something wrong with us. So, no wonder with this in our back pocket, we think we are at square one again each time we find ourselves doing something the same or similar. Whereas, it feels completely different if we bring it back to cycles, and see that each time we go around we are being offered greater awareness and clarity to look at what needs changing or letting go of… and not beating ourselves up for not being so-called further along.
When the abuse is laid out in writing, it becomes more apparent as to the many ways we abuse our bodies and all in the name of fitness and academia to mention only two.
Thank you Henrietta for such a beautiful article, especially the part about seeing how abusive behaviours do not go away overnight, that there is no quick fix for age-old patterns, but that it is possible to diligently apply oneself to the art of understanding and to bring about change in this way.
Henrietta, it is very lovely to read about the appreciation that you now have for your body. I can feel how it seems the norm in society that we push, complain about, dislike and do not honour our bodies.
Yes I have noticed this too particularly in my work in health care that there is a strong tendency for people to be annoyed and frustrated with their bodies which only adds to the problem.
I agree Rebecca, it seems very common in our society to regard our body as an enemy as it is often under attack. Why is this the case? Is it because we are avoiding what our body is telling us, so we can continue to live recklessly, lovelessly and irresponsibly?
We partition the body into the thinking mind and the body that executes whatever its whim or fancy. And that doesn’t work for long; even though for some, it seems like it does, but only when you believe that there is only one life.
Henrietta this is a great story about making the distinction of what abuse is via the quality we do something/anything in. The quality of the quality is what determines whether we go on to either abuse or to love our body.. and it’s a quality that is forever changing or refining too in accordance to our choices about how we live life.
When we stop and actually begin listening to the body, this is the beginning of the re-connecting to and forever deepening our relationship with it – the insidious forms of abuse we inflict upon ourselves are thus exposed for healing.
“over time I have come to realise that the body is a tool, but a very precious one… one not to be abused, but instead used ever so lovingly to express that which lies deep within us all, our essence”.
When you look at the way we relate to other countries and people, trying to smash them into submission to go ‘our way’, is it any wonder that we treat our body the same way? Whatever you think it’s clear beyond doubt that this bullying method just doesn’t work.
Try as I might (and I have many a times) to bully the body into doing things ‘my way’ that way can only be tolerated for so long before the body corrects me.
Beautifuly said. Something we tend to not want to acknowledge is such corrections that we all experience. The sooner we listen and respond, the less likelihood there is for us to have our body become ill, to enable it to release the built up disregarding energy we have chosen to live with.
Thats where self-responsibility, as much as it might kill a part of us to do so, is actually a very healthy thing to engage in. For the health of our bodies and relationships.
Great point Joseph, the way we treat our body is to bully it. Ouch, as I read your comment I can deeply feel refined levels of this bullying that are a part of how I live, and it feels quite awful. This shows me clearly that we are constantly being offered opportunities to let go of being the bully and instead allow ourselves to be humbly lead by the most amazing organism, our body.
Great point Joseph, and our world is predominately running on a energy that does not want us to connect to our body because if we did, then this energy would be weaken and perhaps even cease to exist. Because, once we connect to our body, we would be able to connect to truth, to love and to harmony, and would stop the self-attack on our body. What would this look if everyone in the world stopped attacking their body? Would that mean we would stop attacking others and the planet we live in?
Wow, I like that comparison – that shows how belligerent and combative we allow ourselves to be; we fight each other and ourselves and rarely is there a peace treaty in sight. The war against the body is glorified in sports, the media and more broadly, in society as a whole. We celebrate impossible feats of endurance, thinking it shows character and strength and call what would otherwise be termed as stupidity and the inability to learn from our mistakes, resilience.
The more loving we become, the more we get to realise just how much we have abused ourselves. Things which we used to think are a good thing to do, get shown up for their damaging effects on our vehicle.
The love/abuse cycle is very revealing. As we allow the love that we are to be expressed or simply let out, abuse no longer fits. We don’t have to deal with the abuse as such, it simply can’t come near us as it is no match for a body of love.
Well said Viktoria. Only our awareness deepens to love in its true form (non emotional), do we have a marker for what is then unacceptable and recognised as what was considered previously normal behaviour was actually abusive
In my opinion, to champion abuse has to be the greatest form of abuse eg. When we win a race or game, we say ‘well done’, when we pass an exam we congratulate but the way we won the race or achieved the grade is never taken into consideration. We don’t care so long as we win or get what we want and often it is at the expense of another.
Yeah this is so true. It’s kind of a win at any expense attitude. Doesn’t matter what you’ve done to your body (or others), but it’s finishing/winning/passing/etc that gets the attention and recognition.
“so, very often I will find myself feeling like I am back to square one – abusing my body again but in this I am realising the more insidious ways that I have placed pressure upon myself, or demands on myself etc. ” So poignant Henrietta, yesterday I overate and and ate in a rushed way – and why – because I was tired after a super busy day the day before and instead of resting I pushed through – if we want to get our eating habits right a diet of self love is all one requires.
“I began to understand how I was putting huge amounts of pressure upon myself, how hard I was on myself and how many demands I placed upon myself and my body!” Henrietta, I could feel after reading this that perhaps there is a connection between putting yourself in situations where there was immense pressure on you (as in the University experiences you shared) all the time and your statement about having a resentment for your body years ago. In other words, if we make choices to engage in activities that put tremendous mental pressures on us to perform, (such as needing to get high grades or get kicked out of the country) this is a sure way to potentially avoid feeling your body and being present with it, as the lack of acceptance and resentment pull you away from the wisdom it is trying to communicate (i.e..- the bronchitis, glandular fever, etc. you experienced).
Spot on Michael – we can push ourselves so as not to feel that there is another way to be with ourselves. And this comes very much from a stubbornness that can be quite ingrained (and I speak from my own experience) that then gets in the way of the wisdom we all have access to!
Was the same Henrietta not speaking up about what I was going through when I was younger because I felt it would be a burden to others. As I change this pattern and let people know what I’m going through I see many opportunities to receive and share love and to deepen my relationships.
Humanity’s long held beliefs are completely smashed in this article. To work, study, play sport etc at the expense of the body we live in will invariably bring harmful affects to it. Yet this is exactly how we live as a whole. If, however we begin to honour, Love, support and care for our body, we can and do, with ease, complete many tasks without the exhaustion and draining that many today believe is normal.
Whenever I feel I want to push myself to meet life’s demands I realise how precious this body is and I start care for it deeply.
I too took competitive sport from a very young age, my dad was ’proud’ of me every time I won a tennis tournament. So you can imagine how much I pushed my body to win as I so wanted his praise. We are enabling our children to harm themselves when we recognize and praise them for what they do rather then simply appreciate them for who they innately are.
Abuse of our body can come in the subtlest of ways as we are forever deepening our connection with the one thing that is our bridge, our salvation and faithful barometer of what is really going on.
A shift from ‘quantity’ to ‘quality’ is something that we do not allow as it does not bring the appreciation or recognition of the outer yet it does confirm and respond in depth the truth of who you truly are. This exposes our need and attachment to being approved of and how we can choose to be irresponsible and seemingly get away with it.