an open letter to My Body

"I see myself as still water. I reflect things as they are." -Thich Nhat Han

Dear My Body,

As you know, we spend a lot of time together. In fact we spend all of our time together. Whether or not I am mindfully aware of your functions and activities, we are inextricably joined together and affect one another. This morning I woke up and showered you and fed you and moved you around, do you remember that? I certainly do, though now looking back it was probably more of an incredible sequence of events than I ever considered at the time. And so I want to thank you for being my window to the world.

For all the things we have experienced together I would think that we would be more at peace with one another than we tend to be. Perhaps like any close relationship we take one another for granted and find fault. Often, for example, I think you should look differently than you do. I guess I expect a lot from you. And sometimes you make me feel crappy and I just don't understand why! I feel a tad nauseous or sluggish or inexplicably grumpy. Then we begin this cycle where I try to bribe you with something tasty and/or sugar-laden, but you don't want that, and then you make me feel even more irritable and terrible.

Do you see where this is going My Body? Perhaps I'm just realizing what you've known all along, but we are in a marriage relationship. We are bound to one another until death do us part. And no matter how much we try to deny it, the decisions I make will affect you, and you , in turn will affect me. Your welfare is my welfare. My good health is your good health. So let's renew our vows, shall we?

I, Joy, promise to help you, My Body, to have a vibrant, unhindered and sexy existence. I promise to give you regular times of movement and activity. And I promise to let that movement connect with mindful enjoyment and not held down by the drudgery of duty. I swear to no longer turn a blind eye to the crap I might choose to fuel you, and rather choose foods that I can trace back to their origins or even better, use you, My Body to create. And I promise to listen to you: if you're truly hungry I will eat, if you're truly full I will abstain, if you are truly tired I will rest and if you are truly energized I will move. Let my life and choices be your life and choices. Let us be one.

Thanks for not giving up on me yet, and thanks for second chances.
With love,
Joy