The Stalemate That’s Stopping You
Let's get philosophical for a moment.
The following concept came up during a consultation with a new client this week. We were talking about the ability to hold two conflicting ideas in our heads at one time, and how it can cause an uncomfortable stalemate instead of progress.
The First Idea (in two parts)
You are your body.
It is you.
There is no meaningful division between what is your consciousness and the meat suit you inhabit every day of your life.
Also, your body is an incredibly adaptive and capable biological entity. Its ability to perform, survive, heal, cope, and thrive is far beyond anything humans have ever constructed.
Some of the regular daily processes your body performs still appear indistinguishable from magic despite our substantial scientific prowess.
These two facts alone are sufficient to make your body worthy of unconditional love and acceptance. It’s amazing. It’s you. We should all love our bodies.
The Second Idea
Despite how amazing our bodies can be, many of us also feel potent dissonance at times when we see our own image in a photo, social post, or passing reflection. We wish we had more energy, were sleeping better, and that our joints didn’t hurt.
Our body at times might not look or feel like us, and that sucks. Whether we’re pudgy, pasty, skinny, achey, lethargic, whatever. We want more for ourselves. And that's very real.
The Reconciliation
How does one love their body fully but also recognize that we’d be more comfortable with more control over it? Should I love my body if it doesn’t fit in the clothes I want to wear, or feel how I want to feel?
Too much acceptance and you’ve lost the initiative to make change. Not enough and we end up in a negative headspace of shame and guilt.
The solution is to take action to remove the dissonance.
While many aspects of our physicality aren’t easily changed, such as our height, skin color, and bone structure, aspects like body composition, muscle tone, energy levels, mood, and overall health respond readily and rapidly to shifts in behavior.
If you feel some of this friction, can you strike a balance?
I think so, yes.
And this is one of the things we ask of our clients: To respect and love your body as it is, right now, without qualification.
And then recognize, at the same time, you’re a work in progress. You can be in a good place and moving forward at the same time.
If you don't look and feel like yourself, take action. It’s time to better care for yourself. Improving your habits around food, sleep, and exercise is the most powerful way to honor and love your body and resolve the dissonance that you feel
If you’re feeling the friction, let's talk. Let us show you what’s possible. It’s not too much to ask that you look like YOU in the mirror, that you feel fantastic day to day, and love the body you live in without the dissonance.