As most of you know, I believe deeply in our body’s ability to heal and regenerate given the ‘right’ amount and kinds of nourishment and care, whether that means eating high-quality food, getting enough sleep, reducing stress or supplementing your diet with targeted nutritionals or botanicals.
As part of a quarterly ‘cleansing’ process that I conduct, I have been doing a lot of soul-searching recently. Some of this was initiated by a conversation that I had with a dear friend of mine that had been diagnosed with cancer. She was relaying to me how she didn’t understand why this was happening to her. I listened and supported her in every way that I knew how. Then something changed; she began to have a dialogue with herself, and it went something like this:
“How many times did I tell my body that I was planning on giving it only excellent, nutritious foods…or that I was going to walk it, or take it for a bike ride, or give it a massage? Then I didn’t do it…or did for a little while.
How many times did I look in the mirror and only see what was wrong, instead of what was real right about it? How many times did I not listen to its clues and stay in the sun too long, or stay up too late, or sleep too little, or push too hard, or eat too much or forget to water it?
In this process of inquiring with myself, I began to see my body as this truly amazing gift. I wanted to care for her, nourish her, exercise her, express gratitude to her, and deepen my relationship with her. My God, what I have put her through over the years; and look how well she has performed. My body is amazing.
One other insight that I had is really more of a reminder – that I am the creator of my life and I get to choose how I experience it. I always have a choice as to how to react or move with things – always.”
This was a very provoking, heart-felt reminder to me that we have a lot of control over our experience of life, especially what we take into our bodies and minds. This conversation and my friends realizations empowered her to take immediate actions to nourish her body and her soul. It has some gems for us as well.
Take good care of yourself, every day. If you feel overwhelmed, remember that you just have to make changes today – that’s it. Today is a new day and you can do anything for a day. You can’t do anything about any of your yesterdays, so let them be part of your history. Your time is now – change doesn’t happen in the future; it happens right now. You get to choose, so make choices that you can build upon tomorrow and be who you want to be.
“Be good to yourself. If you don’t take care of your body, where will you live?” – Kobi Yamanda, posted on the wall next to Dr. Chad’s desk.
Dr. Chad,
Very good article! Great reminders. I hope and pray your friend is doing well. Thanks for all of the good things you teach and remind us of!
So true! Our physical bodies are only ours for the brief moment our souls live on earth and attend the “school” of lessons we need to learn here. Tapping into one’s own well of spiritualism also offers a realm of possibilities and wonderful insights, as your friend shows in her wonderful, thought-provoking statement above.
Unfortunately, many of us–if we ever do–only learn about the true ways of the world when we’ve hit our thirties or forties and have already done years and years of neglect to our bodies. But it’s never too late to start. Like smoking, every day that you take and change some aspect of your living to include being good to your body, mind, and spirit is another day of cleansing, of creating a better, healthier body.
Thanks for the heartfelt article!