Bargaining With Your Body

Many of us try to cut corners with our bodies - we do something "bad" and then try to make up for it by doing something "good".
Does this mindset serve us? Does it mean we enable our bodies to thrive?
With this reading from my book "Your Body is the Portal to Your Soul," I hope to inspire you to relate to your body in a new way.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

I would like to read you an excerpt from my book,

Your Body is the Portal to Your Soul.

In my work as a healthcare professional,

It is not unusual for me to encounter someone who says,

I know I shouldn't eat junk food and drink soft drinks,

But I exercise.

Or I know I don't get enough sleep,

But I eat well.

Or I know I shouldn't smoke,

But I drink lots of water.

This is a bit like saying,

I put premium petrol in my car,

But I don't do oil changes or get new tyres.

Where did we get this idea that we can expect our bodies to be perfectly healthy and functioning despite not meeting all of their essential needs?

How did we end up in the situation where we think if we meet one need,

We are entitled to dismiss another?

Our bodies need fuel and water and movement and rest and sunlight and so on.

What we are doing in these instances is putting our bodies into deficit.

We need to pay that energy back with interest in the following days.

If we were talking about our pets or even our vehicles,

It would be a no-brainer.

The usual mindset when our health starts to deteriorate is,

Ah,

Well,

I'm getting old.

While the marge of time is inexorable,

The health and well-being of somebody who genuinely looks after their body is vastly different to that of somebody who doesn't.

I encourage you to tune into your body's feedback.

Your body is uniquely qualified to navigate life on Earth.

If your body is thriving,

Feeling vital and exuberantly alive,

You can thrive too.