My body is my mind. And my mind is my body.
There is literally no difference between the two.
The more I learn and experience, the more truth I find in this.
Take this from the perspective the body:
I enjoy approaching my physical limit. So I frequently go there – to this edge where I feel my muscles trembling with effort and my heart hammering in my chest. My mind is silent there. Yet every time I come back from this edge, I notice my mind clearer and sharper than before. Restructured. Refocused. And like my body: transformed into something new.
So as my body grows stronger, my mind grows with it.
Don’t you know this sensation?
Finding a Mirror
The deeper I go into this, the more I feel that there is no difference between body and mind at all.
They are like a mirror with two sides: You can look at it from two seemingly opposite directions, but you will always see the exact same: a reflection of yourself. The only thing that’s different on either side is the light. So it becomes much easier to notice all the tiny details about yourself when you look at both sides of the mirror from time to time.
Walking around the Mirror
Once you realize this, you gain something incredably powerful:
The ability look at your body and discover things about your mind and vice versa. Things that are hard to see from one side of the mirror become clearly visible from the other. And in doing so you can’t help but become aware of a new and more complete picture of yourself every time you “walk around the mirror”.
For example:
A few days ago I noticed that I almost never relax my belly. Especially when I take my shirt off and even more so when other people are around. I always keep my belly under tension, to make sure I look lean and physically fit to both myself and others.
I rarely show my body in its true form.
If I take that, “walk around the mirror” with it and take a look at my mind, I can’t help but become aware ot the same: I almost never truly open up to others. Especially when there are many people around. I keep my darker thoughts to myself, to make sure my inner world looks clean and safe and happy.
I rarely speak what’s truly on my mind.
Why is this important?
Whenever something in my life feels stuck, I have always been taught resolve it with my mind. So I would talk to someone, learn more about my past, get in touch with my inner child, face my fears, meditate and so on. And while this is all important work, on a physical level I would usually continue to do the same things I’ve always done.
But if my body is my mind, and my mind is my body this is absurd. Because I’m only looking at one side of the mirror. It’s like combing my hair on one side only to muddle it up again on the other. And then getting dissapointed and angry that my hair is still in disarray once I reach the first side again.
In less abstract terms:
How can I even hope to learn to truly speak what’s on my mind, to allow myself to become soft and vulnerable when other people are around and at the same time literally practice how to fight them on a physical level?
How can I even hope to learn to push my business forward, to finally complete those uncomfortable tasks that I’ve been ignoring for so long and at the same time literally never push my body to new limits?
How can I even hope to let go of all that negative self talk thats on my mind, to speak kindly and with love about myself and at the same time fill my stomach with garbage and my lungs with smoke every chance I get?
It does not make much sense to me.
Looking at both sides of the Mirror
With all this I think those moments where your life feels “stuck” need three things:
1. Becoming Aware
Becoming aware that there actually is something in you life that is not flowing freely is always the first step. This means being honest with yourself. Looking at both your body and your mind can be a great help in this.
2. Choosing Responsibility
You can always look at these “stuck” things in your life from the perspective of the victim. That’s a choice. Or you can look at everything in your life as a result of your doing. This is taking responsibility of your life. Responsibility as in as in “able to respond” because when you have created something that also gives you the power to unmake it.
3. Commitment to both sides of the mirror
Only working exclusively on either your mind or your body simply won’t do. Not fully. So make a commitment to yourself to include them both.
This can become an extremely joyful experience. Every time you change something on one side of the mirror, you are suprised to find the change on the other side as well. Only in a fresh perspective under new light, which gives you more . It becomes a great spiral of energy and you will find more and more dynamic in your life.