It’s a new year and I started off last week with a new idea. I introduced you to Ogee who’s confused because he has two heads!
So I was telling him I was on this mastermind call and we were talking about problems that people have with losing weight and stuff like that— getting something done that’s difficult.
Then he said the same thing, “Well, why is it so hard to lose weight?” And so I said, OK, let’s talk about that today.
And it happens to be a deeply spiritual question frommy point of view because it’s talking about an issue that seems to have an answer somewhere outside yourself. “It’s my body and I have this issue and I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I have to exercise. I have to eat different stuff or I have to stop eating,” whatever it is. I assume I must do all kinds of different things to handle this body situation.
This is a body issue and it’s something that just about all of us confront at one time or another, not necessarily this particular body issue of weight gain which I’ve heard that so many of us have experienced over this pandemic. Although, I have to tell you as an aside, that I actually lost 20 pounds in the last three months or so.
And that’s another reason why I’m talking about this, because you can buy into the conversation that says “Oh well, we’re all home eating, putting on the Covid 15, yada, yada.” Or you could say, “Well, that may be true for some people, but it doesn’t have to be true for me.”
Yet, weight gain is just one issue about the body. Let me expand upon this idea.
Is there anyone who doesn’t have some kind of a body issue? Maybe you say to yourself, “I’m too short” or “My feet are too big” or “I have GERD” or “I have thyroid problems or a heart condition,” yes? Is there anyone who doesn’t have something?
I doubt it. No body looks and functions perfectly.
So we have to deal with these thoughts. This is what I like to help people accomplish– to learn how to handle the significant questions that arise: “Why can’t I lose weight?
If your feet are too big or you’re too short, this is a structural issue. It’s not really anything you can alter physically, I don’t think, unless you go to extraordinary lengths which most people would not do.
Either way, the answer is not ‘out there.’. It’s the way you look at yourself. If your feet are too big, too big in comparison to what? What’s too big and what does that mean? No one cares, except you. Big feet, small feet, they’re feet. It’s a blessing you have them!
Again, it’s about your perception of yourself and what you think is important. This is what makes it of spiritual consequence. WHO you are is not about your feet!
Regardless of the form of the body issue, the outcome is that it causes stress.
And whether it’s stress because of something structural you can’t change which makes you feel depressed or angry, or something you ‘should’ be able to do something about,which leaves you frustrated and defeated, the solution remains the same.
This is something to contend with because I can tell you some of the most beautiful people I know would never win a beauty contest. They’re beautiful from the inside out. WHO they are is what’s beautiful about them, not what they look like.
A Course in Miracles, which is my spiritual path, says that the problem is not your feet or your weight. It has nothing to do with your body!
It’s a choice you make; how you perceive yourself and others. Yes, it could be others too. Maybe somebody else’s body annoys you in some way. That wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?
It’s often said beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So what do you choose to behold?
That’s the question that you should be asking yourself.
Think about a knife– that knife can heal a person in the hands of a surgeon, but that knife in the hands of a murderer could kill somebody. Same knife. Maybe not the same knife exactly, but it’s a knife. And it can go either way depending on its purpose, and the individual handling it.
The same idea applies to the body–it can be a devise to cause stress, and that’s easy enough because we all have these bodies that have something we don’t like about them that causes us stress, or a tool we are grateful we have.
So would you like to take an inner journey with me? Ogee is willing. 😊 I’ll assume you agree.
Make sure you’re sitting down. Close your eyes and take a deep, slow breath in and out. Now I want you to take a scan of your body from top to toe. Notice what upsets you, makes you uncomfortable.
Look at your body. And when you find that part that annoys you or frustrates you or you wish you didn’t have, how does it make you feel? Do you feel happy to feel that way? Or is it frustrating? Is it depressing? Uncomfortable? Probably one of those, yes? Find it. I’ll give you a minute to do that.
For years I hated my eyes. I always thought my eyes were so small and then people would say to me, they’re the most beautiful color blue. So again, it’s all about perception.
Now, take another deep breath in and out. Say to yourself as you do this, “I choose to let go of my stress concerning this body issue. It is myself alone that is causing me pain and I choose to release it.” Feel the stress draining away.
Again, let’s take another slow deep breath in. And this time I want you to find something you love about your body, something you really appreciate about your body. I’ll give you a minute to do that….
And now how do you feel when you think about this part of your body that you like? Does it bring you joy, does it make life easy for you, whatever it does? How does that make you feel? Do you feel happy? Do you feel contented? Do you feel relaxed? Do you feel empowered? Probably one of those, now, right? I hope so.
Alright, now take one more slow breath in and out and say, “I choose to let go of my stress concerning this body issue. I chose to let go of the stress this issue seems to present to me. I am grateful for this opportunity to love and appreciate my body.” And gently open your eyes.
You can do this as often as you need to, maybe several times a day. Try it this week and see how it goes. See if that’s helpful. Because my goal is to help you find any way possible, to relinquish your stress.
Stress is a killer as you know. I’ve talked about it for years, the terrible things that it does to your body and your mind, burying your spirit.
Because within each one of us is body, mind, spirit– all threeparts need to be addressed, taken care of, appreciated and revered.
I’d love to hear how it goes if you able to do this little meditation with yourself. I would love to know what it does for you. Email me at becalm@marciagrace.com