18 Dec Better than Average Body Maintenance is Required
If you want to develop beyond the mainstream, you’ll have to be willing to do beyond what the mainstream does. If you look around at the 70% of Americans who are overweight, you’ll know that you simply cannot eat what everyone else is eating or participate in the health-ruining practices advocated by advertising. If you eat as you have been taught in this culture, you will be in a stupor and not able to participate in higher levels of consciousness.
You will also have to willingly participate in a disciplined program of exercise. Hatha yoga was developed in the East as a method for spiritual seekers to train their bodies for maximum spirituality, and as we know, it has become popular in the West. It is not necessarily superior to “Western yoga:” working out at the gym, lifting weights, running, and sports. There are also forms of exercise that support more esoteric forms of energy flow such as Tai Chi, Pilates, martial arts, and dance.
The point of all this body discipline is better health of course, but it is primarily to increase awareness of the body. In the majority of people in Western culture, their awareness stops at the neck. They may experience sensation in their genitals, or when the body is in pain, but that’s about it. They are not even aware that they are not aware. So mindfulness exercises such as progressive relaxation can be beneficial as well.
It’s not necessary to be in optimum physical health, or to have a chiseled physique, or be more than average good looking. People with disabilities have the same needs for above average body discipline. When you maintain your body like a well-oiled machine, it will cause minimal trouble, be a pleasurable place to live, and increase your awareness beyond just your mind.
Most people in this culture are completely identified with the content of their minds. They think that what they are thinking is true and have never questioned it. When you start to develop body awareness, you will know without doubt that there are other ways of knowing beyond the mind. You may come to trust your heart and the wisdom of the body far more than what your mind is telling you.
© 2014 Catherine Auman This article is an excerpt from Catherine’s book Shortcuts to Mindfulness: 100 Ways to Personal and Spiritual Growth
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