We live in a world where more and more people are acknowledging that our thoughts can create our reality. New age thinkers urge us to pay attention to the power of our minds to create or uncreate happiness, peace and even wealth. And yet there's one untapped area where thoughts run rampant, where we may not even check ourselves or pay attention: the thoughts we are constantly having about our bodies.
Pay attention to this for a moment, even throughout your day. When you look in the mirror, when your pants don't fit as loosely as they did last week, when you get symptoms of a chronic illness coming back, grapple with a physical limitation or sore back, or even when you notice a wrinkle--what kinds of thoughts are you having toward your body in these moments, if you could turn up the volume on your inner dialogue? The results might surprise you.
'Oh gross.'
'God, I can't stand this.'
'God you can't do anything.'
'Could this pain just go away already?'
There are a couple of reasons why it's important to start paying attention to the inner dialogue. First, because if we take on that your body is something you're in relationship with all the time, this kind of attentiveness to the messages you send it gives you a chance to clean up your act. How do you think your body feels about the kinds of things it's hearing? How would you feel if you were on the other side of these thoughts and feelings?
Second, it's important because if your thoughts do create your reality, you're creating a negative loop you won't get out of. I don't believe that positive change and transformation can ever come from criticism, judgment and blame. We have to change our attitude within the relationship before anything can shift on the outside. In other words, there's no 'there' there. You can't get to the perfect body by constantly abusing and criticizing yourself. You have to take a radical stance to choose love and acceptance now.
This isn't always easy, but it's the work that the Body Reunion Solution advocates. It asks you to become the best person you can in relating to your body--because your body is also you. All the negative messages, the abuse and the criticism also land in the recesses of your heart and soul and create a landscape of blame and conflict inside you that affects--and creates--your life.
Think about it. Really. No pun intended. What reality do you want to be creating for yourself and your body, and what thoughts create that reality? Are you kinder? More at peace? More forgiving? Do you hold the sensations or symptoms in your body as the enemy or as something to work with together and seek to understand? Which stance brings your reality closer to the one you most want?
You'll feel the difference right away in how it feels to be in your body. A kind and supportive voice softens and opens the body, so that your reality literally does change right in front of you. Negative messages often create tightness, shallowness of breath and constriction. As you become aware of the effect your thoughts have on your body, you'll notice immediately--through your body--the effect they have on you.
So see if you can start choosing a different kind of thought. Change, 'Oh my God, gross,' when your jeans don't fit to, 'Hey, I know you're doing the best you can here. Let's work together to keep getting you to a healthy weight.' As you become aware of your thoughts toward your body throughout the day, see if you can change them into more positive and loving ones. Consider, at the end of the day, thanking your body for all it's done for you and see how it responds. Your body lets you know right away what kind of reality you're creating. What reality will you choose to live in today?
