“The Loyal Body Consort”

Listen y’all, I’m going to make this a short and to-the-point one with... 

Two Things I Just Want to Say:

1. We know we’re supposed to “love our bodies,” right? And “listen to our bodies.” I find these to be difficult. (So much more to say about this but not now.) What I’m learning though is that we call “love” often simply looks like a gentle compassion and an “okay, well there ya have it” acceptance. So as we move into this season that is supposed to be filled with love and connection - but often re: our bodies is filled with shame for the things we eat or don’t eat, the exercise we don’t get and the “good” habits we’ve let slide - these words about our joyous bodies from Clarissa Pinkola Estes gave me the thinks on my walk yesterday:

The body consort is this magnificent creature that has come to Earth with us as a being in its own right, a life companion. Personally I find it more difficult to understand the body when I think I AM the body. I find it far more useful when we can see the body as a Being in its own right; a companion, intermingled, but also in a sense separate at the same time. And it requires as much care as it gives us. We owe it loyalty in return. The consort is loyal. That is why it is sacred.”

Isn’t that beautiful? Our bodies are our loyal consorts, our lifelong companions. 

Let’s vow to take care of them, shall we?

And that leads me to the second thing…

2. Take your body, this magnificent creature of yours, on a walk. On as many walks as you can this holiday season. Notice how it feels to move your limbs and what the air feels like on your face. Take a companion with you and have some gorgeous conversation. And when you come back in from the cold, have a hot drink and maybe some cake.