LET US “Imagine the Body as an Archeological Site”

As I walk around this sorry world, with most people I see either fat, or sluggish, or both, I am amazed that the human race is still here. Or maybe I should say, amazed that this country is still, despite RFK’s heroic efforts, continuing its long-standing addiction to fast, processed “food.” And of course, lots of other lousy habits “to blame,” as well; for example, the tendency to confine one’s bodily exercise to workouts on machines! Huh? What happened to nature? To our connection with nature? To our own body as an extension of nature?

A good walk in the woods, or on a beach, or even on city streets, will do do wonders for any stuckness.

So. While my right brain (connected to the heart) bathes those I pass by with the love that fills and fuels the universe, my left brain’s perspective is acutely attentive to the silent screams of their bodies.  Help me! Help me! Remember me?

In my essay,

BODY III_ Male, Female & Beyond

 

I address this issue, among others. And yes, here’s what stuck out for me today:

Excerpt:

 

“All experiences are registered in the cells of our bodies. Our bodies are in continuous transformation, responding to the way we process (or do not process) events. Imagine the body as an archeological site. As pottery shards yield clues to the culture of those who made them, so does the current state of one’s body reflect one’s habitual way of interacting with the world. Are we stiff and unyielding? Our bodies will show that. Are we too adaptable, with no boundaries? Our bodies will show that too. Are we confused? Do we walk the world in fear? Do we wish we weren’t here? All these ways of being are reflected in the way our corporeal reality situates itself within time and space — and can be “read” by an acute observer.

Everything that happens to us is coded into memory which, when denied, freezes energy into matter. Denied mental images and ideas condense — into body. As memories come to light (to conscious awareness), our bodies automatically respond: the vibration of matter quickens, releases into energy. And energy, as Blake said, is ‘eternal delight.'”

 

I SUGGEST THAT HUMANITY’S 80-YEAR SUICIDAL FLIRTATION WITH THE EXPLOSIVE POWER OF THE NUCLEAR BOMB IS A DIABOLICAL SUBSTITUTE FOR NATURE’S WAY OF CONVERTING ENERGY TO MATTER AND BACK AGAIN.

How to do this? Simply, increase your “aliveness.” How? Spend time in nature every day! Your body will thank you for it.

This original and longstanding connection, indeed, communion, between the body and nature, has been largely lost for nearly 400 years, as the mind becomes more and more divorced from the body while viewing “it” as simply a machine.

Thanks a lot, Descartes!