Using our bodies to move in all sorts of ways – dancing, jumping, housecleaning, walking, lifting – makes us human. We receive so much information from our bodies but we don’t always recognize it, let alone listen to what it’s telling us.
Somehow, we’ve created a division between mind and body. Despite the endless objectification and obsession with the body, we mostly live in our heads. This gets amplified by our strong attraction to the digital world that lacks its own off-switch. Still, digital media is only a symptom and not the cause of our strong attachment to the mind. Other factors contributed such as the prioritization of reason that came from the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment along with our secularization of society.
To keep the body in good health is a duty … Otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
The Buddha
What’s so great about moving and tuning in to our bodies anyway? To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning, let us count the ways.
Counting the Ways
Most photos sourced from Unsplash. Header Photo of Dancer by Drew Dizzy Graham, Red Bike Photo by Alessandra Caretto, Waterwheel photo by Drew Bae, Tree Roots by Emma Gossett, Man Jumping photo by Jordan Opel, Leaf photo by Basil James, Yoga photo by Oksana Taran.