I’m going to briefly discuss and dissect a common theme in modern spiritual communities. Using the body as a guidance system in Your day to day life. Or on planet earth in general.
This is becoming increasingly popular and dangerous in my opinion. Using only the body as the main compass to make Your decisions in life can lead to narcissistic behavior and a power trip. Which in the mind of the individual is twisted into “I’m putting up boundaries and doing what is right for me.”
The basic concept of this way of living Your life is that if anything feels good in the body then it’s good for You to follow or move towards.
If it feels shitty or a little bit uncomfortable then it’s not.
For example, if an individual goes on a date and “feels something is off” they immediately end the date. And do not contact the other person ever again.
Or if the individual is in a relationship and it gets uncomfortable, things come to the surface, it gets sticky, they immediately leave the relationship.
No communication or talking or deeper understanding of the situation required.
“It felt off in my body so it must be wrong for me.”
First of all, this type of an approach to life is totally fucking insane.
Now let’s look at it more closely.
So by this logic, everything that feels off in life or uncomfortable should be avoided.
For example, taking a shit. Sometimes this feels really uncomfortable (or shitty if You will) does that mean we should stop taking the shit right then and there?
No, this is a part of life and You should finish that uncomfortable shit there and get on with it.
Or how does this type of approach bode for relationships in general?
I don’t know about You but I have never been in a relationship that “feels good in my body” all the time.
The other person might be constipated and You might be feeling that. Should You leave that relationship? Of course not. You help them by making them a green smoothie and wait until they take a huge dump.
I’m using all the poop analogy to illustrate how fucking stupid this type of approach is.
Or the other person might be going through an emotional reaction. Or You might be feeling a childhood trauma. Or whatever.
The point is, life does not feel good all the time. We are on a rock flying through space! How can it possibly feel good all the time?
Sometimes the situations that feel uncomfortable have the capacity to make us grow.
Here’s another example, exercising.
It does not feel good at the beginning. Or all the time. But it’s really good for Your body. It’s really good for Your mental state. So it doesn’t mean that if it feels hard at the beginning You should stop doing it. Because “your body gave You a signal.”
No!
Explore further. Life is meant to challenge You, relationships are meant to challenge You!
Dig deeper, find out what’s going on under the surface.
See a therapist, ask questions, think for God’s sake! Thinking is not all bad. It’s actually pretty good when used wisely.
Now I want to say that using the body as a guidance system can be good as well. When used in a balanced way. But it is not the end all be all of the compasses available to us.
It can be a really good tool at Your disposal. Or a way to connect and be in Your body.
But there’s more out there, this is just one part of the equation.
Putting the body with the mind, intuition, logical thinking and things we do not yet know, should be the next step in our evolution.
Let’s go there and stop treating this life like a teenage girl who is having an emotional reaction if they don’t get what they want.
Ian Altosaar
