I often tell clients that bodies are like plants. Organic matter needing continued, consistent care: water, food, fresh soil, sunlight, air. Plants poorly attended to, don’t thrive and will remain off-balance, usually resulting in steady decline. Bodies, too, need continued, consistent attention and support: hydration, good nutrition, movement, stretching, strengthening, aerobic exercise. All support us physically, while also affecting other aspects of our humanity (emotions, mind, and spirit).
A straightforward way of looking at self-care, part of why I use the example. Two other important reasons for the comparison. One, you can always buy a new plant, but the human body we’re motoring around in is not to be replaced, even if it may be repaired, retrained, and rebalanced. Two, most of us view things from an intellectual standpoint; we see ourselves as an ego, a personality, a set of emotions, a set of thoughts. The physical reality of needing to tend well, consistently, and in multiple ways to a human body – like caring for a plant – usually gets our attention only when we’re in discomfort or pain.
All bodies need a lot of care to thrive. And just like plants, each body is completely unique from any other of its kind. Caring for them as irreplaceable and totally individual is life changing and life enhancing.
Copyright © 2020 by Lara Stillo
Massage - Feeling and Sensation 