You are what you metabolize from all five of your senses. When my children were toddlers they watched the children's show, Barney. I remember that big purple dinosaur saying, "You are what you eat from your head to your feet!" He was encouraging children to make good food choices. Indeed making healthy choices in what we eat is important, but we are so much more than just what we eat. We metabolize every single experience we take in from all five of our senses! Therefore, the quality of our experiences and our ability to metabolize them determine the quality of our health and the state of our wellbeing. In addition, our mind and our physiology do not distinguish which experiences are "real" from those that are "unreal".
Recently I had the opportunity to speak at one of Loral Langemeier's Big Table Events. Several of the audience members expressed that the idea we must metabolize our experiences from all five of our senses was a completely new concept to them, but it made sense. Deepak Chopra says, "If you want to know why your body is the way it is today, look at the quality of your experiences over the past 10 years; If you want to know what your body will look like 10 years from now, look at the quality of the experiences you are having today." I was asked if I could tell them more and give them some examples of how this concept might be affecting their state of health and wellbeing.
First, our minds do not distinguish the "real" from the "unreal". Close your eyes and imagine you have a plump, juicy, yellow lemon in your hand. Feel the texture; observe the smell. Imagine yourself cutting the lemon into several wedges and see the juices being released. Now imagine taking one of the wedges you have cut and bite into it. What would it taste like? Mmmmm! Did your mouth water or salivate? Most likely it did, but where was the lemon? There was no lemon, but you still had a physiological response to the imaginary lemon.
I often ask students in my yoga class to become aware of unmetabolized experiences they may be carrying by doing the following exercise. At the beginning of class we sit quietly and observe our breath. As we observe the inflow and outflow of the breath our bodies and our minds begin to settle down. I will then ask them to give their body a scan and just see what they notice. They may notice an area of tightness somewhere, perhaps in their shoulders or back; there may be tension in those muscles. This tension may be from experiences they had in their day or week that they are still "carrying," and now they are "holding onto" those experiences in their body. Once there is awareness of this tension, the breath can be sent to that place and we can have the intention to release whatever we are holding on to.
The first step in learning to metabolize all of our experience is awareness. Once we become aware that we must metabolize all of our experiences we will naturally make more conscious choices about how we live our lives and the experiences we choose. In addition, we will be more aware of how our experiences affect us and learn how to metabolize or let go of things that are unhealthy or that do not serve us.
Affirmation: "I always make the most nourishing choice to nurture myself and to support the daily renewal of my mind, body and spirit."
Recently I had the opportunity to speak at one of Loral Langemeier's Big Table Events. Several of the audience members expressed that the idea we must metabolize our experiences from all five of our senses was a completely new concept to them, but it made sense. Deepak Chopra says, "If you want to know why your body is the way it is today, look at the quality of your experiences over the past 10 years; If you want to know what your body will look like 10 years from now, look at the quality of the experiences you are having today." I was asked if I could tell them more and give them some examples of how this concept might be affecting their state of health and wellbeing.
First, our minds do not distinguish the "real" from the "unreal". Close your eyes and imagine you have a plump, juicy, yellow lemon in your hand. Feel the texture; observe the smell. Imagine yourself cutting the lemon into several wedges and see the juices being released. Now imagine taking one of the wedges you have cut and bite into it. What would it taste like? Mmmmm! Did your mouth water or salivate? Most likely it did, but where was the lemon? There was no lemon, but you still had a physiological response to the imaginary lemon.
I often ask students in my yoga class to become aware of unmetabolized experiences they may be carrying by doing the following exercise. At the beginning of class we sit quietly and observe our breath. As we observe the inflow and outflow of the breath our bodies and our minds begin to settle down. I will then ask them to give their body a scan and just see what they notice. They may notice an area of tightness somewhere, perhaps in their shoulders or back; there may be tension in those muscles. This tension may be from experiences they had in their day or week that they are still "carrying," and now they are "holding onto" those experiences in their body. Once there is awareness of this tension, the breath can be sent to that place and we can have the intention to release whatever we are holding on to.
The first step in learning to metabolize all of our experience is awareness. Once we become aware that we must metabolize all of our experiences we will naturally make more conscious choices about how we live our lives and the experiences we choose. In addition, we will be more aware of how our experiences affect us and learn how to metabolize or let go of things that are unhealthy or that do not serve us.
Affirmation: "I always make the most nourishing choice to nurture myself and to support the daily renewal of my mind, body and spirit."
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