Pause: Befriend Your Body
Last week’s blog, Loving-Kindness for the Body, talked about how profoundly our bodies (and our entire being!) respond to love and acceptance. It ended with a quote from physician and meditation teacher Jan Chozen Bays: “Do loving-kindness practice for your body at least once a day, every day. It’s the best alternative medicine.”
I want to support Bays’ urging today by offering two short practices that can help us foster kindness and gratitude toward our miraculous bodies.
Our new 2-minute “Take A Moment” micro-meditation, “Acknowledging Your Body,” invites us to recall and appreciate the countless incredible things our bodies do for us. It highlights everyday miracles it accomplishes—how our hands prepare our morning beverage, how our injured flesh heals, and how its language of sensation carries deep wisdom.
I find it powerful to follow the “Acknowledging Your Body” meditation with the short practice shared below, gifted to us by my wise cousin Trudy Goodman—a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher and Harvard-trained psychotherapist. Trudy’s practice is also great to do in bed upon waking, right before falling asleep, or any time you want to spend two to three minutes coming home to your body as a place of refuge and peace.
Trudy Goodman
Trudy Goodman’s Loving-Kindness for the Body Meditation
Place a hand gently on your heart.
Sense and feel this body that has been with you for your entire life.
Give your body some love by offering it friendly wishes:
Dear body, may you be safe and protected
Dear body, may you be healthy and strong
Dear body, may you be peaceful and happy
Dear body, may I care for you joyfully
If you are aware of any discomfort, see if you can befriend it rather than push it away—imagine sending it ease it with your kind breath, letting your shoulders soften as you exhale.
Enjoy a few restful breaths.
For many of us, learning to love our bodies is a challenging journey—one of reclaiming what society has taught us to reject or relentlessly try to control. For me, this journey has been about learning to tune in, listen closely, and honor my body’s signals and needs, instead of meeting them with judgment, force, or fear.
When I asked Trudy how she expresses loving-kindness to her body, she answered, “I nourish my body with nutritious food, without obsessing. I move in ways I enjoy, especially swimming and walking. I meditate regularly and appreciate my body, making sure to savor moments of ease, pleasure, and rest.”
