The Real Body Beautiful

Rarely has there been such a display of beautiful bodies as at the recent Olympics ….. and living as I do in London, well – the display has been everywhere! And healthy beautiful bodies too – how refreshing- the radiant health is in itself beautiful! Makes my mind wander to other ways that the body is beautiful, ways we don’t normally consider. One of those ways, to me, is the language of the body, not just it’s expression outwardly but inwardly, the way the body speaks to us, internally (if we just listen). The body tells us how and what we feel, when we feel pleasure, when we feel pain, and when we need to speed up or slow down - which we often ignore at our peril!  It tells us when we have excess energy (like anger); if we listen we can transform that energy into something useful (like outrage) that can drive us to taking action to help us achieve and attract what we want. If we ‘listen’ to the pleasure, rather than rushing on to our next 'vital action', we can stop for just a moment and enjoy it, relish the pleasure long enough for it to release more endorphins and hormones that will boost our immune system, slow down our ageing process, increase motivation, make our brains more creative and can even reduce cravings, as well as give us a glow that – guess what – makes us more beautiful on the outside! Gives the old saying ‘beauty comes from within’ a whole new meaning!

Olympic Movement

The Olympics are all around me here in London: endless activity, movement, exertion and speed! Then excitement, joy, pride, disappointment, regret, frustration, humility, elation, delight, and many more emotions – and constant, endless, perpetual movement ………..

The word ‘move’ has the same Latin root as the word emotion – emovere*.  Makes sense, right?  – not only do emotions move through us 24/7, (whether we are aware of them or not), their power is unmatched. They cause us to say things we try to find ways to un-say; they cause us to do things we wish we could undo. They can also fill us up with energy and drive us to achieve amazing things – as demonstrated here in London by so many right now!

Observing all these wonderful athletes from around the world, coming together in the only event that momentarily suspends differences and places all nationalities peacefully on common ground,  I wonder how many of the athletes are using their true ability to manage their emotions to help them achieve their goals and their medals?  Would becoming more emotionally aware and mindful help us all to spread the experience of equality and peace beyond the Olympics?

Personally, I believe it would – and does.

* Latin emovere, from e- (variant of ex-) 'out' + movere 'move'.