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What is your body saying to you?I often wonder what kind of exercise machines we are becoming! We run on our treadmills while listening to iPods AND watching TV, all in the atmosphere of disconnected muscle pumping at the local gym. Okay, that sounds a bit cynical, and I don’t want to knock the valiant effort that goes in to getting to the gym in the first place. In our fast-food, non-stop culture of go, go, go, that’s a first step worth being proud of. At the same time, we need to start to tune in to the disconnect and the distance we are creating – a separation that keeps our bodies at the level of ‘machine.’ How aware are we of our bodies and the world around us, the world in which our bodies inhabit? Even as I write this article in a coffee shop, I note the people around me flipping through books while talking on their cell phones. Are they paying attention to what they’re reading? To the texture of the pages? To the taste of their coffee? To the sounds of the espresso machines? Imagine our potential for increased effectiveness and performance if we allowed our bodies to be heard during exercise, if we didn’t tune them out in an effort to make the time pass more quickly. Imagine listening to your pounding heart, feeling the blood pump and feeling your muscles work. Imagine eating every meal with increased awareness – actually chewing and tasting each bite. How would that affect you emotionally and physically? Imagine the pleasure of experiencing all five senses on a more regular basis. If we take the time to smell and taste and touch and see and hear, how would life be enriched?
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