I CAN remember distinctly as a child, walking with my father down Fenit pier in the middle of winter. If a lady passed he would inevitably tip his hat.
It was a kind of automatic reverence of a man for womankind. That kind of old-style etiquette for living is just as important for living in today’s world as it was in yesteryear.
For instance allowing a lady to go first, or opening the door for a lady rather than rushing out in front of her.
It is a mark of respect that should never be left die out from society, but just like everything else it will die out unless society demands it.
By the way it is also equally just as important that the lady should recognise the said gentlemanly conduct – a simple ‘thank you’ will suffice and everyone will be much happier.
Our bodies work in a very similar fashion. Every day and in fact every minute of every day, our bodies are working away often very quietly and extremely efficiently for our benefit.
The question is ‘Do we ever take the time to thank our body’ for all that it does and delivers for us? If the answer is ‘No’, is that not bordering on downright rudeness?
You see every single cell of our body is a living entity. It has its own energy bank stored in the mitochondria, its own nucleus and also its own memory function.
That is why each cellular body has its own individual and collective function. For instance the cells of the liver help to cleanse the blood, the cells of the heart help pump oxygen around the body and the cells of the kidneys help to secrete waste from the body.
All have their own particular function and we only truly realise that there is a real problem when they malfunction. But the question is do we really appreciate them when they do function?
How can we really show our appreciation? Just like the above Man/Woman observation a very good place to start would be a simple recognition.
A good way to do this is to take the time to do a little meditation and to connect with our own bodies. How can we truly connect with our bodies if we never take the time to do so.
Once we recognise the importance and sheer common politeness we can progress to doing a particular type of meditation called a ‘Bodyscan’ meditation.
This is where we recognise each individual part of our body and thank it for all that it delivers for us. This is what I mean by body gratitude and a simple recognition of what each individual part of our body does for us is all that is required.
When this is practiced on a regular basis, amazing things begin to happen. Just like the good feeling that arises from proper gentleman/lady conduct our body begins to respond in a feelgood/vibrational kind of way. Perhaps this is what the hippies of the 1960’s meant when the said “there is a good vibe man”. (Note no substances required!)
If you ‘Youtube’ gratitude meditation you will find that some of the videos have over a million hits so that fact alone speaks for itself. The most important aspect of this is that it works.
When we take the time to show gratitude to our body in this way we are basically saying to our body – I thank you for what you are doing for me, I accept you just as you are and I am really grateful for all the miracles that you perform for me on a minute to minute/hourly/daily basis. Our bodies respond accordingly to this recognition and true inner happiness begins to evolve at a cellular level.
This is where true happiness begins to happen and with practice can be accessed at any given moment.
A little word of warning – if we do this initially we may become frustrated at the lack of feeling/response but keep on practicing and persevering (give gratitude/recognition) and do not become despondent as this can be explained in a normal human way – if you ignored someone for years you would not expect them to suddenly treat you as their best friend – it takes time, recognition and patience.
Ultimately this practice is what Jesus meant when He said: “Be still and know that I am God”.
Next week I am going to write about other forms of ‘Body Gratitude’
• Roger Harty is a life coach and can be contacted on 087-6128336, on twitter at @Innerjoyz1 or by email rogharty@gmail.com
Courtesy began to fail when people began to forget respect for the people who went before them, which is when you began to see even more of the crony circles of influence as well.
A knowledge of our history and traditions is vital, instead of which people today often attach more importance to change and short-term advantage. Me now.