"The first act of Self-love is to breath in & to know that I've a body." Thich Nhat Hanh
I am obsessed with the art of Self-Love. I believe it is key to being able to witness a life filled with joy, gifts and the manifestation of what we desire.
Thich Nhat Hanh, a spiritual monk from Tibet hosting retreats in France, professes that breathing and acknowledging the body first is key to learning the art of self-love.
We spend hours at the computer and we forget the WONDER that is our body, where centuries of memories from our ancestors are stored, where the energy that makes a difference is stored.
He advocates short but frequent meditations to remind ourselves that we are not just a brain disconnected from the body but a wonderful whole, connected to all that is alive, and teaches us the art of love and of feeling pleasure.
I am guilty of not knowing How To.
Raised to be a little soldier, I always think of what Should Be before what brings me pleasure or delight.
The love I received was always conditional, and I learned at a young age that unless I behaved in a certain way, with family or in romantic relationships, I was not deserving of love. And I find myself still on the hamster wheel sometime, going around and around endlessly, in the hope to have from others the recognition that I ought to give myself and only myself.
But it should not be so.
We ARE GOOD ENOUGH as we are, and we deserve love even while doing nothing, something that in our society is not emphasized enough as its values are based on always chasing something more and accumulating wealth.
So, on this Sunday preceding the holidays and much to come, I encourage you to slow down, breathe in and breathe out, feel the wholeness of your body, acknowledge your beauty and your wholeness, take pleasure in the small things around you, and celebrate life for all that it has to offer.
