The need to be gentle

Right now I am being called to be gentle with myself. I am confronting physical discomfort with a flare up of tendonitis in my two big toes. Even walking down the street takes tremendous presence of mind and patience as each step has a feeling of “ouch” to it. I saw a doctor and I am going to physical therapy, and utilizing acupuncture, which is supporting my healing process. But it is slow. Slow is the key word here. This is a slow process. The body has its own timing.

I have been listening to a meditation tape called: Merciful Awareness by Stephen Levine, in which he calls for a softer, gentler response to our bodies when they are in pain. And I am discovering that my body doesn’t want me to push it, but to let it rest on a warm bed of gentleness. I have been pushing myself for too long — I inherited pushing.

Ask yourself: have you been pushing your body too hard? Now ask your body what does it need. The body is one of our greatest teachers, if we are willing to listen and learn from it.