This is the third post in a series of posts called Foundations of Vitality, about what truly creates a vital relationship with our body, soul and wellness so that we can experience what I call Embodied Vitality. Here's where you can find post one and post two.
I have seen resilience defined as something that is independent of and divorced from things like softness, vulnerability, grief, or the shocking experiences of life that knock us over. Resilience is (mistakenly) seen as being tough, sticking it out, being able to work through all the hits and blows, the crummy situations and events. But my friend, that is not resilience. That is rigidness.
Resilience is something quite different, something innate to nature and thus, innate to your humanity, both with your mental and emotional life as well as your physical body. Especially, your physical body.
I think of resilience like a tree- and we have a lot of trees here in the rural midwest, along with a lot of wind- and I think about how they bend and flex and stretch and sometimes get battered about by the weather, but they rarely break.
And I believe, so it is with your health and your innate resilience.
Resilience is the act of being able to move and flex, bend, stretch, respond and surrender, but to not break in response to the force or energy that is coming toward you. And this skill is available to you in the whole of your life, as well as in your dynamic relationship to your health and body.
When it comes to our health, we're often fed a lot of what seems like well intentioned guidance, but actually smells a little bit of fear mongering. There's a whole lot of "protect your heart, take this supplement!" "keep looking young, use this cream!" "don't let this xyz thing happen to this xyz part of your body, take this nutraceutical!"
I'm not suggesting those supplements, creams or nutraceuticals won't be helpful- there are some really awesome products out there.
What I AM suggesting is that no where in the modern day wellness conversation is there much conversation around just how profoundly resilient our bodies are.
Wounds heal, bones knit back together. The entire surface of your skin fully regenerates every 27 or so days. Experts say the entire body has been totally renewed something like every 7 years.
Not only does it make you wonder- "if all those parts of me are renewing and healing and shifting so often, then where does the ME of me live?"
It also has you stop to realize, your body is one heck of a resilient being.
And so, I think your body can probably handle it if you happen to eat too many carbs and sugar for a chapter of your life. Or if you completely ignore it while you wade through the muck and mud of intense grief. Maybe you're so swamped with new motherhood or a big new promotion that the body relationship has to take a beat for a minute or two.
This is OKAY. you do not have to be obsessed with health to have health. These human bodies of ours are wired to live and thrive.
Your life is going to have seasons. As such, so is your health and your relationship to your body. And believe it or not, it's like our bodies somehow experienced all sorts of evolutionary design mechanisms that are intelligent enough to flex, move and adapt to the ups and downs of these seasons. Why?
Because you are built to be RESILIENT.
Yup, you can chart your course and have your desired, ideal relationship with food, body and health. And then, you can inject it with some adaptability and flexibility so that you can meet the big, bold fullness of your life head on and TRUST that your body will always be there to work with you, if you are willing to bend and move in working with it.