Listening to the body, health in 2021

The body is the carriage that we were given to transit life. Once it runs out, there is no new model, nor the possibility of buying another one at 2x1. Much is said about its care. The trend is vitamins and the foods that contain them. The issue is to find oneself in the swarm of possibilities offered out there to improve health; to observe whether our choice leads us to obsess over it or, on the contrary, to devalue it.For me, caring for the body is listening to it. Sitting for a moment to feel it; connecting with its sensations: pain, burning, pleasure, harmony, stillness. It does not lie. We were previously told that paying too much attention to it was a frivolous act, that our way of filtering the world should be through reason or, at best, feelings, never through the body or the viscera.For oriental medicine, the body speaks and its state of health is the reflection of the mind's beliefs and the discourse of emotions. The body is the great connector of everything. Gabriel Bello, a certified communicator from the HeartMath Institute in the United States, states that “the body speaks its own language and if we do not understand it, it is clearly because we do not dedicate time to it.” It is enough to observe that if the mind is engrossed in a dilemma, the body will support the cause with terrible pain in the shoulder blades. If we experience anger, the body will participate in the dialogue by giving us a good gastritis or an irritated colon, at the very least.There is much literature on this subject. Louis Hay, the famous precursor of New Thought, claimed that diseases are the result of a negative emotion and that to heal it, one must exchange it for a positive one. For Gabriel Bello, “diseases are energy imbalances caused by different emotions. So, if we generate negative, destructive emotions and stress, that imbalance reaches a cellular level. The body will give warnings that something bad is happening. If we ignore them, disease arises.”This does not mean that good thoughts justify an unbalanced diet or lack of exercise. But everything begins from within. Hence the importance of meditation as a technique to keep us aware. Once we listen to and interpret the guidance of the body, we can pay attention to the rest: to its friends, thoughts and emotions. When what is inside is attended to correctly, what is outside – the dietary decisions, for example – acquires another perspective. And until then, and not the other way around, we will see each ingredient, each exercise routine, the menu we offer to the family, as potentials for healing. Even cravings will look different.Cravings are one of the ways the body expresses itself. Some pregnant women crave eating bricks, chalk, walls. The reason: the body requires calcium, and in that clear state, the craving is amplified. And this always happens. When cravings come from the right place – not from unresolved emotions, or from the mind's deficiencies – they express what the body needs for its better functioning.Caring for the body is taking the time to feel it, live it, and appreciate it. This 2021 the invitation is to become intimate with it, to become its best friend, to establish conversations back and forth and learn to read its language. Gabriel Bello even speaks of “giving it positive, constructive, and loving stimuli” to keep it healthy. This could well be the best purpose of the year: the body as a guide to achieve a better self.If you need extra help, we present our new section: Kiwilimón Te cuida. In it, we share tools to achieve a joyful and happy body. You will find recipes for different types of diets, tips, and the Keto challenge, a fifteen-day diet endorsed by our team of nutritionists in which we remove simple carbohydrates, processed foods, and sugars to give the body a reboost. Before starting it, remember to consult a doctor and at the same time, listen to that wise one who lives in you. Will you join us?