07/09/2025
How we talk to ourselves matters! The things that we tell ourselves, about ourselves, affect us on every level. Our body, our mind, our spirit, our soul—they're all listening and they believe what we tell them.
I often hear people refer to their “bad” body parts—sometimes it's a knee, oftentimes a shoulder. This happened recently on a hike, when a member of our group referred several times to her “bad” knee. This, as we were completing a hike of several miles! She'd had no trouble with the terrain or keeping up with the group, she was obviously enjoying herself, and yet still believed that her knee was "bad". From what I could see, it seemed to be working pretty well!
This way of thinking is dangerous in terms of our health, especially as we age. Our internal messaging system has the potential to influence our self-concept, which in turn impacts our behavior in terms of our activities and self-care.
There is no such thing as a “bad” body part. It is simply a body part. This is not to deny the realities of illness and of injury. It’s not a matter of sticking our heads into the sand and ignoring the signals our body sends us. Instead, it is a call to increased attention, awareness, and care. As humans, we are not guaranteed a perfect body; we will all experience bodily challenges over the course of our lifetimes. The way we look at these challenges, and how we choose to approach them, matters in a very big way.
Rather than writing off our body parts as “bad”, perhaps this is an opportunity to lay aside our need to judge, and to accept our body as it is, complete with flaws, sometimes in need of extra care and attention, and yet still a miraculous gift to be cherished and cared for.
Perfect in its imperfection.
Jai!
