Capitalist society tells us our worth is determined by our output. We are inducted into a system which deliberately runs us to our limits.

For those of us who learned in our developmental years to put the needs of primary carers before our own and have a tendency to bring this pattern into our adult relating, we often sacrifice taking care of our bodies for taking care of others.

As you look around you, how many people are rushing? Some of us are so busy that we rush from place to place, texting, calling, emailing, eating too fast – even intimacy becomes rushed. Rushing means that we lose capacity for feeling and have to keep amping everything up.

Addicted to the Rush

Many of us need stimulants, drama and action so that we can feel what is going on inside our numb bodies.

Rushing and staying perpetually busy is a very effective strategy for avoiding being with ourselves and facing who we are.

This rushed, hard, fast life takes its toll on our body.

Without slowness and time to feel, the body contracts in self-defence. It becomes hard and tense.

It learns patterns of tension as a way of bracing itself from the daily assault on the senses.

Over time, these patterns of tensions block energy movement in the body and lead to dis-ease.

Caring for your body isn’t vanity, it’s sanity.

In a busy world, taking care of your body in the form of small yet regular practices is a radical act of self love.

Body Care Practices

Here are some of my favourite ways to slow down and care for my body.

1. Hydrating with warm lemon water every morning and evening.
2. Eating at regular times, chewing my food and eating slowly. No phones at the table.
3. Dry brushing skin before morning shower.
4. Cryotherapy (cold showers for at least five minutes).
5. Self-Abhyanga (oil massage).
6. Breast massage.
7. Regular movement practice, meditation and deep breathing.
8. Living in tune with my menstrual cycle.
9. Receiving loving touch.
10. Making space for everyday pleasure, whether through orgasm or food or beauty.
11. Fasting to reset my body.
12. Regular detoxification.
13. Developing sensitivity to internal orgasm for DMT release.
14. Yoga Nidra.

If you’d like a taste of the slow life, consider joining one of Moon Body’s signature retreats. Informed by Miriam’s time spent in Buddhist temples during extended silent meditations retreats, Moon Body’s retreats are deep, immersive and profound times to reset.