Summer Reading

I invite you to read "When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress" by Gabor Mate, MD. We can have an on-line book club with back and forth comments posing as discussion.

Right off the bat, in "A Note to the Reader," Gabor Mate writes, "...mind and body are not separable" and that one of the purposes of his book is "...to hold up a mirror to our stress-driven society so that we may recognize how, in myriad unconscious ways, we help generate the illnesses that plague us." He clarifies the difference between blame and responsibility in this regard, to avoid being misunderstood: "While all of us dread being blamed, we all wish to be more responsible - that is, to have the ability to respond with awareness to the circumstances of our lives rather than just reacting. We want to be the authoritative person in our own lives: in charge, able to make authentic decisions that affect us. There is no true responsibility without awareness...the more we can learn about ourselves, the less prone we are to become passive victims."

Okay, hardly light summer reading but it is important and then he gives us, "...transformation brings forth the healing - the coming to integrity, to wholeness - of what is already there. While advice and prescriptions may be useful, even more valuable to us is insight into ourselves and the workings of our minds and bodies. Insight, when inspired by the quest for truth, can promote transformation."

He quotes physiologist, Walter Cannon, who suggested "there is wisdom in our bodies."

I hear friends saying, "life is a journey," and I'm curious about the examined life - with respect for and awareness of the wisdom and power of the mind and body. What is that journey like and where will it lead?