It’s Not True Until You Feel It in Your Body

Real personal knowledge is felt in the body; it feels like knowing not to touch a hot stove. 

Knowing whether a piece of art or music is good should be felt in the body. Big decisions, like whether you should move cities, take a new job, or marry someone, should be felt in the body.

When my niece was 8 months old, I noticed how curious her body is—she wants to crawl, bite a book, stretch her arms, touch an unfamiliar plant, smell the TV remote, scream at a decibel she hasn’t hit before. Many of us regain the curiosity of our mind as we grow older but we rarely regain the curiosity of our body.

Rituals across all religions involve a lot of movement—they make you stand, sit, chant, make your hands face the sky, place your hands over your head, walk around in a circle. This makes the experience physical and embodied so it’s imprinted in you for longer.

Doctors and modern medicine are great at prescribing vaccinations and treating extreme diseases like heart attacks. But for common ailments (cold, body pain, allergy), others have a better understanding of your body: you, trainers, physical therapists, nurses, massage therapists, chiropractors, ancient medicine, and yoga instructors.

Your body is capable of much more than you think. My friend once quoted a line from 14 Peaks after he ran 85 kilometers: “When you think you’re fucked, you’re only 40% fucked.”

Whoever said energy can neither be created nor destroyed has not lived inside a human body. When I go for a run, I create bodily energy out of thin air.

Our phones are pretty dystopian today because they do not use our bodies at all. We’re staring into a six inch screen, using just our eyes and fingers, and no other parts of our body.

For common knowledge to feel real and long-lasting, you have to feel it in your body at some point.

Kahaan se aaya

Where did you come from? 

Kahaan jaaoge

Where are you going? 

Khabar karo apne tan ki

Get the message from your body

 – Kabir