Wisdom on health & self-care, from St. Teresa of Avila
Posted by Kelly Moltzen on Monday, May 21, 2012
Under: Quotes
I returned from a much-needed vacation today with my family, celebrating my brother's college graduation in California. And several hours later (on a Sunday, may I add) found myself going to my office to gather some materials needed for an Adopt a Bodega workshop at a school tomorrow morning. On the train ride back I opened up a book I've picked up on and off over the past several months - Meditations with Teresa of Avila. The chapter I was up to is called "Care of the Body" and discusses how important it is to take care of ourselves, otherwise our health will suffer. In some senses I'm one of the biggest hypocrites when it comes to this sort of advice. While I try to eat as healthy as possible most of the time (even while living in a "food desert" such as the South Bronx), I definitely don't exercise enough and tend to overwork myself. Whether you are too busy taking care of family members to learn what to do to be healthier, experience injustices which make it hard to live a healthy lifestyle, or are as passionate as I am about fixing the injustices, it's easy to let self-care slip away. But if we take care of ourselves, it will be easier to help those around us have healthier lifestyles too. If we decide to start cooking healthier food for ourselves or take a trip to the park, it will be easier to provide healthy meals and opportunities for exercise to those close to us. As a health professional who knows the importance of health to our quality of life, I should learn to take some of my own advice. While I don't experience any poor health effects now because I'm young and try to eat foods in their most natural state possible most of the time, I know that I can still learn to cook better and should find a way to fit more exercise into my weekly routine, otherwise it won't be good for myself or anyone else.
I want to learn how to cook meals with vegetables from my CSA that aren't just healthy but flavored well too, using herbs and spices. Stop spending so much time in front of the computer screen wrestling through emails, and make time for getting fresh air and exercise (such as by volunteering in community gardens like the Leave It Better Kids' Garden, Friends of Brook Park or La Finca del Sur, or by biking with Bike the Bronx). Use work time most effectively so that I can have time to enjoy the things I tell everyone else are important for good quality of life.
St. Teresa of Avila is a wondrous, devout, intelligent woman. We would all do well to heed her advice. Below is the chapter referred to above - hopefully the author will forgive my re-posting it :)
34. Care of the Body
"The changes in the weather and the natural cycles of the body often have the result that . . . souls cannot do what they desire. . . . If they seek to force themselves more during these times, the bad condition becomes worse and lasts longer." - St. Teresa of Avila
In a world obsessed with productivity there is very little understanding of the need for genuine rest. People collapse at the end of the workweek, which for many is six days long, and the rest they do receive is more a "topping off" of energy rather than a revitalization. We have been programmed to produce at all times, at all costs, even if it means compromising our health. We skip meals and tell ourselves that energy bars will suffice, forgetting the importance of the slow, natural process of digestion and the enjoyment of our food. Illness lurks in our overly tired systems and very often strikes at what we consider the most inconvenient times - when our deadlines need to be met!
What is also common today is the need for a long-overdue emotional assessment of our soul. Sometimes when we fail to do this, our soul can override bodily functions and stop us in our tracks. It demands that we take notice of our internal workings that have been so conveniently ignored and placed aside as we busily attend to our lives. We need to become attentive to our bodies and our health, to listen to them daily so that we do not become overloaded - for as the soul can affect the body, so can the body affect the soul.
What is required, said Teresa, again is the gift of discernment. We must come to know what is occurring in our body so that we can ably treat our ailments. When the body needs to rest we should not resist but take time out from our duties and responsibilities. Even if the voice of recrimination reminds us that we should be "doing something," we are to ignore it and go back in the sun. Likewise, if our body is ailing and needs particular foods, then feed it what it requires. Teresa often recommended variations in diet when the nuns we not well. She was not fanatical about restrictions, even during Lent. Common sense goes a long way, she said, and as the body goes through changes, so must we adapt accordingly.
However, we must also be aware of the stirrings of the soul, she said, since sometimes the body's ills are bringing us a deeper message. We should be aware of the real need; otherwise, we will be living in constant pain and illusion. Discernment, Teresa said, is the key and is born through love - love for oneself and for the truth of one's being. When this is practiced, one's life will move forward, with changes continually occurring and "the bodily humors rotating."
Teresa experienced a great deal of illness, which in the latter years came about principally through her not heeding her own advice. She would work right through the night answering correspondence and dealing with business matters, sleeping only a few hours. Her physician advised her that without adequate rest she would continue to be plagued by her illnesses. Even though she relieved other nuns of their duties in times of necessity, she did not give herself the same opportunity. Sometimes we are harsher with ourselves than we need to be - even if we do make sainthood!
Meditation
Allow yourself to fall into a place of deep rest - sink deeper and deeper into the body. Allow your attention to move slowly through all the parts of the body, internal and external, and openly listen. What is your body telling you? Let it speak its wisdom. Allow yourself to follow its words and advice. Love yourself in all honesty.
I want to learn how to cook meals with vegetables from my CSA that aren't just healthy but flavored well too, using herbs and spices. Stop spending so much time in front of the computer screen wrestling through emails, and make time for getting fresh air and exercise (such as by volunteering in community gardens like the Leave It Better Kids' Garden, Friends of Brook Park or La Finca del Sur, or by biking with Bike the Bronx). Use work time most effectively so that I can have time to enjoy the things I tell everyone else are important for good quality of life.
St. Teresa of Avila is a wondrous, devout, intelligent woman. We would all do well to heed her advice. Below is the chapter referred to above - hopefully the author will forgive my re-posting it :)
34. Care of the Body
"The changes in the weather and the natural cycles of the body often have the result that . . . souls cannot do what they desire. . . . If they seek to force themselves more during these times, the bad condition becomes worse and lasts longer." - St. Teresa of Avila
In a world obsessed with productivity there is very little understanding of the need for genuine rest. People collapse at the end of the workweek, which for many is six days long, and the rest they do receive is more a "topping off" of energy rather than a revitalization. We have been programmed to produce at all times, at all costs, even if it means compromising our health. We skip meals and tell ourselves that energy bars will suffice, forgetting the importance of the slow, natural process of digestion and the enjoyment of our food. Illness lurks in our overly tired systems and very often strikes at what we consider the most inconvenient times - when our deadlines need to be met!
What is also common today is the need for a long-overdue emotional assessment of our soul. Sometimes when we fail to do this, our soul can override bodily functions and stop us in our tracks. It demands that we take notice of our internal workings that have been so conveniently ignored and placed aside as we busily attend to our lives. We need to become attentive to our bodies and our health, to listen to them daily so that we do not become overloaded - for as the soul can affect the body, so can the body affect the soul.
What is required, said Teresa, again is the gift of discernment. We must come to know what is occurring in our body so that we can ably treat our ailments. When the body needs to rest we should not resist but take time out from our duties and responsibilities. Even if the voice of recrimination reminds us that we should be "doing something," we are to ignore it and go back in the sun. Likewise, if our body is ailing and needs particular foods, then feed it what it requires. Teresa often recommended variations in diet when the nuns we not well. She was not fanatical about restrictions, even during Lent. Common sense goes a long way, she said, and as the body goes through changes, so must we adapt accordingly.
However, we must also be aware of the stirrings of the soul, she said, since sometimes the body's ills are bringing us a deeper message. We should be aware of the real need; otherwise, we will be living in constant pain and illusion. Discernment, Teresa said, is the key and is born through love - love for oneself and for the truth of one's being. When this is practiced, one's life will move forward, with changes continually occurring and "the bodily humors rotating."
Teresa experienced a great deal of illness, which in the latter years came about principally through her not heeding her own advice. She would work right through the night answering correspondence and dealing with business matters, sleeping only a few hours. Her physician advised her that without adequate rest she would continue to be plagued by her illnesses. Even though she relieved other nuns of their duties in times of necessity, she did not give herself the same opportunity. Sometimes we are harsher with ourselves than we need to be - even if we do make sainthood!
Meditation
Allow yourself to fall into a place of deep rest - sink deeper and deeper into the body. Allow your attention to move slowly through all the parts of the body, internal and external, and openly listen. What is your body telling you? Let it speak its wisdom. Allow yourself to follow its words and advice. Love yourself in all honesty.
In : Quotes