I had a thought the other day about the possibility of seeing our bodies as entirely separate beings to ourselves. This is a concept that has been explored throughout the course of spiritual practices, however, in relation to this course, this concept has sparked new interest.

Last week my dog slammed into me whilst I was walking up the stairs, causing me to lose my balance and fall hard on the floor. I layed there for a good 5 minutes, mildly concussed. As I regained my focus, intense throbbing began to kick in, reigniting my awareness to the painful gash on my forehead. Knowing this wasn’t something a bandage could easily fix, I took myself up to the doctors where I receive three stitches for the open wound. Upon leaving the doctor, I received a detailed guide on how to treat concussions and look out for signs my body was not coping. Despite waking up the next morning with a throbbing headache, my mind began to wonder to the relationship that concussions have to our consciousness and body. Although I was experiencing mild confusion and lack of consciousness, my body remained functional. My lungs continued to expand with the rhythm of my heart as it pumped blood through my body.

Although the mind might shut off when exposed to a serious impact, it still manages to keep functioning in accordance to the bodies needs. Despite our consciousness often disappearing from head injuries, our bodies usually continue to operate on their own accord. The separation between the mind and body becomes apparent when we consider the ways our bodies still work without us actually being aware of its functions. When we sleep we are not actively trying to keep ourselves alive. Our bodies internally perceive the world on an automatic mode as a means for survival. Our heart doesn’t stop when we go to sleep because it believes that we are a bad person. Our lungs don’t resist the urge to expand and contract because they don’t like the colour we painted our room. Our blood doesn’t thicken because it can’t stand the smell of deodorant we choose to wear every day. If these automatic functions exist outside of our consciousness, then how much of a stable connection do we really have with our bodies?

Our lives are centred around the idea that we are one with our bodies. Cosmetic companies suggest that our bodies make us who we are. If we have beautiful skin, that must equate to some kind of displayable personality trait we can showcase to the world. Our internal understanding of ourselves is shaped by our perception of our body. Our bodies act much like tools for our consciousness to use. If our consciousness is taken away from the body, does our body still retain the same radiant life it had before? If everyone was left in an automatic mode of functioning, would we all be the same, or would our bodies somehow determine why we are different to each other? Is our body an individual entity in its own right. We preach to others that society must respect our bodies. We have rights to our personal space concerning individual autonomy with others. We have a choice in what our bodies do and what we say about our bodies. However, are the values that we place on our bodies merely assumptions about how our bodies should behave. When we move our arm or stand from our chair, is it our consciousness that is telling our bodies to behave this way, or is it an automatic function that we mistake for our own. Where does the line form between whether our bodies are reacting to our thoughts and whether our bodies are simply taking action for themselves? If anything is clear from this disjointed and brief discussion about bodies, it is my main concern about exploring how separate our body and mind is. Does our consciousness mistake the automatic functions of our bodies as our own, or are our bodies truly connected to our consciousness in a way that we don’t yet understand?

 

These are the main points I am trying to explore here:

• The idea of consciousness and its impact on our bodies?
• Do our bodies act in accordance to our needs or its needs?
• If our consciousness constitutes as who we perceive ourselves to be, then do we merely inhabit a body as a way to communicate ourselves to the world, or do our body and mind go hand in hand to create a concrete level of self-awareness?