Tending To The Altar Of Your Body

Do you even take the time to acknowledge this body -

To appreciate all it does for you?

The countless tiny things

That keep you alive?

The inner vitality

The steady rhythm of your heartbeat

The inhale and exhale

That carries you through your life?

Can you find a way to tend to it with care?

To meet it with attention and reverence

To honour it?

Not as an after-thought

But as the sacred altar that it is?

To offer it nourishment

Not just food or drink

But rest when it’s weary

Hydration for its parched cells

The soothing touch of massage

Spaciousness to simply be

To set boundaries

Not as walls

But as acts of self-advocacy

A declaration that your wellbeing

Is worthy of protection

Listen

Tune in

To the needs it speaks

In sensation and fatigue

In longing and relief

Give it compassion

Not judgement

Care

Not neglect

Respect 

for the wisdom it holds

In every ache

Every pulse

Every breath

Tending to this body

Is an act of healing

A practice of attunement 

A pathway to pleasure 

Found in the simplest things

A stretch

A sigh

A moment of rest

Your body is your home for this lifetime 

Treat it as sacred

By Tanya Cameron