Our body is not silent, but communicates with us in many ways. It sends signals not only about our physical well-being, but also about our mental state. Can we decipher these messages? Yes. How to do it, tell our experts.
“I talk to my body without knowing it myself. Therefore, I always say more than I know about him, ”said the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Leading psychoanalysts have always viewed the mind and body as a unity because they are inextricably linked through language.
С момента зачатия мы развиваемся в языковой среде, слова нас поддерживают или ранят – и тело несет «отметины» нашей личной истории.
“All human experience, both resource and traumatic, is recorded at the bodily level,” explains psychotherapist Varvara Sidorova. Let’s say a wasp stung a child in the heel as a child. The word “wasp” even many years later can be given with pain in the heel.
The idea of the unity of body and spirit is, of course, not new. Long before psychotherapists began to pay attention to bodily symptoms, ancient medical practitioners were already looking for correspondences between internal organs, temperament, and emotions.
They considered, for example, the liver as a hotbed of anger, and the uterus – hysteria. We can argue as much as we like whether our body forms a psychological individuality or vice versa – in this case it does not matter. Their close connection has always been obvious, although it has given rise to some very extravagant theories.
История заблуждений
The thinkers of Antiquity had great respect for physiognomy – the doctrine that the type of personality can be determined based on the analysis of facial features. Even the creator of the evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin, paid tribute to her, believing that “the individual reduces mainly only certain muscles of the face, following his personal inclinations. These muscles may be more strongly developed, and therefore the lines and wrinkles of the face, formed by their normal contraction, may become deeper and more prominent.
Думать, что тело можно прочесть, как дорожную карту, «значки» на которой означают одно и то же у разных людей, — заблуждение
В XIX веке пышным цветом расцвела френология, выводившая личные качества из особенностей строения черепа. А в наши дни популярностью пользуются, например, идеи Джейн Шихан. Специалист по рефлексологии стопы, она утверждает, что может многое узнать о своих пациентах по форме пальцев ног.
По ее мнению, «греческая стопа» (второй палец длиннее большого) говорит о лидерских задатках, а очень короткий мизинец указывает на инфантильный и игривый характер.
One can also recall Louise Hay, the author of many books and the creator of detailed tables, where the cause of a psychological and emotional property is carefully selected for most physical ailments. All these theories are interesting, but not very scientific.
personal meaning
To think that the body can be read as a road map, the “icons” on which (broad nose or knee pain) have the same meaning in different people, is to “maintain the illusion that we are hostages of biology,” says anthropologist David Le Breton. “This illusion can even be pleasant, because it allows us not to face our own freedom and responsibility.”
Yes, the body speaks to us, but its language is not so simple. The symptoms of each are unique and arise from a combination of multiple causes. And to understand them, a much more attentive and deep look is required.
A person may even need his pain or excess weight
«Человек может нуждаться даже в своей боли или в лишнем весе, – уверен Давид Ле Бретон. – Причем сам он может искренне верить, что хочет изменить ситуацию. Но поменять свои отношения с миром – трудная задача, решению которой противятся наши симптомы».
“Usually, we hear the voice of the body only during illness, when it is already screaming,” says Varvara Sidorova, noting that listening to the signals does not mean immediately acting in accordance with them. – Blindly obeying all the “commands” of our body is also wrong. This reduces us to the level of animals, leaving us no choice but to follow our instincts.”
Mind hypertrophy?
Philosopher Bernard Andrier notes that the West has always tended to favor reason. “Each victory of science over the next “obscurantism” like palmistry or phrenology only reinforced this state of affairs,” he reflects. “But perhaps we have gone too far in this rejection of the body.” Today the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, and we are looking for salvation in Eastern philosophy, meditation, yoga. “Without a doubt, they can serve as a cure for the hypertrophy of the mind that Western people suffer from; because of her, they want to control everything and believe that all problems can be solved by intellectual effort,” continues Bernard Andrieu. Is it so?
Not quite, Varvara Sidorova believes: “I agree that the West prefers reason, but I don’t think that the East suggests disconnecting from reason. Each culture creates its own principles of the work of consciousness – and this concept for me includes both rationality, and intuition, and bodily awareness. Yes, in Eastern culture the role of the body in the work of consciousness is much higher, but there is no question of denying the mind.”
The body loves touch, movement. Help the body to be alive
The reason for the “hypertrophy of the mind” in our culture, Varvara Sidorova considers Christianity, in which the sinful body must be suppressed. “Two thousand years ago, this was a very useful message,” notes the psychotherapist. – By the way, even in Soviet times we cultivated, strange as it may sound, a completely Christian attitude towards the body – its needs were simply ignored. But now we need to restore the balance.”
Become your own friend
«Баланс» и есть ключевое слово. И битва между сторонниками тела и духа имеет смысл, только если победителями из нее выйдут обе стороны, обогатив всех нас новыми возможностями, новым ощущением жизни. «Восток прислушивается к Западу, – рассказывает Варвара Сидорова. – А вот нам еще предстоит научиться слышать свое тело.
Не шагать пешком три километра, когда тяжело, а сесть в автобус или вызвать такси. Выпить воды не когда будет время, а когда хочется пить. К сожалению, клиентов старшего поколения приходится учить таким простым вещам».
David Le Breton calls us to be attentive to our feelings, to ourselves, to feel our presence in the world and enjoy it: “It is this that ultimately keeps us feeling that living is happiness.” And Varvara Sidorova reveals a few more “recipes”:
«Тело любит прикосновения – самые обычные и невинные, даже если сознание считает их недопустимыми. Тело любит движение, но мы редко даем ему шанс двигаться. Помогите телу быть живым. Когда мы чувствуем его как живое, оно становится нашим другом».