Strengthening my mind-body connection

Utne Reader has an article called "Love Your Fat Self" in the current issue. There's a quote that really appeals to me in the article. It's by mindfulness expert Susan Albers: The dieting mind-set is akin to taking a knife and cutting the connection that is your body's only line of communication with your head. The article goes on to say that "there is little hope for long-term improvement in health when this vital line is severed." Amen to these ideas. I live by them.

I am often drawn to diets. They are like magnets, pulling me into its force field -- like when my friend mentioned the ginger-lemon detox that she and her sister were doing recently -- at first, I scoffed and resisted ("I'm done playing with my food!" I said to myself). Then, days later, I'm researching this detox on the internet. I, like everyone else, want there to a be simple formula for sustained change. And it's right here in front of me, yet I keep resisting it. Following the Diet's Don't Work guidelines: eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm no longer hungry, eat mindfully, and eat what I want. Simple forumula: come from within, LISTEN to myself.

The place where I get lost is when I use food for emotional reasons. My top three food triggers: anger, guilt and the biggest: being trapped. My biggest trapped place is parenting. I have a definition for Good Moms. Good Moms stay at home with their children. Good Moms put their children before themselves. Good Moms center their lives around their children. What really works for me is to work outside my home. When I'm engaged, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually, I have energy for my kids and for others. When I put myself at the top of my priority list a little bit each day, I am nourished. When I have a vision for my life that includes my children (rather than focuses on them), I have direction, a compass by which to measure my progress.

In 2008, I'm continuing to strengthen the connection between my mind and my body that Susan Albers articulates in Utne Reader. What's your connection between your mind and body look like? How do you strengthen it?