quotes, quotations and passages about the body

body

One day I decided that I was beautiful
and so I carried out my life as if I was a
beautiful girl. It doesn't have anything to
do with how the world perceives you.
What matters is what you see.

Gabourey Sidbie

The body you're born with sculpts your personality as intricately and definingly as any life experience. For nearly eighteen years, my six-foot-seven-inches-ness made me shy, elusive, and vigilantly self-conscious. . . Twenty-five years later, I love being tall. What could be cooler? It's my pleasure to grab soup or cashews on high shelves for mothers in supermarkets. I like the fact that my kids won't ever lose me in a crowd. Peter Smith

I know the human body from the cradle to the grave. I'm a mother. I was an art student. I love bodies in every guise. They're nature, so by nature they're beautiful. Patricia Volk

I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will. . . . Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I'm a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping. Margaret Atwood The Handmaid's Tale

And I said to my body, softly, "I want to be your friend." It took a long breath and replied, "I've been waiting my whole life for this." Nayyirah Waheed

I've finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-
delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from
place to place, now and in the years to come.

Anna Quindlen

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Your body is not who you are. The mind and spirit transcend the body.

Christopher Reeve

To keep the body in good health is a duty, for otherwise
we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom, and
keep our mind strong and clear. Water surrounds
the lotus petal, but does not wet its petals.

The Buddha

The body is the soul's house. Shouldn't we therefore
take care of our house so that it doesn't fall into ruin?

Philo Judaeus

I look at my imperfect body and see its patches of history, like stamps
on my passport. The stamps aren't the kind of thing that would make
me throw off my towel at the gym or be the first to jump naked into a
lake. But like a good story, they remind me of where I've been, and
the annoying and endearing people I've met along the way.

Betsy Carter

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a wise and intuitive counselor
available 24/7? You're in luck--you already have one. Your body!
Our bodies carry ancient wisdom. We literally live within a temple
of intuitive and instinctive wisdom. Sometimes we pay attention
and access body wisdom; but unfortunately, the aphorism "Mrs. Smith
lived a short distance from her body" is sadly true for many of us.

Sue Patton Thoele

You are not your body. It is just something you wear for a while,
because living in the earthplane is infinitely more meaningful and more
involved if you are encased in its trappings and subject to its rules.

P.M.H. Atwater

Professionals at living would not mar their day's run of the human machine,
as most of us do, would not impair its marvelous expression, its output, by
overeating or undereating, or by irregular living. They would not allow
themselves to be crippled for days by burning out its delicate brain and
nerve cells with the fires of hot temper, by shocks of hatred, jealousy,
fear or worry. Instead, they would protect this marvelously delicate and
sensitive mechanism from its multitude of physical and mental enemies.

Orison Swett Marden
The Joys of Living

The difficulty is to learn to perceive with your whole body, not with
just your eyes and reason. The world becomes a stream of tremendously
rapid, unique events. So you must trim your body to make it a good
receptor. The body is an awareness; and it must be treated impeccably.

Carlos Castaneda

The body enjoys a great share in our being, and has an eminent place in it.
Its structure and composition, therefore, are worthy of proper consideration.

Michel de Montaigne

If you want to experience the body, you must live in the body!
That's why the ancient sages and saints didn't know what to do
with their bodies: they left them when they meditated,
so the body didn't participate at all.

The Mother

There's a world of difference. . . between that information to which
we now presumably have access to by way of computers, libraries,
and the rest of it, great stockpiles of data, and the knowledge that
people have in their bones by which they do good work and lead good lives.

Wendell Berry

The body is a multilingual being. It speaks through its color and its
temperature, the flush of recognition, the glow of love, the ash of
pain, the heat of arousal, the coldness of nonconviction. . . . It
speaks through the leaping of the heart, the falling of the
spirits, the pit at the center, and rising hope.

Clarissa Pinkola Estés

It is amazing how many hints and guides and intuitions for living
come to the sensitive person who has ears to hear what their
body is saying.

Rollo May

body

Consciously observe the stream of thoughts you direct toward
your body (I need Botox. Why so dense? I hate, hate, hate my
nose). Once you've noticed your own abusive mantras, begin
countering each one with some genuine praise. . . If you loathe
your upper-arm flab, make yourself think about the fact that this
arm, flab and all, can participate in procedures as delicate as
threading a needle or as powerful as shifting a car in gear. . .
This may feel absurd at first, but if you pay attention, you'll find
that countering abuse with praise has a wonderful effect
on your own body.

Martha Beck

When we're awake in our bodies and senses, the world
comes alive. Wisdom, creativity, and love are discovered
as we relax and awaken through our bodies.

Tara Brach

Body hatred has been defined as a personal problem. But it
is a social problem, a political problem, a cultural problem. It
is not accidental or incidental. It is induced, injected, and
programmed. . . The antidote to body hatred is social activism
and community. None of us is strong enough to stand up to
the daily onslaught of propaganda, imagery, programming,
seduction, and mind control. But as a group, we can shift the tyranny.

Eve Ensler

Body Neutrality

Many are now moving away from the body positivity movement and the pressures that come from it entirely, and instead are getting behind the body neutrality movement. Rather than focusing on physical appearance, body neutrality is the idea that we can exist without having to think too much about our bodies one way or the other.

We are all more than just our bodies. We are complex beings with a range of emotions and feelings about our bodies.

And because body neutrality de-emphasizes the focus on appearance, it allows us to better appreciate all the things our bodies are able to do. being grateful for being able to do the hobbies you love or appreciating your body for what it's capable of doing are both examples of body neutrality.

In fact, there's evidence to suggest that body neutrality can be beneficial to us. Across cultures and demographic groups, body neutrality is associated with more positive body image and mental wellbeing. And the good news is there are many ways you can develop body neutrality, including writing-based therapies, yoga, and spending time in nature.

Viren Swami
"Why the Body Positivity Movement Risks Turning Toxic"

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In our bodies, in this moment, there live the seed impulses of the
change and spiritual growth we seek, and to awaken them we must
bring our awareness into the body, into the here and now.

Pat Ogden

Here in this body are the sacred rivers: here are the sun and moon
as well as all the pilgrimage places. . . I have not encountered
another temple as blissful as my own body.

Saraha

To connect with our bodies is to learn to trust ourselves,
and from that comes power.

Mirka Knaster

It is confidence in our bodies, minds, and spirits that allows
us to keep looking for new adventures, new directions to grow
in, and new lessons to learn--which is what life is all about.

Oprah Winfrey

I may wish I had different calves and thighs, and no knock-knees.
But I like who I am as a person. And because I believe that there's
that there's much more to me than my looks,
other people believe it, too.

Felicia P. Fields

There is deep wisdom within our very flesh, if we can only
come to our senses and feel it.

Elizabeth A. Behnke

body

And I said to my body, softly, "I want to be your friend."
It took a deep breath. And replied, "I have been waiting my whole life for this."

Nayyirah Waheed