I was asked this question this week and was surprised. I had not asked myself before.
The short answer is that it’s complicated. The longer answer invites the larger question of What’s my relationship to my body? Putting these two questions side by side, the mind and body can’t really be divided, put into a beautiful bento box.
I used to think that there would come a certain point in my life where I could answer these questions and be fully at ease with my description. In my 55th year of life I can definitively say that this is not the case.
The exploration of these two questions are ongoing and the answers shift as new experiences arise. What felt like solid and rock steady certainty in my 20’s has given way to a more fluid and less certain understanding. This latter sense has a certain spaciousness quality to it.
With age, the body has become a much more present guide. I no longer can ignore my body and set it aside without feeling the consequences quickly. I feel my body aging, sort of like a fish knowing it’s in water. This is increasingly interesting. I’m grateful for Yoga and meditation. These two tools have become useful in discovering my body and befriending it, just as it is. The mind is in there somewhere.
