Embracing the Animal

May 17, 2017

    Humans are half animal, half god. Our minds have the ability to ponder the infinite, create devices that allow us to go into outer space and eradicate entire strains of disease. Our bodies still cling to evolutionary traits designed to help survive in, as Thomas Hobbes would call, a state of nature (this is when survival is of paramount importance and no moral compasses guide any actions. Life is constantly on the edge of death). We cling to negative memories much more easily than to positive memories because remembering the negative, our bodies believe, increase our chances of survival while the positive are superfluous. A tiger attack compared to a pretty sunset. A negative comment amidst a sea of praise.

    Evolution is the gradual adaptation of a species for the sake of survival. Before humans, animals evolved on a body level, take Darwin’s birds in the Galapagos, the bird’s beaks changed depending on the food source on each island. Now our technology and tools develop much quicker than our biology ever could, so we are evolving much faster than the natural rate. What is seen as good for survival in our western culture is the ability to sit for long periods of time, eat large amounts of food, and intake large amounts of stimulus. From a young age, we are taught to sit quietly and be studious, so sitting quietly and repressing emotions and sensations becomes valued. People who can repress their emotions and sit for hours on end can get a job that ensures their survival and ability to reproduce, subsequently passing on those stifled genes (check out the portrayal of humans in Wall-E).

    Obviously this is a simplification of society, but I feel the point is clear. What if we become so used to being sedentary creatures then we lose connection to our bodies, and thus a primal, crucial, intelligence. Until the day when consciousness can be separated from the body, no good can come from neglect and poor treatment of the body. Physical imbalances cause energetic and emotional imbalances, and vice versa. If our belly muscles are tight from an unconscious, constant tension, then we will begin to get heartburn and indigestion. We will be unable to breath deep which prevents us from calming our nervous system, leaving us in a perpetual state of stress. Our health then declines, our moods decline, and we weigh down the people around us. When we feel crappy, we crave junk food which will only make us more sick and sad. Our gut and microbiota adapt to crave junk food and dig us even deeper into a poisonous hole. Then we crave distraction which will make our problems seem non-existent because there is no need (or an actual inability) to confront them.

   These problems we have in (literally in our being) us are from our mind and body’s response to life experiences. So long as a human survives, its most basic task is done. In cave dweller times, that was ok because survival was the primary concern. In modern society, survival is often taken for granted, and what we often hold in highest regard is success and happiness. When we are higher in the pyramid of needs (see Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs), simple survival is no longer a useful marker for success. This is when we have to start diving deep into our conditioned behavior and shifting the paradigm from survive to thrive. Unfortunately, this is not common knowledge, so many people either do not believe in the importance of self study and improvement, or are ignorant of their capacity to change in such a profound way.

Resources:

1. The body Keeps The Score (trauma and embodied healing): https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495069596&sr=1-1&keywords=the+body+keeps+the+score
2. Elliott Hulse “your mind is your body”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjWKYKVBNRA
3. Ido Portal Animal Locomotion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufAUAYrxfIY
4.  Wall-E: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/