The Reconciliation

What does our body want? What happens when it tries to talk to our mind? Find out a possible course of conversation that could happen between them in this uniquely created episode.

[Fireplace Sound FX and Intro Music]

Body: Hi Henry!

Mind: Oh, hi, Henry!

Body: What are you up to?

Mind: Nothing really, I’m just chilling here by the fireplace.

Body: Are you sure? You look like you’re occupied with something.

Mind: Do I? Hmm… maybe you’re right. I guess I’m trying to figure something out, just like I always do.

Body: Yeah, even when you’re chilling, you just can’t stop generating ideas and thoughts?

Mind: Well, what can I say, Henry, this is what I am. Thinking is the purpose of my existence, isn’t it?

Body: Indeed. You are not wrong.

Mind: But never mind how absorbed I am with ideas and thoughts. Tell me about you, Henry. What are you doing tonight? It’s not like you to be here.”

Body: Me? What do you think I’m doing? I’m bored sitting there and doing nothing. So I decided to come here and have a chat with you. And besides, we need to talk.

Mind: Oh, hold it right there! What do you mean we need to talk?

Body: It’s about us, Henry.

Mind: Wait… What? I never realized we had problems in our relationship. Do we have a problem?

Body: Actually, yes. We do have a problem now.

Mind: Oh… What is it?

Body: You and I haven’t been spending as much quality time as we used to.

Mind: Oh, come on, that’s not true.

Body: I’m serious. When was the last time we spend time totally in sync?

Mind: Hey, don’t say like that. Didn’t we have a great time together with our workout session yesterday?

Body: Oh, Henry, think again. You were paying more attention to that workout music than me.

Mind: Don’t be ridiculous. That music helped us through the last set of the exercise. If anything, it benefited both of us.

Body: No, it benefited YOU, not ME. I didn’t need it. I never do. You are the one who needs it because you’re weak. You’re pathetic!

Mind: Excuse me, what did you say just now? I am the leader in this relationship. And I’m not weak.

Body: Oh, you are? Then, act like one! Just put yourself to the task, give me a command, and I’m ready to serve you, just like I have in the last 3 decades. Don’t rely on external stimulus. We’re capable of doing anything together. ANYTHING!

Mind: Henry, I just used some upbeat music to get myself through the workout, so what? It’s not like I’m using it every single time. Why are you making such a big deal about it?

Body: You don’t see it, do you? Whenever you loosen up yourself with those workouts, you also tend to eat less healthy, which is bad for me.

Mind: How so?

Body: Every time you use music to cheat yourself in a workout session, you also trick me into doing much more work than I’m supposed to and yet you give me little focus. And then, you use these intense sessions as an excuse to feed me with junk food while you’re consuming shows on Netflix or Disney +.

Mind: Oh … so that’s what this is about – you wanting to get better nutrition.

Body: No, you’re not listening to me. This is more than just about me getting nutrition. This is about our relationship – about maintaining our dynamic.

Mind: Don’t make it sound bigger than it really is, Henry. I think you’re overreacting.

Body: I am NOT overreacting! Have you not noticed that these days you’re making more typing errors than you did in the past?

Mind: Yeah… But what does that have to do with our relationship?

Body: YOU and I are supposed to be in sync all the time. When one is faster than the other, the faster one is supposed to wait for the slower one. That way, we make less mistakes and become more productive while also being stable and peaceful at the same time. That’s how our partnership works. But when you’re rushing into things with everything you got without waiting for me, you start to make typing errors. That is really hurting our dynamic.

Mind: So what am I supposed to do?

Body: You need to slow down and give me more attention so that I can properly catch up with what you want and serve you to the best extent possible.

Mind: Well, I guess these days I’m just getting used to with high-speed internet, fast devices, and snappy experiences all around. So maybe, my mind wants to go fast all the time and you’re left behind sometimes. Why don’t you just keep up?

Body: I am trying to. But you need to realize that there’s a limit to how much I can catch up. Unlike you, I have a whole mechanical symphony to manage.

Mind: I see you have a point.

Body: There’s also another concern regarding these super-fast technological experiences you’re talking about. These are messing up with your attention span too! I can sense that you are constantly jumping from one thought to the next. If you keep no control over that, you will start to lose your ability to focus on the task at hand and your performance will take a hit.

Mind: Well, the nature of my work depends heavily on my performance. I can’t afford to lose it.

Body: Ah..Finally, I get your attention!

Mind: What you have said sounds alarming. But there’s a good reason why I’m racing from one thing to the next. These days I’m getting much busier than I used to be, you know? I am needed in multiple projects for my intellect as well as my creativity. Then there are endless business responsibilities and personal matters to deal with. And then there are people always reaching out for my knowledge. It seems like as I grow older, I have more things to chew on with much less time. So, as a result, I feel like my hours become increasingly valuable and I started trying to get everything done as quickly as possible before another one comes seeking for my attention. I think that’s how I started losing it.

Body: Yeah, that explains how you and I stopped spending quality time together and how our partnership began to fall apart.

Mind: I’m sorry, buddy.

Body: I’m sorry too, Henry. But the thing is, if we stop paying attention to each other and keep ourselves out of sync frequently, we’re going to lose the full experience of being alive! We can’t let that happen. We must learn to live our life to the fullest extent.

Mind: And how do you suggest we do that?

Body: Well, we can start with regulating our dynamic wisely.

Mind: What do you mean by that?

Body: You like to assume leadership for both of us and I have no problem with that. But, sometimes you need to stop putting me on autopilot with a task and leaving me behind. I need you to be there and then right by my side as a co-pilot.

Mind: Wait … Have I been putting you on autopilot most of the time?

Body: Yes. Let me explain how you got things wrong. So, YOU … are the faster one of us, for obvious reasons. So every time you lead, you tend to switch from one thing to the next much faster than I can, and then I’m left with a queue of tasks that you started. For example, when you decide to eat, I try my best to chew whatever comes in contact with the tongue. But meanwhile, you are not paying much attention to me. All you do is keep looking at the phone, or talking to other people, or figuring out your next social media post. You just keep on indulging yourself with one input after another. And since I have no idea of how long I should be chewing the food you gave me, I have to finish it off quickly because I’m already lagging behind. So not only do I lose the ability to perform the task properly, but I’m also losing touch with you.

Mind: I see. So you’re suggesting me to be a co-pilot.

Body: That’s right. You know what’s good and what’s not for both of us. So, without you by my side, I’m at a loss.

Mind: I guess I’ve been so used to being a leader and asking you to follow me with whatever goal I want to achieve. Do you have any suggestion that can help me unlearn that behavior?

Body: There are a few things you can do — with eating being an example of one of those. You can also use physical exercises as an opportunity to be my co-pilot. You can develop the habit of getting through a workout session, focusing on me 100%. Take every session as a chance to spend quality time with me.

Mind: I see. But exercising only happens a few times a week at max. I don’t think it’s enough for me to change my behaviors.

Body: Well, If you are serious about this, you can also practice Slow Living.

Mind: Oh, I think I’m familiar with the concept of Slow Living.

Body: No, you’re not. This is not the type of slow living that focuses on slowing down the pace of life and embracing things in a mindful way.

Mind: It’s not?

Body: It isn’t. The Slow Living I’m referring to is to literally live your life as slowly as possible. You breathe slow, you move slow, you talk slow, everything slow.

Mind: But how would I keep up with a normal life if I do everything so slow?

Body: Exactly! That’s what we are after. I mean, of course, you will find it challenging to keep yourself that slow, but only then will you find ample opportunities to sync with me. And besides, you don’t need to do that for long. You only need to do this for a few minutes at a time.

Mind: Okay, so eat slow and live slow. Got it. What else have you got?

Body: Whenever you are typing something on a keyboard, you can slow down your thoughts, feel me at the fingertips and take a chance to sync better with me. Doing so will help you stay more active as well as make less mistakes. And also while taking shower …

Mind: Wait! Hold it right there. Are you gonna tell me to sync with you during shower time too? I don’t think that’s a good idea. You know I’m the creative type. I often get ideas while showering or letting myself follow multiple trains of thoughts. If I keep focusing only on you, I worry that I’d start to lose my creativity.

Body: Oh, don’t worry, Henry. You won’t lose it. Even when you’re trying to focus on me, you will still manage to get some ideas because that’s your nature. You’ll always let yourself drift in the sea of thoughts and I’m okay with it. The main reason for us to practice synching with each other again is to ensure that you don’t go too far, too fast, and get out of control.

Mind: Alright, I’ll take note of that.

Body: And finally, there’s one more thing I’d like to suggest.

Mind: What’s that?

Body: You’ll need to put me in charge from time to time so that you can be a follower and rest your racing mind for a while.

Mind: I don’t even know how to do that.

Body: It’s not that hard, actually. I will explain with an example. Let’s say you are doing the dishes. And when you do, don’t try to think about anything, but observe how I am handling the task automatically. I don’t mean that you have to stop thinking at all. I just mean that you follow my lead by simply observing what I’m doing.

Mind: You mean passively observing like in meditation or mindfulness practices?

Body: Umm.. a bit similar, yes. But the goal is different.

Mind: Different, how?

Body: In meditation-like practices, the goal is to build awareness of what’s going on around you or within yourself. But with what I’m talking about, the goal for us is to synchronize with each other. Normally, when you lead, it’s usually very hard for me to keep up because I’m the slower one. But when we do the opposite by putting me in charge, the task of keeping up with me, for you, is a lot easier since you’re the faster one of us. You’ll need only a tiny fraction of your effort to catch up with me. And then, BOOM! We’re synched!

Mind: Ahh..Now that makes sense. I like it. I’ll give it a try soon.

Body: Oh, here’s a suggestion. Why don’t you try it by sharing our conversation for the next podcast episode?

Mind: So you want me to use this conversation between us as a script for the upcoming episode?

Body: That’s right. I believe you will have a good chance to practice our synching as you type it in as a script.

Mind: Hmm… That’s a brilliant idea. Fascinating, especially considering it’s coming from you.

Body: You don’t think I’d have it in me, do you?

Mind: Honestly, I don’t. I’d never even thought you are capable of thinking like me.

Body: Well, don’t forget, Henry, that I am you. If you’re smart, I’ll be smart in my own ways too.

Mind: And that’s what makes us the best partners.

Body: Exactly!

Mind: Well, Henry, thank you for coming up to me and enlightening me with this concept tonight.

Body: You’re welcome, Henry. I’m just really glad we had a chance to reconcile. Would you like a handshake?

Mind: Yeah, a handshake would be nice. But you do realize I don’t have the capability to do that. Can you just touch the face with both hands and pretend like we’re hugging?

Body: That works for me.

Mind: Alright then, buddy. It was lovely spending time with you today. I’ll hang out with you again later. Goodnight!

Body: Goodnight, Henry.

…

Mind (to self): Whew! Dude is like unbelievable. Giving me advice once and already speaking like he can outsmart me. And what is even the point of offering me a handshake? Is he trying to mock me or something? … @#$%&!

Body: I can hear you.

Mind: Just kidding!

[Outro Music]