The Art of Living with Your Best Friend

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Today, let’s talk about your best friend. Your very first friend and your very last friend on this planet. Take a moment and approach a mirror. Yes, this friend is your magnificent body, a miracle of miracles: enduring, protective, and ever-present. It is your guide, your servant, your best teacher, and your closest confidant. It carries your soul, supports your journey, and witnesses your life in ways no one else can.

If it carries the stern gaze of a strict teacher or an over-controlling parent, the analytical eyes of a critic, or the cold look of an authority figure, let it soften. Fill your heart with kindness, smile gently, and greet your body again. This is your dearest, most beloved friend.

If our body could tell its story, it would speak of lifelong trials and endurance. It has held the weight of neglect, trauma, and overexertion. Created from love, it is often treated as though it were disposable. Often unloved, overworked, and ignored, it remains steadfast through every experience.

1. The Root of Your Strength

Every journey begins at the roots. Before reaching for spiritual heights or cosmic understanding, turn to the vessel through which we experience life on this planet, because the body is our most essential tool for living fully and engaging with every moment. The simple acts of nourishment and care form the foundation for abundance, healthy relationships, and self-fulfilment.

The body is grounded in the root chakra, the base of our energy. A. Judith’s Eastern Body, Western Mind offers insight into the root chakra, describing it as the seat of our survival, security, and connection to the physical world. When this base is unbalanced, life feels heavy and unstable, as if the earth itself has slipped from beneath our feet.

Your body carries this balance in every bone, muscle, and nerve. Treat it as sacred ground: give it water, food, air, touch, and love. Ensure it feels safe and supported for its own sake, and only then can it fully support you in life.

2. Your Interior Becomes Your Exterior

Your thoughts hold immense power. What you repeat in your mind becomes the reality your body and life reflect. Imagine an old record, playing the same turn over and over. The universe delivers faithfully, sometimes not what you consciously want, yet perfectly fulfilling the deepest, most persistent thoughts.

Repeating self-criticism such as “I don’t like my body,” “I don’t like how I look,” or “Something’s wrong with me” creates tension, manifesting as heaviness, tightness, or fatigue.

As Louise Hay teaches, anger or harsh criticism toward the body compounds the effect: “You must not get angry at your body for any reason. Anger is another affirmation, and it tells your body that you hate it. Your cells are aware of every thought you have.”

Old patterns and limiting beliefs may surface like familiar shadows. Acknowledge them without judgement, and consciously replace them with empowering statements: “I am healthy,” “I am beautiful,” “I am vibrant.” Let each affirmation settle into your cells, rewriting your inner melody.

3. The Language Your Body Speaks

We often avoid honestly expressing our feelings for the sake of peace. We bend, we soften, we pretend, we shrink to avoid being judged as “difficult” or “toxic,” and to escape the fear of separation, rejection, or loneliness. Each suppressed feeling embeds itself into the energy body, the subtle layer surrounding the physical body, storing emotions and memories and creating strain. Over time, this emotional clutter manifests physically: tension in the chest, digestive disturbances, skin flare-ups, or an overburdened liver and heart.

As Bessel van der Kolk reminds us in The Body Keeps the Score, the body keeps score, holding not only the trauma we remember but also that which never reached our conscious mind. Every sigh, ache, and tight shoulder is a call from your cells, inviting acknowledgement and nurturing.

Emotions also have texture. Anger may thrum in your veins like a drumbeat. Anxiety may tighten your stomach like cords. Sadness may weigh on your chest like a familiar stone. Every part of your body speaks truth. You simply need to listen.

4. The Hidden Competition Within

Inside your body, there is always a quiet competition for energy. Your over-concerned mind often takes priority. Your ego claims attention. Your emotional (astral) self demands its share. And yet your physical body, the one carrying all your experiences, your scars, your victories, and your pain, becomes the scapegoat.

It bears the weight of constant self-criticism, neglect, and unspoken tensions. This is the body’s silent labour, holding space for every part of us that is otherwise unseen, bearing the hidden, unresolved conflicts and disharmony within our inner selves. Recognising this allows you to give it the care it deserves.

5. Becoming the Gardener of Your Inner Landscape

Your body is not a machine to be fixed but a living companion to be heard and treated with all your love and care. When you give your attention, your kindness, and your patience, energy begins to redistribute. The mind learns to step back. The ego relaxes. The heart opens to joy.

You become the gardener of your own inner landscape, nurturing what grows, pruning what is harmful, and celebrating every green shoot of vitality. Your body deserves your love, attention, and gentleness first, before you can share them with the world.

6. The Healing Path of Transformation

Healing begins with awareness, kindness, and conscious choices. Nurturing yourself in small ways builds physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

• Change the Way You Talk to Yourself: Replace criticism with compassion. Words create energy, so be gentle.

  
  

• Practise Emotional Awareness: Regularly check in with your feelings. Allow yourself to feel rather than suppress. Journaling, meditation, or therapy can help release build-up.

  
  

• Eat with Presence: Slow down. Eat without guilt, as it is heavier than any meal. Food labelled “bad” creates inner stress, so practise balance, not control. Food absorbed with gratitude nourishes the body and uplifts your energy.

  
  

• Align Your Inner Beliefs: Ask yourself, “What limiting belief is blocking my healing?” Uncover subconscious patterns. Inner alignment is the root of lasting transformation.

  
  

• Feed Your Heart, Not Just Your Stomach: Emotional hunger is real. Ask, “What do I really need right now?” Reach for connection, new practices to uplift and satisfy your spiritual hunger for beauty and creativity.

  
  

• Visualise Healing and Light: Imagine your body glowing with light. Picture fear or pain gently leaving your energy field.

  
  

• Reconnect with Nature: Walk barefoot, feeling the earth’s warmth. Sit by a tree and ask for its strength and grounding wisdom. Fill your chest with the fragrances of nature. Sense the sun’s rays in your hair.

  
  

• Cleanse Your Energy Field: Move your body, stretch, breathe, and shake off tension. Visualise a gentle light shower cleansing your aura.

  
  

• Make Room for Joy: Laugh, dance, paint, play, rest. Joy feeds your life force and revitalises your body.

  
  

• Seek Support: Work with holistic practitioners who understand the body’s energy, emotions, and innate intelligence. Reiki, somatic therapy, naturopathy, or mindful nutrition can offer deep support.

7. Honouring Your Sacred Vessel

Your body is sacred. It carries your soul, supports your journey, and reflects your care. Honour it. Listen to it. Healing is a lifelong conversation nourished by attention, kindness, and care.

Your body is your most loyal friend. Treat it as such, and it will carry you gracefully through life.

References and Inspirations

Inspired by A. Judith (Eastern Body, Western Mind), B. van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score), and L. Hay (You Can Heal Your Life).

Disclaimer

The reflections shared in this blog are offered for inspiration, self-awareness, and spiritual exploration. They are not intended as medical, psychological, or professional advice. Please seek guidance from qualified health-care or mental health professionals for any concerns regarding your physical or emotional well-being.