"I don't think I've respected my body, not deep down. I've valued it only for its functions and the purposes it served me: trying to attract others; avoiding feelings; running a faster (or, rather, a slightly less slow) 5km. Until today, I've not understood that my body is me, it is my life, rather than something that produces results. The unconscious uses the body to express some pain or rage or whatever emotion the mind cannot tolerate"
"What I've found most compelling is Freud's understanding that mind and body are developmentally integrated right from the start, because physical development demands psychological development and vice versa. The infant's bodily experiences such as the physical sensation of hunger propel the mind to develop the capacity to recognise hunger as a feeling that can be sated by a feed; and the emotional comfort and satisfaction repeatedly brought by feed after feed nourishes the child's mind just as the milk nourishes them physically."
A recent health warning prompted a return to running after many years, shifting motivation from appearance or anxiety-avoidance to caring for physical health. Past running served external aims—attraction, avoidance, or performance—treating the body as a means to ends rather than as part of the self. That shift provoked reflection on a longstanding lack of deep respect for the body and recognition that the unconscious can express intolerable feelings through bodily symptoms. Freud's perspective frames mind and body as developmentally integrated, with early bodily experiences like feeding shaping emotional and psychological capacities alongside physical growth.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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