Do you feel your body is a mere meat bag?

Post Reply New Topic

I understand. I often see my body as just a life support system for my brain, the "real" me.

I wish I could look better…so I guess I feel like my body is a significant entity.

I see myself as a Spiritual Being on a human journey of which embodiment and autism is just a fleeting experience.

However, my intuition tells me that diminishing the relative dimension
(being human, my sex and my human needs and desires) is not why I am here.

As a teacher of the Alexander Technique my whole working life has been helping people, help themselves use their bodies more effectively and efficiently in everyday life. Unconsciously, I was drawn to the Alexander Technique as a Way of Being more in the world and less overmend by it. This has very much been the case I'm pleased to say.

I didn't say I don't appreciate my body.
I'm very sensual (SPD) and I like it very much.
I just don't feel like my brain / body are connected.
It's like they're two different planes of existence.
In terms of sex my brain shuts off and I'm all physical.
In terms of thinking my body shuts off and I'm all cerebral.

Never the two shall meet.

Even though my experience is different than yours, I think yours is a fair and valid perspective to have.

In my case, my body's got its own medical issues and does not fit everyone's idea of beauty. Despite that, I am impressed with all of the things I've been able to do in this body. It's carried me through all kinds of adventures. Also, for what it's worth, I like the way I look, even when others don't. I look like me!

I have heard a lot of people say similar things, both on this forum and outside it. I imagine there are a lot of people who share this experience, even if I do not.

Really, isn't the separation between body and mind the basis for a lot of religions? The idea that our bodies die and our consciousness can continue on in one form or another is abundant in many eastern and western religions. Maybe people have been feeling a separation between body and mind since the beginning of human existence. Again, maybe I am the outlier here.

Yes, I agree - but in my case I feel quite dissociated.

When I was little I pictured God building people on an assembly line in the sky.
I always pictured that he forgot the final step with me.
The final step was some sort of lever that made our minds fuse to our bodies, like synthesis.
My "me" is solely based on my mind.
My body is just an accessory I can perceive via my nervous system.
I don't really feel like "I" exist in a physical form, even though I have sensory awareness.

That's why I consider myself non-binary.
My brain doesn't have a gender and my brain is "me".
My body is female and I'm fine with that, but it feels kind of third person.

I don't know about a "mere meat bag", but I definitely see my thoughts, feelings, memories etc. being what "I" am more than I see my arms or legs being what makes me "me".

Yes, same here with medical issues. As I said above, I'm very impressed with the fact that even though my body is very fragile, it managed to grow and give birth to a perfect baby. That was a miracle.

It's more that I am just not a physical person. I think, I imagine, I dream, I write. I don't run, swim, climb or jump. I am just not physical. I'm a thinker.

I feed my body very healthily, it's just fragile.

I think if I was medically transitioning I'd feel more "connected" to my body. "My body" doesn't usually feel like "mine", it looks a lot different than I internally expect it to.

That is a very interesting thought, Hero. It must be very difficult to be born into a body which doesn't feel the right gender or sex. (I hope I'm using the right terms, I am an old woman and not up to date)

I'm not a physical person but I've always felt like a woman in a woman's body.

I do feel this way about my body. A disappointing grotesque meat bag.

And all I can hear is Bender saying meat bag...

This is same for me. Sometimes, I am thinking that I am a concrete example of Descartes' mind-body dualism. I even advocated this at the university, since it seemed very clear at that time.

I don’t feel integrated with my body, but I think a lot of that is due to environmental conditioning and trauma.

These can be triggering mechanisms.

I would say, at this point, that I am totally "integrated" with my body.