If I see myself as something other than my body …

• I’m more prone to push it too hard in a workout, drink too much, eat too much, and overall push the “body-machine” to excess.

• Likewise, I’m more likely to push away pain as something in between me and what I want to do.

• I’m more apt to believe my body is broken, and that its innate desires and tendencies are what’s wrong with me.

• I need experts at every turn telling me how to stand, sit, walk, breathe and eat.

If I see myself as only my body …

• I can get pretty neurotic about my alignment, form and posture.

• I might take something simple, like a rolled ankle, and turn it into a psychoemotional problem. I’ll believe that rolled ankles are always caused by a faulty relationship to one’s center, or a lack of grounding, or the like.

• I can get lost in the “pleasure principle,” of doing what feels good because my body is the best guide. I never really see my own blind spots (although I’ll think I see them).

• I’ll tend to be much more interested in catharsis—physical and emotional release—than in getting to what’s causing imbalances in the first place.

May these suggestions be parameters that guide you to a sweet spot for you, the only person that matters as far as your body is concerned.