An Ode to my Animal Body

 A week of thinking. Of communicating. Of planning. Of being a 21st-century human.

As soon as my skis start to glide on the snow, I feel what my native friend would call my animal body, suppressed all week, come to life.

I look briefly at a map without taking it in, instead, I start with dizzying loops around the close trails, until the restlessness subsides enough to focus on directions. This animal body longs for a reality where directions are instinctual again, not lines on a map.

I attack a hill and my lungs burn instantly. Too early. Despite the restless energy, today this animal isn't an aggressive one.

It's playful.

Today it's a rabbit.

The rabbit bounds over hills and through valleys with joy.

All week, learning how to be a better human, to listen to everyone's views, to stay safe, to be a part of the group.

And now to bound through the hills wild and free.

As I toss my phone in the side pocket of my pack, I think, "What if I fall and ruin my phone?"

"Ha! I'm nimble on my feet. What-ifs be damned!"

To a rabbit, worrying is foreign, as is the idea of having control over anything.

And now that I have glided through the hills, I throw my ears back and I start to RUN.

And oh! This rabbit can RUN!

My other bodies...

My water body - giver of life, empathy, healing, medicine...

Sick people get modern medicine these days.

My friends have therapists.

Most people can take care of themselves...

My spirit body- fully aware and accepting of death, sees the woes of life on earth as trivial...

It cannot speak very often for fear of being seen as cold-hearted.

In this world, a person suppresses at least half of their bodies in any given week.

But right now, my animal body RUNs.

I turn onto an open stretch and the snow is fast. In a rush of joy I raise up my hands and plant my poles, flying through the opening in the trees.

How do I know I have gone long enough? When my brain turns to thoughts of rabbits instead of thoughts of people. When I stop wondering if I have been out long enough.

And also when the rabbit reaches the starting point for the 2nd..., 3rd..., 4th...?! time and abruptly decides without consensus-

That was it!

And I watch the rabbit hop back into the forest without so much as a glance behind.