I just arrived to Konstanz — on the border between Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Plenty of mountains around and beauty to behold.
All in all my time in Berlin was exactly right. Lots of shedding. No, lotttttts of shedding. I feel stiller and more expansive than I have in months.
That said, it’s with a heavy heart to announce that Gabi and I are postponing our yoga and nature retreat. It was a hard decision, but we simply couldn’t get enough people to financially commit. We have not set new dates yet, but we’re thinking some time next May (at the same location).
Of course, it’s as painful for me to let go of plans as it is for everyone else, but after years of flexing my 'surrender muscles', I find it quite easy. What’s meant to be will be. No failure. No conclusions drawn about what it all means. Just acceptance and gratitude for what I learned during the creationary phase of this project.
Anyways...I hope you enjoy this week's {Body} • {Mind} • {Soul} Newsletter and have a beautiful Sunday, - Ethan ॐ
P.S. If you want to hear my favorite podcast of the year so far, check out this one. It’s of Zach Bush on the Know Thyself podcast. I mean…wow wow wow!!!
Ethan Hill Owner, Yoga with Ethan
Does the body attack itself?
The concept of "autoimmune disease" suggests that your immune system — one of the most sophisticated defense networks in existence — suddenly becomes confused and starts destroying the very home it inhabits. This explanation (despite being only theoretical) has become so accepted that it's rarely questioned, but it contains a fundamental flaw in logic.
Consider the extraordinary intelligence of your body. At present, scientists confirm that your immune system can distinguish between millions of different molecular patterns, remembering threats it encountered decades ago while simultaneously adapting to new challenges. It does so, miraculously, while coordinating seamlessly with your nervous, endocrine, and circulatory systems in ways that make our most advanced computers look primitive.
Why would a system this sophisticated suddenly turn against the very organism it evolved to protect? It's like suggesting that a master architect would randomly demolish their own building, or a skilled pilot would deliberately crash their own aircraft mid-flight. The premise simply doesn't align with the remarkable precision we observe in literally every other biological process.
A reframe is needed. Your immune system creates inflammation, pain, and other symptoms for one reason: it's responding to a genuine threat. When you experience what doctors label as "autoimmune" symptoms, your body isn't malfunctioning — it's working exactly as designed, fighting an invader that medical science may not yet understand or be able to detect.
The possibility that unknown pathogens could be causing these conditions isn't far-fetched. Medical history is full of "mysterious" illnesses that were later discovered to have infectious causes. Stomach ulcers were considered stress-related until H. pylori bacteria were identified, many cancers are now linked to viral infections previously unknown, and so on…
Practice Step-by-step instructions to turn theory into healing.
In spirituality, ‘projection’ refers to the ego’s attempt to offload its own guilt onto others, be they friends, enemies, lovers, random Twitter accounts, and even inanimate objects.
“You are the one who is selfish/unholy/evil and screwing this up for everyone! You are the one who is asleep to what’s really going on here! You are the one causing these feelings to bubble up inside me!”
Unable to manage or sit with the uncomfortable, subconscious feelings of hypocrisy within, the ego really has no choice but to point the finger, honestly believing that that over there is causing the negativity felt over here.
It’s a bit like doggedly accusing everyone else of having purple skin when it’s you who wears the purple-tinted glasses.
This tactic is born out of necessity — for survival purposes, the organism must make sense of and pinpoint where the unsettling sensations are coming from, and why they’re there. In the case of guilt, the options are ultimately binary: either it’s you who is causing this, or it’s a stain within me. Most people are not willing to contemplate the possibility of the latter.
This, by the way, is the level at which many fire-and-brimstone sidewalk preachers evangelize from, warning of divine wrath and punishment, and unable to see that it is they, not their target, who are soaked to the bone in sin (ignorance born of separation).
Ending the mirror, funhouse, carnival ride of projection requires immense courage and humility. It means radical self-honesty, recognizing that your strongest reactions to others are an invitation to heal something about yourself.
Meditate Bite-sized audios to help you become the master of your mind.
“The whole world yearns after freedom, yet each creature is in love with his chains.” — Sri Aurobindo
Your chains are not the hefty mortgage, controlling spouse, or parental responsibilities. Your chains are the addiction to predictability.
These shackles — these attempts to anticipate and decide the future — feel heavy enough to be mistaken for safety, like a weighted blanket anchoring you to solid ground.
Yet correlation does not indicate causation. Just because predictability can feel safe doesn't mean safety originally comes from it.
True safety emerges from surrendering and entrusting God with your life. From trusting that whatever intelligence governs the orbiting of planets and the beating of your very own heart can also be wholly relied upon to navigate the uncertainty of tomorrow.
It is only with hand held by Spirit that the grip of false control releases, the nervous system finally relaxes, the mind ceases its paranoid calculations, and the soul discovers what freedom is like.
Journal Contemplative questions on the nature of inner freedom.