The truth of the matter is if we listened to our bodies and

“The truth of the matter is if we listened to our bodies and cleared our psychologies, we would inherently know what we need to do to stay healthy, and there wouldn’t be a market for diet pills, extreme cleanses, or low-calorie, pre-packaged junk food.” — thus spoke Tara Stiles, a teacher of movement and mindfulness, whose wisdom flows from the ancient river of self-awareness. Her words, though born in the modern world, carry the echo of timeless truth: that the body is not our enemy, but our greatest teacher, and that health, like wisdom, begins not with control but with listening.

In her saying, Stiles reveals the great paradox of modern life — that in our endless search for health, we have drifted furthest from its source. We chase pills, diets, and promises, mistaking complication for care, and commerce for wisdom. Yet, if we only listened to our bodies, as she counsels, we would hear the quiet voice that has always known what is right for us. For within the body lies an ancient intelligence — one that speaks through hunger, fatigue, desire, and rest. But humanity, deafened by noise and haste, no longer hears it.

The phrase “cleared our psychologies” is the heart of her teaching. It speaks of cleansing not the body, but the mind — the thoughts, fears, and illusions that cloud our perception. Our disconnection from health is not physical but spiritual; we have forgotten the harmony between mind and flesh. The body tells us when to eat, how to move, when to rest. Yet the anxious mind — filled with doubt, guilt, and vanity — drowns out its wisdom. Thus, we trade self-trust for dependency, intuition for instruction, and end up feeding an endless market of diet pills and pre-packaged junk food, while starving the deeper self.

The ancients knew well what Tara Stiles reminds us of. The philosopher Hippocrates, father of medicine, once said, “The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well.” He taught that health was not a product to be bought but a balance to be lived. The yogis of India, too, spoke of the same truth: that the body and mind are one, and that by clearing the mind of delusion — by “clearing our psychologies” — the body returns to its natural rhythm, its effortless wisdom of well-being. These teachings, though thousands of years old, live again in Stiles’ modern words.

Consider the tale of Milarepa, the Tibetan sage who once sought power through dark means, only to fall ill from his own corruption. When he turned inward, renouncing artifice and poison, he began to live on wild nettles and pure awareness. His body grew frail, yet his spirit grew radiant. “I no longer seek health,” he said, “for I have found harmony.” This story is not about austerity, but about alignment — about learning to live as nature intended, not in defiance of it. It is the same harmony that Stiles speaks of: to trust in the body’s truth once more.

The origin of her wisdom lies in the understanding that every ailment of the body begins as a disturbance in the mind. The marketplace thrives on our disconnection — on our confusion about what we truly need. If we were still, if we listened, there would be no need for extreme cleanses, no hunger for synthetic cures, for we would live as our ancestors once did: attuned, awake, and whole. It is not knowledge we lack, but quiet — the space in which to hear the inner voice that whispers, “You already know.”

Let this be your lesson, O seeker of health: do not search outward for what lies within. When your body speaks, listen with reverence. When it hungers, feed it with care; when it tires, give it rest; when it aches, ask why, and heal the cause, not the symptom. Clear your psychology — sweep away comparison, self-hatred, and noise — and let your body become your compass. For in its rhythm lies truth, and in its truth lies freedom.

So live not by the dictates of the marketplace, but by the wisdom of your own being. Trust the sacred dialogue between mind and body; it has never deceived you. When you walk this path, every meal becomes a prayer, every breath a blessing, and every motion an act of remembrance — that health, as Tara Stiles teaches, is not something to be found, but something to be remembered. For the temple of well-being was never outside of you; it has always been within, waiting patiently for you to listen.