Do you know anyone that puts a lot of time and energy into the way they look? Are you someone that is very interested in appearing a certain way to others? Sometimes people can be very fixated on their outer appearance, or very pre-occupied about the image that is portrayed to others. And sometimes people do not care at all.

People that place very high importance on how they look are very strongly identified with their bodies, yet such heavy emphasis and attachment to the body is an imbalance. It is also an imbalance for people to hold very low value for their bodies, and feel completely uncomfortable in their own skin. Both of these extremes of imbalance are evidence of deep disconnection between a person and their body, and could potentially be underlying drivers of addiction.

You can be disconnected from your body by giving it way more attention than is needed. Here are a few examples.

• Obsessing about body fat
• Compulsive exercise
• Restricting calories or starving yourself
• Taking drugs like steroids for muscle gain or supplements for weight loss
• Over-spending on clothes or fashion items
• Posing or staging photos for social media

You can also be disconnected from your body by giving it way less attention than is needed. Some examples of this are:

• Over-indulgence with junk food, alcohol, or drugs
• Not getting enough physical activity
• Not cleaning or bathing yourself
• Not wearing clothes that fit

Our body is not the most important aspect of who we are, nor is it the least important. Along with the body, we also have a mind, a heart, and a soul that make up who we are. And all of these aspects are important. Our body is one of many aspects that make up our concept of self, and because it is only one of many, we should not let it become the aspect that defines our entire self.

Addicts are out of balance in many ways, with either too much attention, or not enough, hitting the different aspects of the self. Recovering from addiction means that you must restore many ways into balance. You must restore connections. For the body, if you overdo it, you can re-connect by doing less. If you are neglecting your body, you will need to do more.