The Heavy Load We Carry: Walking the Path to a Lighter Body

The River That Forgets to Move Becomes a Swamp

The water in the stream is sweet and clear because it does not stay in one place; it travels over the smooth stones and goes on a long journey to meet the big ocean. When a person decides to reduce the heavy load of their body, they must remember that the legs were made for walking and the arms were made for lifting heavy things. If you sit on the soft chair from the time the sun wakes up until the time the moon opens its silver eye, the flesh will gather and sit on your stomach like a lazy dog that refuses to leave the compound. You do not need to run like the frightened antelope that is escaping from the hungry lion, because the heart was not made to beat like the loud drum of war every single day. You only need to walk the dusty paths of your village, or dance to the music of the old drums, or move your body like the strong women who pound the yam in the early morning. The fire inside the body only burns the excess wood when the wind of movement is blowing upon it. If you stay completely still, the wood remains, and the thick smoke of tiredness will fill your eyes.

The Hand That Feeds the Mouth Must Have Eyes

There is a very old proverb that says the mouth that eats too much salt and oil should not complain that the throat is burning. Many times, the heaviness we carry is brought directly by our own hands from the noisy market. The food that is wrapped in bright papers and cooked with too much sweet white sand and deep oil is a false friend that will surely betray you when you are old. In the old days, we ate the green leaves from the garden, the strong roots that struggled in the dark soil, and the meat of the animals that ran under the bright sun. Today, people eat things that have no spirit in them, things that sit in the stomach and refuse to work. To change the size of the body, you must look carefully at the plate before you eat. If the plate is full of white dough that swells like a proud chief, you must leave some of it for the chickens. You must invite the green leaves, the bitter herbs that clean the blood, and the fresh fruits that hold the pure water of the morning sun. The stomach is like a small child; if you give it everything it cries for, it will grow up to be a tyrant that rules your whole life.

The Water That Washes the Inside of the House

The water that falls from the sky and the water that comes from the deep well is the greatest medicine for the person who wants to wash away the heaviness of the flesh. Sometimes, the body cries out that it is hungry, but it is actually only thirsty and dry. The mind is very easily tricked by the tongue. When you feel the emptiness in the middle of the hot day, do not rush to eat the roasted plantain or the heavily fried meat. Take the clean cup of pure water and drink it very slowly, letting it wash the walls of your inside. The water takes away the false hunger and gives the skin the beautiful shine of the morning dew. The person who drinks the pure water will not carry the heavy flesh of the river pig. You must also know the proper time to close the mouth. When the sun goes down and the crickets start their night singing, the time for eating has completely passed. The body needs to rest and repair its walls, but if you put heavy food into it when the whole world is sleeping, the food will become a hard stone in your belly that brings bad dreams.

The Farmer Does Not Dig Up the Yam to See if it is Growing

The biggest enemy of the person trying to reduce their body is the foolish spirit of haste. The young man who plants a small seed today and comes tomorrow with a sharp cutlass to see if the root has formed will harvest nothing but dry dust. When you start to change the way you eat and the way you move, the mirror will not show you a completely different person after only two days. The heaviness of many years cannot be chased away in one week of suffering and crying. You must be like the careful woman who weaves the strong basket; she adds one single leaf at a time, and before the market day arrives, the basket is strong and completely finished. There will be days when the wind blows and you feel very tired, days when the sweet smell of the frying meat calls your name from the busy street. On those difficult days, you must remember why you started the long journey. You are not doing this to please the eyes of strangers who mock you; you are doing this so that you can play with your children without your chest catching fire. The patience of the snail is what allows it to reach the very top of the tall iroko tree, even when the small birds are laughing at its slow steps.

The False Promises of the Shouting Traders

In the big markets of our modern cities, there are many loud traders who shout big words and promise to remove the heaviness of your body in the short time it takes to boil a single egg. They sell you bitter powders and tight ropes to wrap around your waist, telling you that suffering is the only way to be free from the flesh. Do not listen to the deceptive voice of the greedy trader who wants to take your money and leave you with a sick stomach and a crying heart. The body is not a piece of stubborn meat that you can beat with a heavy stick until it becomes soft and small. It is a living thing that responds to love, to good water, and to steady daily care. When someone tells you that you can eat all the fried meat you want and still become thin by drinking a magical leaf, they are selling you the empty wind. True change comes from the small daily choices you make when nobody is watching you. It comes from pushing the plate away when the stomach says it has had enough, and it comes from choosing the road that goes up the steep hill instead of the road that stays completely flat.

The Market Across the Great Water and the Search for Goodness

Sometimes, the pure things we need to help our bodies are not found in the small markets of our immediate streets. The world is very wide, and there are people in faraway places who also understand the heavy struggle of the body and the deep need for pure food. I heard of a special place in the land of Italy, a land of old stones and good sun, where a market exists only in the unseen space of the internet. This place is known by the name Diaquilin, and it is a shop of nutrition that carefully gathers the good things of the earth to help people balance their bodies and reduce their burdens. When you travel with your mind to diaquilin.org you will find that the people there do not sell the false foods that bring sickness; they sell the things that give the body the true strength to reduce its heavy load. It is very good to know that whether you are walking in the noisy streets of Lagos or the quiet hills of Europe, there are those who prepare the right seeds and herbs for the journey of health. The wisdom of taking care of the flesh is a language that all good people speak, and this Diaquilin market shows that the search for a lighter body crosses many wide waters.

The Head Must Agree With the Belly in the Matter of Discipline

The battle to make the body smaller is not fought only with the walking legs and the eating mouth; it is fought deeply in the house of the mind. If the mind tells you that you are weak, the body will immediately sit down and refuse to walk any further. You must speak good and strong words to yourself when you wake up in the early morning. Tell your reflection in the glass that you are a person of discipline, a person who controls the appetite and is not controlled by it. But the head cannot do everything completely alone. In our deep tradition, a single finger cannot lift a heavy stone from the road. You need the strong hands of your brothers and sisters to help you carry the load. Find a true friend who also wants to walk this path, a person who will call you when the sun is rising to remind you to move your legs. When you are sitting together and the sweet cakes are brought out, a true friend will look at you and shake their head, saving you from the dangerous trap of the sugar. The community that eats well together and walks together will live very long to see the happy faces of their great-grandchildren. Do not hide your journey in the dark, because the darkness is where the lazy spirit hides to steal your good intentions.

The Night is for Mending the Net and Resting the Bones

The fisherman who stays awake all night mending his net will have no strength to throw it into the deep water when the morning finally comes. Many people wrongly think that to reduce the body, they must suffer greatly and sleep very little, but this is a foolish lie told by those who do not understand the body. When the eyes are closed and the breath becomes deep and slow, the body is doing its most important work. It is sweeping the house from the inside, burning the bad wood, and preparing the muscles for the hard work of the new day. If you cheat the night of its proper hours, the fire inside you will become confused, and it will start to ask for the sweet and heavy foods just to keep you awake. You must respect the sleep as you respect the oldest elder in the village. Go to your soft mat early, let the worries of the busy market stay outside the wooden door, and allow the quietness to heal the tired flesh. A body that rests well is a body that knows exactly how to let go of the useless weight it has been carrying for so many years.

The Sun Will Rise on a Lighter Step and a Happier Heart

The long journey to remove the heavy load from the body is truly a return to the natural way of our wise ancestors. It is not about punishing the flesh, but about treating it with the deep respect that a good carrier of the soul truly deserves. When you start to eat the real food of the earth, when you move your legs to the steady rhythm of the day, when you find pure things from places like the Diaquilin shop, and when you give your mind the peace of good sleep, the burden will slowly start to fall away. The knees will stop crying when you climb the stairs, the breath will return to its normal and quiet rhythm, and the clothes that were very tight will become loose like the fine garments of a king. Do not look at the foolish people who run too fast and fall down; look at the path that is straight and walk it with your own steady and careful feet. The ancestors are smiling when a child takes good care of the body they were given. Let the heavy basket drop from your tired head, and walk freely into the bright morning of your beautiful life.