Mindfulness & Movement: Exploring Spiritual Integration

Slow down with this guided audio track that provides body-based experiential exercises to explore expressions of movement, specifically as it relates to our spirituality, and messages we've received in spiritual contexts.

If movement is not accessible to you, or you would prefer not to move along with these prompts for any reason, you can simply close your eyes and sketch out mental imagery of these movements to explore them.

This is one of several tracks in a series that explore mindfulness and movement. These were recorded for listeners to enjoy in sequential order.

This track, nor any other by this author, is intended to be a substitute for professional mental health services.

Transcript

In these few minutes,

We're going to slow down and explore movements that are part of something called body-mind centering.

This was developed by a woman named Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen,

And specifically movements that are part of something called the satisfaction cycle,

And ways that this might intersect with our spiritual formation.

Now,

Similar to the other audios in this series,

I'm going to invite you to paint pictures with your body of how you've experienced these movements,

The ways that you would like to experience these movements,

And if you don't know what I'm talking about,

If you haven't listened to the introductory audio or the other audios about each movement,

I invite you to pause and go back to those.

And to start our time,

Before we dive in,

I invite you to slow down with a couple breaths,

Some gentle grounding,

Placing your palms up against each other,

And just noticing the gentle sensation of movement as you move your palms in really gentle,

Tiny circles against each other.

Just a really simple way to bring your attention to your body,

Into this moment.

Maybe playing with transitioning from creating circles to just moving your hands up and down.

Maybe tracing some of the lines on your palms with one finger,

And then taking a nice deep breath.

Not forcing too deep of a breath,

Just whatever a deep breath means for your body today,

For your body right now.

Welcoming any yawns or heavy sighs that might come up.

And these movements that we've been exploring,

Heel,

Push,

Reach,

Hold,

And pull,

I'm going to offer some prompts to paint pictures with your body of what these have looked like in your spiritual formation.

Before we do this,

I want to acknowledge just how deep spiritual trauma and religious harm can be.

Just how painful and confusing and disorienting it can be whenever we have not had the freedom and the safety to yield and simply be.

The safety or the autonomy to push,

The scaffolding to reach or hold.

And so as we explore this,

We're going to step into this terrain really,

Really gently,

And you can of course pause the audio at any time.

If you have a sense of any emotions or memories or body sensations coming up that just feel like too much,

That feel overwhelming,

I invite you to consider taking those to a safe therapeutic space.

And I invite you to consider that not just if there's a sense of,

Oh,

I absolutely need a therapeutic space,

But even if there's just a desire.

This brings up some sort of longing to unpack what you're experiencing internally with another person to move through this exploration with another person of,

Okay,

What might it look like to explore new movements in my life and my spirituality?

Even if it doesn't feel like a need,

Even if it just feels like a curiosity or a desire,

I want to explicitly express an encouragement to seek that out.

Now to start,

I'm going to invite you to paint a picture with your body of what it has looked like when you feel like you have been able to yield in a spiritual space.

Maybe this is in a church,

Maybe this is with family,

Maybe this has been in a Bible study or a ministry or on a mission trip,

Maybe this is when you're listening to a certain band or worship music,

Maybe this is when you're praying or journaling.

Any space,

Any way that you feel like your entire embodied being has been able to yield,

Meaning to simply be,

To sink in,

To melt,

To yield into the full weight of gravity.

And if this is something that you have not experienced in a spiritual context,

Simply noticing what comes up inside when you notice,

Oh,

I don't have a frame of reference for that.

Maybe letting your body paint a picture of what it's like to feel that heartache or numbness or frustration or whatever it might be that's coming up.

If you'd like more time here,

You can pause the audio.

Next,

I invite you to paint a picture with your body of ways that you have been able to push in spiritual contexts.

So ways that are related to your faith and your formation.

How have you been able to assert boundaries,

To say no,

To explore and exercise your autonomy and independence,

A sense of separation?

And again,

If you have a sense of,

Whoa,

There is absolutely no frame of reference for me.

This is actually a space where I learned the opposite,

That I couldn't say no,

That I couldn't set boundaries or have independence or autonomy or separation.

Simply noticing how that sits with you,

Noticing what's popping up inside.

If you'd like to play with this more,

You can pause the audio.

Otherwise,

We're next going to explore the movement of reach,

Thinking about how in spiritual contexts you have been able to reach,

Whether that's reaching for God,

Reaching for connection,

Reaching for help.

Painting a picture with your body,

What has that reaching looked like?

When has it been safe enough for you to reach?

What are the relationships or communities or spiritual spaces or dynamics with God where there has been safety to heal,

To push and to reach?

And if what comes up inside is the response that says,

Oh,

I've not experienced this.

I don't know if I've experienced this.

Simply noticing that.

Maybe painting a picture of what that feels like in your body.

If you'd like to play with this more,

You can pause the audio.

Otherwise,

We're lastly going to explore what are the ways that you have been able to hold and pull in your spirituality,

In your relationship with God,

In your spiritual communities.

Thinking about this idea of not only reaching for,

But holding on to,

Holding tight and pulling in close,

Savoring nearness.

Something that is really always a risk.

Spaces where there's been enough safety and enough security that it maybe almost doesn't feel like a risk.

And again,

If this is not something that you have experienced in spiritual context,

I invite you to simply notice that.

Notice the response that happens internally as that comes up.

If you'd like to spend more time here,

You can pause the audio.

Otherwise,

We're going to shift now to playing with painting pictures of your body.

These things have not been experienced.

How they've gone sideways.

How you've not had space or freedom to explore these movements.

So starting with the yield,

Painting a picture with your body of what it's been like to not be able to yield in spiritual spaces.

So thinking about a faith-based context,

Whether it's community,

A relationship with God,

A church space,

Family,

A space where your body,

That neuroception,

Your brain and body's perception of am I safe,

Has been saying no.

And you haven't been able to yield.

Painting a picture of what that has looked like,

What that has felt like.

Letting your body move with that and express that.

And as I go through these movements,

You can pause at any time if you would like more time and space with each.

When you're ready,

Exploring push.

What are the ways that you have not been able to push?

The ways that you have been told implicitly or explicitly that you don't have permission to say no or to set a boundary,

That it is bad.

To explore your independence,

Your autonomy,

Separation.

Painting pictures with your body of what that has looked like.

Maybe it's holding a hand back that wants to push away.

Maybe it's tying both hands behind your back.

Maybe it's putting a blanket over your head and over your body.

That represents things that you don't want to carry.

A space that you don't want to be within but that you don't have the permission to say no to leave.

And when you're ready with a nice deep breath,

Painting a picture with your body of what it's been like to not be able to reach or to reach and not have it go well.

This might be an experience of reaching for help from another and instead of receiving compassion and kindness or love,

Receiving shame and judgment.

Rejection,

Abandonment.

Maybe this is a fear or feeling paralyzed or frozen and not being able to reach.

As your body stands still,

Even though there is a longing inside,

To reach for God,

A reach for community,

A reach for connection that goes beyond maybe a surface level of our spiritually shiny selves.

Longing for people to really know what's going on deep down inside.

But feeling like,

Oh no,

I can't share that with them.

If they see this part of me,

They really know what's happening beneath the surface.

And with a nice deep breath,

Whenever you're ready,

Exploring the ways that holding and pulling have not felt accessible or feel like they've gone sideways or gotten complicated.

So again,

This might be spaces where you felt paralyzed to reach and therefore paralyzed to hold.

This might be a space where you thought you could reach for God or another person or help or compassion or love or acceptance.

And initially it seemed fine and then when you went to hold that and pull that close,

It was somehow ripped out of your hands.

Maybe you paint a picture of that with your body of holding a pillow or an object and then ripping it out of your hands just as abrasively as it felt like it was ripped out of your hands in your experience.

And spending as much time painting these pictures with your body as you'd like to,

Pausing if you want more time and space,

And before we close,

I want to invite you to really get in touch with your body and just noticing bringing in this spiritual element to things,

Exploring these movements in spiritual contexts.

How has that felt similar or different to the other audios?

What are the unique nuances,

Pains,

Numbness,

Disconnect,

Longings that are present when it comes to exploring your previous experiences with these movements and your longing for what these movements might look like in your life?

And knowing that our spirituality is such a powerful thing and spaces of spiritual harmony run so deep,

I want to invite you to do a little bit of a shake,

A little bit of a wiggle,

A little bit of movement,

A little bit of bouncing.

So whatever of those movements feels most accessible and in whatever ways these movements are accessible and feel safe to you,

I encourage you to see what it's like to shake out your hands,

Your feet,

Your arms,

Your legs,

Maybe even either standing or sitting.

Go up on your tippy toes and then let your heels bounce down on the ground,

Kind of feeling that vibration a little bit as your heels come down onto the ground.

Maybe you just let yourself get a little playful and curious and kind of wiggle around like a noodle.

I know that might feel really silly,

But sometimes that's exactly what you need when you've intersected with a heavy space.

And as you continue to explore these movements in your life on the other side of playing with them in these audio tracks,

I invite you to take with you so much curiosity,

So much compassion,

So much kindness.

And as they intersect with your spirituality,

I want to so clearly say that nothing in this audio is intended to prescribe any sort of should,

Of,

Okay,

I should yield,

Push,

Reach,

Hold,

Or pull in some sort of way with God or with my spiritual community or with my church or with my pastor.

That is not at all what the purpose of this audio is.

Rather than prescribing shoulds,

This audio is simply an invitation to get curious about what these movements have looked like in your life and to engage with this framework of movements to see if it helps you explore what might I want new movements to look like in my life,

Including in my spirituality,

In spiritual contexts,

In my relationship with God.

And that'll close.

We're just going to take one really nice,

Big,

Deep breath together and let out a heavy sigh.

Inhaling.

And exhaling.

Taking as many of those nice,

Deep breaths as you need as you reenter your day.

Thank you for spending this time with me.