Creating Ease By Listening To Your Body's Preferences

Using the stories of a few different journals that went unused, you'll be prompted to reflect on one place you feel resistance—when it comes to spiritual practices. You'll be guided to use these observations as helpful information, add curiosity, and create more ease. This practice will strengthen intuition and body awareness, while releasing pressures and expectation. We close with a brief body scan, dropping in and connecting just as we are.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

Today we're going to explore creating ease and flow where there is resistance by honoring our body's preferences.

The spark was that my friend sent me a video message the other day showing this journal she found on her bookshelf.

It had exquisite full-page spiritual images and on other pages there were lines.

And she made the comment,

I wonder if I never wrote in it because it feels too sacred.

And I resonated with that.

I moved across the country half a year ago and something that I recently passed along post-move was a writing journal.

I remembered buying it about two years earlier.

It had felt special.

It was just the color I love,

Teal,

From a cool notebook company.

Pages were large and lines close together.

And I hardly ever reached for it.

Two years went by.

I wrote elsewhere.

And now my body prefers journals without any lines.

So as I was unpacking this fall,

I felt constriction in my body when I got to that beautiful notebook.

I knew that if I hadn't been drawn to write in it for two years,

I certainly wouldn't write in it now given its lines.

So I cut out the first few pages I'd written in,

Brought the notebook to a desk.

With art play,

I would run into this also.

As I speak,

There is a moleskin watercolor journal in the drawer to my left,

And there is only one painting in it from 2021.

And since that painting,

The notebook felt too precious.

Like the paintings inside had to be quote-unquote good and take hours.

And I didn't have that kind of creative energy at the time.

Those days,

And actually still these days,

I played with watercolors to explore.

I didn't want to make a quote-unquote good outcome.

Back when the moleskin was newer,

I noticed that it stayed in the drawer.

I noticed my resistance.

I honored my body's signs,

Listened to her,

And got curious.

What would make this feel lighter,

More accessible?

I ended up making my own notebooks.

I hadn't done that before.

I had a pad of big watercolor paper,

So I cut it up into smaller pieces.

I folded them in half.

I cut a piece of cardboard from the back of a cereal box as a cover and bound them.

I bounded some with staples.

I bounded one with a needle and thread.

My most recent,

I bounded with a piece of yarn that doesn't even pierce through the paper.

And I filled these pages.

I filled them with doodles,

With explorations,

With images that aren't any result.

I brought emotions.

I created space for the process of creation and play,

Which my body wanted that season.

This is an ongoing exploration,

By the way,

Aren't they all?

In this ever-changing tapestry and my ever-changing body,

Mind,

And spirit.

About a month ago,

I noticed I hadn't been painting in those handmade journals since arriving here.

And inspired by Amy Maracle of Mindful Art Studio,

I took a big sheet of watercolor paper and cut it into tiny squares,

Some one inch,

Some two inch.

And I left these out on the desk.

I filled them so fast.

Me,

Who hadn't played with paint since moving here,

I had filled nearly 10 squares in my first 10-minute session,

Just putting color down so it could dry and I'd have layers to play with later.

Those squares are making it so accessible.

I'm eager to draw on top of,

To layer,

To play.

And so my wondering for you is,

Is there a fancy journal in your life?

I know my examples have been actual journals thus far,

But let's carry the wondering into your meditation or spiritual practices.

Connecting with the soul,

Connecting with your body,

Connecting with Mother Earth.

Is there an element which feels too precious,

Such that it's been a barrier to the practice?

Sometimes that element is a lofty idea that a ceremony or meditation or movement practice or a walk outside needs to look a certain way or feel a certain way or requires more presence or a better mood or more time.

Is anything in here resonating?

A lot of this is resonating for me.

Let me,

Let me choose one.

Needing just the right guided meditation,

Usually 40-plus minutes,

And feeling alert and in good energy for connection with my spirit and guides and this grounding and clearing I like to do.

And it,

That full,

That full envision what I like to do,

It doesn't happen very often.

I'm noticing this.

It's neutral information.

It's helpful information.

If guilt or shame arises in any of you,

It can be here.

That's information also.

So I'll give a few breaths right now,

Some space for you to wonder about one place where there's resistance.

And I will say we're keeping the scope small intentionally,

One idea.

I also want to name here as someone who is drawn to reflection that we are not individuals in a bare examination room,

Much as the western medical paradigm would have us fooled.

We live in ecosystems,

Relational webs,

Textures,

Seasons,

Responding to our environments always.

There is so much context.

So I'm recalling this web and making it visible because that helps me have more compassion for myself and it's a more truer story.

You and I are in different contexts,

Life seasons,

Different bodies,

And we're all humans.

One of the phrases I find myself saying most often to friends these days is,

Of course,

Of course,

Of course this is so,

Of course you're feeling that emotion,

But of course it makes sense.

So if you found an idea that surfaced,

Let's celebrate.

You noticed.

We're noticing.

I'm genuinely thrilled.

Then let's invite in curiosity.

Is this something I genuinely want to be doing?

And really listen to your body here.

Sometimes we have beautiful mind ideas,

But our body is calling for something else.

If it's a true desire,

What could make this 10% lighter,

More spacious,

More fun?

What's a tiny adjustment that could make this more accessible in my current life season and textures?

How could its form or container change?

For me,

This is often putting up a post-it or a visual somewhere.

It can be really simple.

If an idea has come for you,

Great.

If not,

Great.

You can live the question.

Take it to your dreams,

Your prayers.

Be open.

Trust yourself.

May your ponderings be playful.

We can create and create again and again.

So today,

As we release this need for preciousness,

For just right conditions,

And embrace the human lived experience,

Let's feel into our breath,

Here and now,

Wherever you are,

Instead of waiting for a quote-unquote better moment.

In fact,

Let's close by dropping in together,

Here and now,

As we are,

Without changing it.

Notice your breath.

Notice that moment where inhale becomes exhale,

Where exhale becomes inhale.

Then place your attention to where your body is making contact with a surface.

Whether that's your seat,

Your legs,

Your arms,

Bottom of your feet.

Scan the top of your head and ask.

You can ask your body to show you any communications through sensation.

You can notice the forehead.

Bring your attention there.

You can place our attention on the tiny muscles around the eyes and see what's here.

Curiosity.

How about your ears?

What do you notice?

You place attention on your ears.

Let's go down to the hips.

Of course,

At any point,

If your body is calling you to make a movement,

Breath,

You follow it.

So,

Tuning into the hips.

What sensation do you notice?

For this last bit,

Tune in to wherever your body is calling you.

Somewhere that wants your attention today,

In this moment.

We come with curiosity to see what's here.

What does it feel like?

What's the texture?

The temperature?

The shape?

Maybe there's a color or a landscape.

Let's end up in the heart space.

So,

My hands have come.

They wanted to be placed on my heart.

If that feels good to you,

Go ahead.

Bringing in some breath here.

As I bring in gratitude.

I'm grateful to share these explorations with you for your company on this human journey.

I'm grateful to experience sensation in all its different ways,

Whether we call it comfortable or uncomfortable.

I'm grateful to feel.

I'm grateful to the power of creation.

I'm changing our environments with some attention,

Some curiosity.

I'm grateful to Mother Earth for this creative power for all life,

For the holding,

And for love.

Thank you.

If your eyes were closed during that,

Mine shut.

You can open them when it feels right.

Perhaps wiggle your fingers and toes as we come back.

So,

Transitioning back to your space,

I'll leave you with this.

By listening to our inclinations,

Noticing what feels easeful in our bodies and where we sense resistance is all beautiful information.

But is there somewhere you've been seeking to change your preferences?

To be better at quote-unquote follow-through when you could instead honor what your body prefers?

To validate that it's okay I haven't written in the fancy teal journal.

It's okay I haven't painted in the mole's skin.

It's okay I haven't done that new movement practice.

Of course I haven't.

Given those lofty ideas,

The pressures,

The expectation,

Or the simple fact that my body isn't drawn to those particulars right now.

I can doodle on a one-inch square right now.

I can write in the blank pages my body enjoys writing in.

I can set a timer for two minutes and connect inwards.

I can forego a timer and simply tune into this breath as I watch the birds out the window.

I can sing a prayer from my heart here and now.

Go with what feels joyful and more expansive for your actual capacity and rhythms this season.

Be willing to release heavy and boxy expectations.

Be willing to release imagined versions of you that may never be.

And watch the resistance melt away.

Follow your inclinations.

Choose what feels delightful to your body.

Make tiny changes and celebrate.

Wishing you so much joy on your explorative journey learning what resonates with you.

Thank you for being here.

Go well into your day.