Access The Wisdom Of The Body

The body remembers each event of our lives in our physical tissues. This may be dramatic, like bones that have been broken or old surgeries, or more subtle like the tendency to hold particular muscles tense, our biochemistry past and present. Our bodies are a printout of our life experience. We connect to this experience with the intention to hold it in compassion and heal it with loving awareness. My thanks and love to Heather Emsworth and Betsy Polatin for inspiration.

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash.

Transcript

Taking a few deeper breaths, As we place our body somewhere we can be comfortable. Lengthening our spine a little as we inhale, Neck tall, Shoulders soft, And exhaling, Settling, Relaxing, Noticing how it feels to bring our attention inwards. Staying present as best we can with the breath and the body. The other demands of the day put aside for a few moments. Watching your natural breath and seeing if we can do that without interfering. Let the breath flow exactly as it wishes. I'm going to invite you to place your attention in your heart center as our observer selves, And all that means is that we notice everything that's happening from a position of compassion. So imagine setting up a comfy chair in your heart, Noticing our present moment, Kindness and with love. Noticing how your body feels with love. So that urge to criticism, Urge to judgment, If it's there, It could hold that in compassion as well. Notice your body, How your body is held. Whatever is beneath you, Notice how it's holding you, Supporting you. The earth is holding you. And this is not passive, This is, Can we imagine we're receiving the support of Mother Earth? She's emanating it towards us, Like love. Even the atmosphere, Which is still part of the earth, Is holding you, But holding us so delicately that we can still move. We're held so considerably, So gently, Like a baby, Because we are loved. Receiving that support all over our body, Our uprightness flowing outwards from the earth, Easily, Comfortably, As we are a beloved child of Earth. Our body has stored all of our life experiences. Our body is like a printout of our life so far, Our thoughts, Emotions, Physical experiences. They are etched into our body, For better or for worse, Mostly unconsciously. Sometimes as a dramatic form, Like an injury or maybe a surgery, But often it's just the everyday, All day, Every day, Subtle thoughts and emotions. We eat. It's all below our conscious level, It's subconscious. And so today, We're going to connect with our body, Perhaps on a deeper level than before, With the idea to make more of that physical body experience conscious. As we know, When we've made something conscious that was once below our level of consciousness, We get more choice, We get more freedom. And so, I invite you to take your attention to your feet, Sitting in your observer seat, Your seat of love and compassion, Being the witness to your feet. Just rest there with your feet, Alert as if they might speak. Please don't be disappointed if they don't speak. We're going to stay alert to sensations, Physical, Emotional, Thoughts that come up. So we're observing a whole lot for clues. And if we're not used to doing this, It might be subtle, So we'd be patient. Just allow the experience of our feet to be in our present moment. Where there's pain, Holding it in compassion, Alert to whatever comes up for us. When we focus like this with the intention of understanding, Receiving feedback, I want you to be grateful for anything that comes into your awareness. Because if we go into that mode of, Oh I'm not receiving anything, And we shut it down, Even if you get subtle thoughts and feelings, Be open and appreciate that it's happening. And it grows like anything else. Taking a moment to experience gratitude for whatever happened, Whether we want to say, Oh nothing much happened. And we have gratitude for anything, Just the experience. Before we take a relaxing breath and bring our heart-centered attention to our legs, Noticing whatever arises, Holding everything, Everything that arises with compassion. We notice we've gone into blame, Shame, All that in compassion. Taking a moment of gratitude for whatever we were able to witness. Before we take our attention to our pelvis and belly area, Maybe from our stomach downwards, Focusing as best we can, Being a witness of whatever arises as best we can. Observe, Acknowledge, Allow and embrace. Before we move on, A moment of gratitude where we take our attention to the upper part of our thorax, Stomach, Chest, Heart, Shoulders, Upper back. Taking a moment, Thanking whatever we received. Taking our attention to our arms and our hands. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Lastly, Bringing our attention up to our neck and our head and resting there for a few moments. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. For the last few moments, Observing our whole being, Body, Mind, Emotional, Spiritual self from our loving witness seat. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Let's take a restful breath. Thank ourselves for our efforts today. Another step towards healing, Wholeness, Health. I'm healed, I'm whole, I'm healthy. And so, Let's take a few deeper breaths and start to mobilize the body. We're actually, With our fingertips and toes, Starting to move. Wrists and ankles, Arms and legs, Whole body taking a little stretch, Bringing us back to that state of consciousness with which we meet the external world. And when you're ready, You can have a look at it. Thank you for practicing with me.