Befriending your Body

Rooted

As we embark upon the new year, I’m thinking about what it takes to be ok and even to thrive, in these challenging times. We’re all coping with the intensity; the volatility and dynamic tension of change, and it’s overwhelming. Processing and feeling, not just the conditions of our personal lives and inner worlds, but that of the entire planet, taxes a nervous system and weighs heavy on the psyche. The good news is that our bodies are here for support and guidance.

Whatever is happening, you can come home to your body for grounding and clarity. You can fine-tune your perception so that you’re able to listen deeply and exercise the discernment that this era of -too much information- requires. You can get to know the conditioned and critical mind and move beyond its limitations by opening to the wisdom of your heart. Cultivating a harmonious partnership with the body, is how we can move through life, and all that it brings, with resilience and equanimity.

Organic Intelligence

More and more we exist in digital realms. As technology advances, pulling us onto our devices and into virtual space, we grow increasingly distant from the natural world and the resources that calibrate us, bringing our bodies into homeostasis. Being in touch with the Earth’s electromagnetic field restores our own, stabilizing our physiology. Our hearts find coherence in nature and communal activity, like singing and dancing. Turning towards our bodies and the way of living that supports them for direction, is how we move into the future, empowered. It’s how we build a world and new technologies that foster healthy and harmonious living.

 Imagine if all people lived in embodied self-connection. Imagine how society would function and what our systems would look like, if we created them from the alignment of our heads and hearts. Bolstered by the intelligence of nature. Imagine a world of Peace and Compassion. Cultivating a conscious partnership with our bodies illuminates the path to a new paradigm on this planet. Out of violence and separation and into universal consciousness.

A Critical Crossroad

We find ourselves at a critical point in the story of humanity on this planet. The upheaval and instability we’re witnessing is symptomatic of deep change. De-stabilization is a quality of re-structure. Conflict and polarization, an expression (while crude) of the evolution of beliefs. The potential of this time is to become a more enlightened.

This process, ( referred to as ascension in the esoteric thought communities) requires the transmutation of lower vibrational patterns. You can think of this as discordant notes in a song moving towards harmony. We can look at examples like, institutional racism, and misogyny, beliefs that existed just below the surface for generations, sub-conscious, are now on the table and tips of our tongues. Spoken out-loud and in the light of awareness, they are being unpacked, digested and eventually, transformed. This process is evident in the collective as world news, and individually, in our personal lives and inner worlds.

Have you noticed parts of your life don’t feel like the right fit anymore? Are you aware of habits and beliefs, that you’re ready to evolve? Are there emotions that feel old and stuck in your system? These are holding patterns in your energetic field, expressed through the body. They’ve been inherited, adopted, and learned. Some of what we carry can be assigned to our personal experience in this lifetime, and much of what we feel and are working to resolve, originated elsewhere. Traumas that move like seismic waves through earth and story and ether, born anew. Consciously or not, we are interconnected and your healing is my healing. The Earths well-being is Our well-being. As planetary consciousness evolves, so do we.

The time has come for each of us to remember what we are and why we’re here. We each have a meaningful role to play in the evolution that is unfolding. Our body shows us how and is a guide to understanding both our inner and outer world.

Your Body is Your Instrument

Remember, you are non-material consciousness, let’s call this a Soul, embodied. No matter the shape or health of the body you call your own, the form that you’ve selected for the role of being a human in this lifetime, is precisely the right body for the job. Whatever you came here to learn, to create and to share, your body is the perfect partner for your experience. Your body is your ally!

 If you find yourself challenged by this point of view, it’s ok, perhaps you can set that aside for now and open to the possibility. I’ve learned that we can hold space for conflicting ideas to co-exist within ourselves. In fact, learning to give yourself permission to be inside of questions without needing to arrive at a definitive conclusion, is an impactful and necessary practice in our conscious expansion beyond ego.

 For those of us who’ve experienced trauma that has made the body feel like an unsafe, or foreign place, the journey back to safety through the body, offers us a path of wisdom and self-recovery. Whatever we go through in life our body is our companion. How we relate to it is an opportunity for re-connection to ourselves, our planet, and to Source.

Tuning In  I’ve always been curious about how we heal as a path of self-realization and have studied a wide range of modalities throughout my life. As a Yoga therapist, I specialize in mindful self-compassion, and transformational process and as my framework and experience grow, I am continually brought back to my body and the simplicity of what’s happening now.

 So, what’s happening now for you?  Take a few minutes here to explore each line for yourself.

Feel your feet on the ground

Feel the rise and fall of your breath

Notice sensations in your body, without judgment

Touch the mind gently, then like a kite on a string, let it go, unconcerned with where it travels

Come back to your breath

Take in your environment through your senses

Breath, and be here  

That’s it. You may have gained an awareness that you didn’t have before. Perhaps there is some action now for you to take. No matter what showed up, this simple act of self-connection, is an easily integrated practice and a seed to nurturing a happy union with your body.

It’s always been important, and maybe now more than ever, to listen your body. Let it be your compass and closest friend. It’s time to shine bright you beautiful being!

If you’d like to learn more, join me each month, online for Homecoming, a therapeutic yoga class for self-connection. 30$ (or what you afford) 👉🏽 Register here

Be well, be strong & be kind to your whole self,

💜 Courtney