Guest blog by Carol Terry, in her on-going series on the spiritual aspects of life
I get lots of information about spirit by focusing on my inner body. So many religions are, as my friend says, biophobic and demand that we deny, ignore, retrain, or refrain from thinking about our bodies. It is as if the minute we start talking about bodies, we are talking about sex. Uh oh. But I am talking about the body’s inner energy field and how to participate in the unity that creates everything. The body is my pathway to spirit.
My practice has been to pay attention to somatic (physical) energy that vibrates within me. If you’ve never tried this, Eckhart Tolle describes the feeling and process beautifully in The Power of Now. He says, by going deeply into the body, you transcend the body. It’s easy. It only requires focus within and soon you feel the humming energy throughout your inner body. For me this began with regular meditation. I could center myself in a ‘baseline’ calm feeling. With continued and consistent practice, I have started to use my body as a barometer to tell me how far I have traveled from that baseline. I have started to let it tell me what is going on around me rather than analyzing with my mind. I find myself being more intuitive and responding from a more authentic reality.
Here are some ways that I use my body to jump-start intuition. With attention and practice, I sense without analyzing or rehearsing in my mind what is happening within me and around me. Here are some things my body tells me:
*When I want to come closer or get further away.
*What is mine and what is not.
*What gives me energy and what drains it.
*When I am thinking and when I need to return my focus within; I can’t do both at the same time.
*When I am in the moment and when I am lost in fear and worry.
*When my heart expands and when it feels constricted.
*When my solar plexus buzzes. This is an alarm.
*When my root chakra is open. This may indicate desire.
*When I need to hide out and let my feelings tell me more or be whatever they need to be.
*When I am calling.
*When I find myself answering a call.
*When I need to wait to respond. Some alarm tells me, Wait. Check in first.
*When I feel little and vulnerable and need to ask for something.
*When I feel lonely and don’t know who to ask. I may need to hide out.
*When I don’t feel positive; am I feeling someone else’s negativity or constriction? When I have to separate mine from not mine.
*When my enthusiasm is clipped by someone else’s negativity.
*When I am expansive and charismatic.
*When I find myself over-offering to try and make someone like me.
*When I make someone else responsible for my happiness.
In my baseline steady state, I can anchor myself in the moment, accept what comes as a gift and accept those gifts. Or I ask myself, what am I supposed to be learning here? This way it is easy to surrender, to fall into trust. I am aligned with unity and my ego isn’t making as many decisions.
When I need to, I can always return to this anchored place. I have confidence and let go of expectations and attachment to future outcomes. When I stop making assumptions about other people, it is easier to let them be whoever they are. And easier to let myself be. I don’t have to decide anything. Staying in the moment promises me that I will say what I truly feel. At least most of the time. But that’s why it’s called practice.