Body Wisdom: Listen Closely and Say Thank You

Our bodies are truly extraordinary if we stop to actually think it through; they practically defy explanation. I think about this sometimes when I’m in a flotation tank – a sensory deprivation tank – because in what practical reality could anyone have come up with something so complex, so ingenious, and yet so distinct from one another?

That’s how practitioner Cindy Clay, RScP, opened our new September theme, Sacred Embodiment. Kicking off with Howard Thurman’s famous quote:

Don't ask what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive, and go do that.

She zoned in on two words: come alive. Usually, when we think about this quote, we’re probably in our heads, thinking about it intellectually, or maybe emotionally. But rarely physically. We think about finding passion and purpose.

But Cindy talked specifically about our physical presence: You can't come alive to your purpose until you come alive in your body. In fact, we can’t do anything without our bodies.

We need our bodies. Our bodies are a requirement for living and walking on this physical plane. Yet we spend a lot of time in our heads analyzing, criticizing, evaluating whether they’re good enough, this enough, or that enough.

Societal conditioning is not for sissies. It wants perfection - in the real-life sense, not in the spiritual, oneness sense (in Spirit, we are all whole, perfect, and complete). But every single body on the planet has its own issues, and, those issues, even if similar, are all different.

Our bodies are sacred.

Honor the Body You've Got

To make her point, Cindy asked us to hold up our hands and look at them. The wrinkles. The spots. They might feel different than they used to or may not function as well as they once did.

Then think about everything they've done. The people they've touched. The meals made. The doors opened. Tears wiped away. Where have they been? What have they explored, tried, finessed, planted, written?

Then, she said, say thank you.

Ernest Holmes says we are each some part of the body of God, a manifestation of Spirit (Energy, Universe, Divine).

What the Body Knows

When Cindy's father died, a sharp pain showed up above her heart, real enough that she saw a cardiologist. It turned out to be a type of inflammation that can mimic a heart attack, but in this case, it proved to be a grieving heart. As she allowed herself to move through grief, the pain eased away.

She suggested we listen to our body wisdom and answer three questions:  

1.      What is my body thanking me for today?

2.     What is my body asking me to stop doing?

3.     What is my body asking me to begin doing?

Come Alive Enough to Dance

While we rarely reference anything biblical, the story of King David was poignant. In the book of Samuel, King David danced like no one was watching before the Ark

of the Covenant when it arrived in Jerusalem. Except that his wife Michal was indeed watching, and the record shows she despised him for so freely expressing himself. When he got home, she said his abandon was undignified for a king.

David didn’t buy into her opinion. His answer: he was dancing before the Lord, and he'd be willing to look even more foolish than that.

Dance like no one's watching

But how awesome would it be, and how often do you allow yourself, to move so freely? To be caught up in the moment and not care how you looked or what anyone thought? We give so much credence to other people’s voices and opinions… and so much less to our own. This has always puzzled me, even though I completely fall in line.

Cindy gave a couple of examples that made me smile (you can watch her talk here); I especially loved the story about her daughter Grace, who wanted to learn pole dancing at 14 but couldn't find a studio for those her age. Over a decade later, she did it, and has since added aerial pole, with a new goal of performing in a circus. If you’ve ever seen Cirque du Soleil, you’ll know what this is. The physicality is beyond comprehension. The strength and control required are phenomenal.

Moving Together

Research shows that when people move rhythmically together, whether that's on a dance floor or anywhere bodies sync up in a social setting, the synchrony of it builds real connection. It lights up in brain scans.

Cindy mentioned a recent ice cream social with line dancing that could have been an odd combination and instead turned into one of the more bonding nights she's had in a while.

A Bejeweled Dance Floor

She closed with a poem from Hafiz, imagining everyone at God's party as a special guest, invited onto a jeweled dance floor exactly as they are.

It's a fitting way to start a month of Sacred Embodiment, and her questions are worthy of considering, again and again.

1.      What is my body thanking me for today?

2.     What is my body asking me to stop doing?

3.     What is my body asking me to begin doing?

Then remember, you're a living miracle.

Say thank you.

With gratitude,

Laura