When we were born, our souls were given physical bodies to work through density – struggle- which helps refine us and move us closer to “God” or “Source” – the conscious fabric of love that holds the universe together. To loosen the bonds of fate and exercise free will over our difficult lives, we have to become more conscious of ourselves, and to do that, we have to work with the body. If, as the ancient astrologers would say, consciousness is represented by the Sun and the body by the Moon, information would ideally be in continuous flow between our two interior luminaries like the yin yang symbol. Attuning to our bodies would bring about consciousness, and our consciousness would move our bodies to right action. This is harder said than done because it takes effort to figure out what the body is expressing and patience to sit there and feel it and interact with its sensations, but we need to connect those two rivers within us because reactive consciousness feels like judgement and tenses up the body all the more; whereas reactive body leads to wrong action.
(In society as well, it’s important politically for the Sun and the Moon to work together and be in balance. The Sun is a nation’s consciousness that leads and creates, and it needs to be embodied by the nation’s Moon- its instinctual, “blue collar” energy that looks back with nostalgia to the past. If it’s not, the two will pull at each other creating the same type of chasm that’s tearing the US apart right now.)
When we as individuals take the time to tune into our bodies, both we as individuals, as well as the collective, benefit.
There are a few different techniques or traditions for working with the body, and you might gravitate towards one or another.
1. Meditation
“In the first foundation, mindfulness of body, you relate with the bodily sensations, the sense perceptions, and the eight types of consciousness. You don’t have to build anything up; you just pay attention to what is happening. The meditation technique is identification with the breathing, which is a very real experience. There is no suggestion of anything other than paying attention to your breathing or your walking. That simplifies things a lot. There is no security other than sitting and breathing.
Mindfulness of the body is based on being right there on your cushion. it is partly influenced by bodily sensation, and partly influenced by audio-visual sensations and sense consciousness. you are not meditation on anything in particular, but just being with your body fully and completely. As much as you can, you stay right there- just sitting there. That sense of being is a very penetrating experience. it transcends the ordinary level of self-consciousness. Although occasionally you might expeirence that you are being there, that you are watching ourself being there, and that the watcher is watching itself, this is just a phase. it is another little project that wears our quickly and comes back into simply experiencing being.”
Chogyam Trungpa, pg. 287
2. Focusing:
“Focusing is a body-orienting process of self-awareness and emotional healing. It’s as simple as noticing how you feel- and then having a conversation with your feelings in which you do most of the listening. Focusing starts with the familiar experience of feeling something in your body that is about what is going on in your life. When you feel jittery in your stomach as you stand up to speak, or when you feel tightness in your chest as you anticipate making a crucial phone call, you are experiencing what we call a “felt sense”- a body sensation that is meaningful.
So what do you do when you have a jittery feeling or a tightness or a choking sensation in your throat? If you’re like most of us, you try to get rid of it. Maybe you curse it a little: “Why does this stupid feeling have to come now, just when I need to be my best?” Or maybe you put yourself down: “If I were a better person, I wouldn’t freeze up this way.” Maybe you do deep breathing exercises, or have a drink or a cigarette.
What doesn’t occur to you, unless you know Focusing, is to listen to the feeling, to let it speak to you.
And yet, when you let the feeling speak to you, you are allowing yourself to be open to the depth and richness of your whole self. Furthermore, when you listen to the feeling, it is much more likely to relax, release, and let you go on with what you’re doing in a clear and centered way. You might even move forward in this area of your life in ways that surprise and delight you.”
Ann Weiser Cornell, Ph.D., pg. 3
3. Diamond Heart Inquiry
“Diamond Inquiry helps to reveal the shining core of our experience – in the here and now – without needing to accumulate 10,000 hours of meditation or having any special conditions in place. As the central practice of the Diamond Approach path, Diamond Inquiry connects us to a palpable immediacy and aliveness, a felt presence that includes many facets: Love, strength, joy, kindness, peace, determination, meaning, freedom, and many more wonderful qualities.
Rather than sidestep our ordinary experience, Diamond Inquiry operates from the understanding that our ordinary experience and our spiritual depth are ultimately one. This orientation to our existence inspires a curiosity about our day-to-day life, and it fuels the drive to become free from the constraints of our past conditioning, which have kept us out of touch with our true nature and our vast potential.
Both mysterious and practical, Diamond Inquiry brings more transparency and lightness to our human lives. “
– Diamond Approach Website
You can also read more about how inquiry works on my website.
And others like Qi Gong or even prayer that is attuned to the body’s sensations…