Body as Soul Map-Week Three

Weeding the garden

                I often use the analogy of a garden for spiritual work. First we have to dig out all the weeds, pull them up by the roots. We could just cut them off at the stem , where they appear, which is what many counselling techniques do such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. But the roots remain strong and intact and the weed will just come again given time. Once the weeds are pulled out, then new seeds can be planted, and manure can be spread. Lots of it! Then we can tend the garden every day and in its own time, with the support of the environment, the harvest can be enjoyed. This week we will seek out the weeds and pull them out by their  roots.

                Week one was used to learn to focus the mind. This is an essential skill especially in these times with the stressors of global change on many levels: environment, social and personal. With this focus comes a security, calmness and feeling of being in control despite whatever the world may bring to you.

                Week two was used to identify an awareness of the emotional map within your body. Connect with your body in those areas which hold discomfort. You don’t want to enter into obsessional thought patterns that have been developed around the discomfort to protect yourself, but instead you want to apply a light gazing at yourself- as if seeing yourself from a distance, a different perspective. View yourself in this areas of discomfort with compassion, love and most of all, forgiveness.

                Again, you will probably not “finish” week two’s work in one week. This can be a life time of effort, with each cycle, returning to a slightly different place of greater wisdom. This is also where the discipline of the first set of skills is essential. You must know when you are slipping into the blame story, or whatever other story you have developed as an provisional interpretation for unintegrated experience. This slipping into obsessional thinking feels like a trance, intoxicating but not going anywhere, stuck, constricted.

                For example, a woman I worked with called Kate (not her real name) found discomfort in the small of her back. This is a common place for back aches. When she spent some time in this part of her back, she discovered that she thought about how difficult it is to survive. The small of the back, symbolically for the mind/body connection, is associated commonly with the hinge point between higher and lower aspects of self, between survival (lower chakras) and inspiration (higher chakras). Especially in these times when the mass consciousness of humanity is on the brink of a new age of understanding, this link between the old and the new is problematic for many. When she focused on this part of her body she found that she is wondering about these questions: How do I survive in the old world and still live out my spiritual aspirations in a new paradigm? Then she could simply sit with this question instead of resisting the conflict.

                Week Three will be the healing of these uncomfortable areas. The realisation you have in each area will certainly help heal your body and mind, but keep in mind that this healing does not happen in one sitting or one week. This is continuous work and the habitual using of the body in dysfunctional ways can leave lasting impressions.

                Try This!

1.       This week scan your body every day for between 10-20 minutes minimum. Simply start at the toes and gradually work up to the crown of the head. You will now be familiar with parts of your body that feel great and parts of your body that feel sore, constricted or dull. The work of this week will be to spend more time with the uncomfortable parts.

2.       Choose an area that you want to heal. Mostly healing is bringing your attention to that area and with dispassionate love allowing it to heal, mature and become a part of you in a new way. You can use the technique of following back (see Following the Bread Crumb trail entry), which is simply to find an image or feeling within the body area, then to ask “Where did this come from?” And then notice the next image, story, memory or feeling that arises. Stay with that until you are entirely comfortable with it, then ask again “Where did this come from?” And see where that inner question leads. You will probably go back and back into your life until you find the home place of the discomfort. The first place that something happened that you couldn’t understand at the time and so developed, on the fly, a provisional interpretation (see previous entry).For example, in the above example, Kate suddenly remembered something her father told her about how artists are always poor and she should not be one because she would be committing herself to a life of poverty.

3.       When you come to the home place, where you first developed the provisional interpretation, you will feel a great sense of relief, of homecoming, of forgiveness and the release of a burden. Reside here for a time. For example; Kate suddenly understood that living the life which she chooses, as an artist, was her wealth, is what will bring her joy and fulfillment. In this realisation she released her fears.

4.       Give thanks to all who helped you come to this therapeutic realisation. Commit to change in the future.

5.       Contribute to this blog if you like, about your experiences with this technique. Sharing with others accelerates the rate of change within and without.