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88. Our Wise Body
02/28/2008
"As we explore the extraordinary interplay of energies between the many aspects of our personality -- our needs, unconscious reactions, repressed emotions, aspirations and fears -- with the functioning of our physical system and its capacity to maintain itself, we soon realize how very wise the body is. With its intricately detailed systems and operations it portrays infinite intelligence and compassion, constantly giving us the means to understand ourselves further, to confront issues we are not looking at, and to go beyond that which is holding us back."
-- Debbie Shapiro
As we grow on a path to more and more freedoms one of the major stumbling blocks
can be; the way we view our own physical sensations, from a runny nose to joint
pains and muscular aches. Because, the thousands of sessions I have done with
others and subjectively, with my own body, I can say at 71 I have a lifetime of
experience with my own body as well as 46 years of objective experience coaching
others in breathing and alignment. During this life experience I am comfortable
with the feeling that full breathing and body alignment help us gain clarity
towards physical symptoms that are playing in our space. All this takes is a
trust in our own diversified intelligence to inspect, understand and unwind any
symptoms that we may feel are bothersome.
This response came to me from someone who had read an article we wrote on standing;
I've
been a PT, yoga enthusiast, massage therapist, among other things for a number
of years. Lately, I have been contending with the reemergence of an old sports
injury causing pain to the right hip. After self diagnosing and trying many
approaches nothing really seemed to help.
Then I came across your generous blog. Curious, I performed your arch
lifting standing practice without intending so much to address the hip (I was
beginning to just accept it) as to simply experience the technique. What a
surprise when I finished. 90 % of the pain immediately resolved.
What a cool technique you have there. It is very sensible, but more importantly, so simple.
Thanks,
jo
I insert this to illustrate that gaining insight about the alignment of our
body, can immediately addresses symptoms of discomfort we are having.
The body design has natural ways of moving and being that make sense to our kinesthetic intelligence. How nice that such efficiency is self evident. This gives us a form of dealing with problematical symptoms, using alignment techniques. This in many cases beats ‘thinking’ a problem off the body. Some times breathing fuller for a minute or two will address a host of somatics that visit our body. When symptoms persist we can work with finding the location and sensations of the symptoms. Once felt we can work with opening those areas of the body with breath or movement sessions.
There are somatics that can visit which are just there and have no particular meaning other then what we place on them. Having a runny nose can be just such a somatic. What ever meaning given to having a runny nose, by doctors, parents and peers tends to treat such an event as something that shouldn’t be happening! Now why not? Little children have this going a lot and perhaps, it is but a natural reaction to a host of environmental causes which cause the body intelligences to create flow. Many things that we feel, can be just a natural reaction of the body to what the environment is bringing to the body. The simple reaction of shivering in cold weather can be the body producing heat and circulation big time. Allowing this shivering to run its course usually produces a result the body intelligences are looking for. That is what trust of the body is all about.
When we do have a cold like condition with fever, chills and muscles aches, if we go to bed and allow the body to unwind, without taking all the additives offered to stop a natural process from happening; we could be treating this like a session. Having interest in our bodies’ current discomfort and being with the body can be a wonderful session of insight, discovery and release. We could say that what you are feeling right now is what is happening right now and getting interested in the feeling is a simple step forward to being with the body and the condition of the body.
The cause of a cold that requires bed rest can be an opportunity the body provides us with to pause and rest. Taking a hot bath and snuggling in bed or surrendering to trembling all over, can be a beneficial session as opposed to toying with ideas that say this cold shouldn’t be happening. Enjoy it and mother your self with appreciation of the time you have to give to your actual physical experience of what is going on right now with your emotions, mind and body. You are with yourself and trusting equanimity is right around the corner.
Emotional experiences also bring sensation to the body that we can observe. We can initially determine whether a feeling/sensation is comfortable or uncomfortable. If we examine the actual sensation the emotion brings up and get into the texture of the feeling, we let go of meaning and are focusing on the textural nature of the emotion. Insights can then extend in to the actions an emotion is asking of you. Anger may want to make you scream. OK, maybe undirected screaming can be a way of reducing the hold that anger has on the body. In giving sessions with freeing up sound this often becomes a small part of a long session. Breathing steadily while all this examination is going on helps center our attention while developing insight about the emotional and physical condition we are experiencing.
Clarity about what is going on with us physically and mentally is embodied in each moment. Focusing attention on how ‘it’ feels as sensation brings us in direct contact with the physical world as it is. Perhaps the Buddhist term bare attention is what is being developed with observation of the variety of Symptoms we can have.
LET ANGER BE IN ITS OWN PLACE
Student: If I'm angry, instead of either expressing or suppressing my anger, how
can I just relate to it? Should I stop the anger and just relate to the thought
process?
Chogyam Trungpa: You don't stop the anger, you just are the anger. Anger just
hangs out as it is. That is relating with the anger. Then the anger becomes
vivid and directionless, and it diffuses into energy. The idea of relating with
the emotion has nothing to do with expressing yourself to the other person. The
Tibetan expression for that is rang sar shak, which means "leave it in its own
place." Let anger be in its own place.
From "Death and the Sense of Experience" in CRAZY WISDOM,
pages 137 to 138.
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