Saturday, April 3, 2010

Being in the Body

I've heard of people looking for out-of-the-body experiences.  I am seeking as much in-the-body time as I can muster.  Being out of the body is easy; we do it all the time.  Where our thoughts go, so goes our energy, to things outside of us.  I am having an out-of-body experience when I'm sitting at work planning what I'm going to cook for dinner, or when I'm reliving a conversation I had with someone the day before.  There are plenty of wonderful things for us to put our attention on, and we need to do that to be in the world.  But I've found that to really experience my life, to live it in the way that is most appropriate for me, and to find meaning in all I see outside of me, I have to be, as much as possible, in my body.

Being in my body means that my attention is within.  At the Berkeley Psychic Institute they speak of it as having the outside of the aura close to the body.  The energy field expands to encompass all that a person has his or her attention on, and the more that we have our attention on, the more we have to consider, decide about, and possibly be responsible for.  When our energy field encompasses too much, it becomes very difficult to hear our own voice.  We can become scattered, stressed, depressed, or physically ill. 

In addition to helping us hear our own truth, being in the body helps us be present in our lives.  It enhances our experience of the sumptuous feast of this existence.  When I am present in my body my senses are turned up, my own healthy emotions are ebbing and flowing, and I feel more of what it is to be fully human.  I am aware of being me, rather than the effect of everything around me.

Pulling the aura close in around the body reduces the amount of data that we are tuned in to, and allows us to quiet the external in order to focus on the internal.  I often stop and visualize my aura shrinking, as I "pull myself back in." What we visualize, the cells of the body perceive as real, and is made manifest.

Many other tools explained in this blog and elsewhere help us get back into the body.  Deep breathing and meditation techniques work, being in nature, walking, anything that helps return our focus to our own being.  Other possibilities might be taking a bath, enjoying a really good meal or glass of wine, or other things that cause us to relish the experience of having our amazing physical bodies.

I was glad to be in my body a few minutes ago, sitting in my living room as the clouds passed overhead and for the first time today I was washed in sunlight, listening to a jazz recording that has been my favorite since high school.  If I had been attending to anything other than just being, I would have missed that exquisite moment of my life.

When I am in my body, it is a celebration of my spirit's divine creation.  My spirit knows it's home, and I hear the voice of the God of my heart.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for this reminder, my friend. I took a nice long walk this morning, and then spent an hour working in my little flower garden. Time spent in my body, in two delicious ways!

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  2. Hi Sherry, Thanks for stopping by my blog, Lessons from the Monk I Married. You have a great blog here and I'm following you now. Being in the body in this moment is the only place we really can be because that's all there is. As my husband says, "The universe is in you." and that is my lesson for today.

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  3. This is something I have been working on, as well. I never thought of mindfulness as contrasted with the out of body experience, but i love the way you have put it. Just more in-body experiences, that's what we need. I am always in tomorrow or yesterday. Even if I manage to be in today, it probably is today in an hour, or an hour ago. To be just where I am takes so much effort, but is so worthwhile. Great post.

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