Listening to Spirit through Your Physical Body

Spirit speaks to us through our indirect listening, much like seeing with one’s third eye in which we soften our gaze and look deeper, look through the surface of what is being looked at to see the essence. Listening to Spirit similarly requires one to listen from the expansive mind space, relaxed yet deeply present. The messages of Spirit come to us through symbols, images, patterns, felt sense, and flashes of insight and are most accessible to us when we are in a relaxed mental state such as meditation, day dreams, night time dreams, walking in nature, or any time we are fully present with our senses open and receiving, not our typical Western “thinking mind.”Some years back I was deeply struck by a Buddhist Monk who explained that the gift of the West to the world was “pushing the envelope,” in other words, thinking, thinking, thinking, and generally being industrious. Alas, we have grown up in a world here in the West in which no one ever taught most of us to pause our minds and be still, be quiet, just listen. Whereas the gift of the East has been the gift of meditation: the art of learning to pause and be still.In our Western way, the great majority of us get so busy thinking and doing, worrying and trying that we think our way right into a disconnect with the wondrous gift we were born into, along with it’s built in mechanism for connecting with Spirit - our bodies! Our bodies are one of the easiest and least appreciated means of connecting with and listening to Spirit. We were born with an innate ability to listen to our bodies, they told us instinctively what we needed, we listened, communicated these needs, and life was good, simple.However, we often lose touch with this natural process in our overly scheduled, thinking, non-body oriented, even anti-body oriented lifestyle. What do I mean by anti-body oriented? It begins early on, children are often discouraged from following the natural cues of their bodies to jump, run, climb, spin, create, explore. We are educated primarily through thinking, with very focused listening and attending visually, and very little use of our other senses — feel, taste, and touch. Also, from a young age we are encouraged to give attention to what our body looks like, but not how it feels, or what it needs, in short, we are programmed away from tuning into what feels most natural to us.For many of us listening to our bodies begins as a process of unlearning the old unhealthy messages that have become habits. The good news is our bodies are hard-wired to guide us, all we have to do is listen. Therefore it is easy to experience success right away, even while you’re learning to change the old behaviors. Listening to your body is as easy as creating a little space to check in with your self several times a day, a conscious space in which you are relaxed, yet alert, and fully present.

• It can be as simple as setting an alarm for five minutes, then close your eyes and focus on your breath to quiet your thoughts, while breathing slowly, fully and gently.
• You might also try just adding conscious attention to your inner cues, while attending to a daily task such as washing dishes, tending flowers, or walking your dog. In this case it’s helpful to first allow your attention to relax by getting fully present, orienting yourself completely in the present moment for five minutes or so by focusing slowly on each sense one at a time. This is a form of walking meditation, and is very calming on the mind — less thinking, more awareness.

When we listen to our bodies they consistently tell us what we need, sometimes directly, example: My shoulders and hips are tight. Message: I am spending too much time in a chair and need to move my body and stretch. Or sometimes as an internal cue that isn’t so much heard as known, such as, without thinking I am aware that I need to drink water due to a subtle feeling of thirst. Yet we miss this cue if we’re not paying attention to those internal messages. In these various ways, our bodies tell us exactly what we need to stay healthy and vibrant … our bodies cue us when we need rest, food, even certain nutrients and not others, when we’re overstimulated, or when we’re full and need to stop eating. How strong is your relationship with your body? How many of these cues are you paying attention to?In addition to the direct cues, Spirit also speaks to us through our bodies in symbolic ways. For instance, I’ve known someone who had the repeat experience of feeling a sudden and intense need to run, and this has lasted for days, or weeks. Upon exploration, she understood that Spirit had a message for her which involved ending and leaving a primary relationship she was in. Our illnesses and ailments can also be understood as a form of communication, as a way of bringing our attention to an unmet need we’ve been ignoring. These examples are often obvious such as rushing up the stairs, tripping and breaking your foot, may be a clear message to you that you need to slow down and stop rushing.However, that same scenario could also be interpreted symbolically, depending on the person and their own interpretation regarding this message. For a symbolic read we’d need more details … let’s say it’s the left foot. The left side of your body has to do with feminine energy, which is about giving, nurturing. The foot is associated with the root chakra and grounding. The symbolic message is completely dependent on the person and what she feels is relevant for herself in that situation. That being said, one possible message would be that she’s not grounded, that she’s been giving too much of her emotional energy away and it’s effecting her ability to be grounded, clear and present.On an even more subtle level of listening, many people experience a felt sense such as tingling in their bodies when tuning in to Spirit’s message in meditation, prayer, chant, yoga, etc. When tuning into Spirit, there is a verification received through some sense of the physical body — sight, sense, taste, smell or hearing. It’s a fantastic experience, I encourage you to practice this tuning in if it’s something you haven’t yet experienced. There’s nothing quite like the physical sensation of connecting with Spirit, it’s lovely and real! This connecting, if practiced regularly, is one method of building your relationship with your own Higher Self, and the value of this is incredibly expansive.Your body, when listened to, will guide you to miraculous health, will help you learn more about your self, and ultimately will expand your relationship with Spirit by allowing you to experience a felt sense of that connection. Your body is a treasure! What are you waiting for? Pause, and listen.Much love and many blessings on your path,sacredhealingjourney.com