Feel Your Body, My Friend

 Feline Friday, that's what we (by we, I mean me) call it around here. Finished another work week and looking ahead to this Mother's Day weekend. Weather is going to be gorgeous, so that's always nice.

While working today, I was listening to a Q&A hosted by Chris, and he was sharing on the importance of a man feeling his own inner body. A man asked him why he struggles with insecurities and feeling "small," and Chris explained how common and unhelpful it is for men to be caught up in their heads, totally disconnected from their bodies. All about feeling. Not just feeling your emotions, but feeling the electricity surging through every square inch of your body. Divinity.

This is something I've been dedicated to for several months now. Not so much building a practice around it, but making it a regular part of my day. My intention is to notice/catch myself when I am caught in my mind and then right away place my attention on feeling my body. Often, it is feeling my feet on the ground. 

Some teachers talk about the importance of one's beliefs/mindsets/affirmations. I have found benefit to placing intention on bettering these areas, but the trick here is that it makes a person prone to staying stuck in "living" a mental world. You all the sudden find yourself in a mental battlefield all day long. The power and potency that can be found through putting attention onto your own aliveness/felt sense cannot be overstated. Placing attention on your body instantly diverts your attention from the mind and quiets it, even if it's just for one second. 

This has been my experience, anyway. There's almost always nuance to everything, so I would never tell anyone to not do affirmations or adjust their thinking to be more positive/supportive to their well being, but the body piece most definitely cannot be left out. I've not heard many teachers speak about this, but as I've been immersing myself in Chris' teachings for the past year+, his message continues to resonsate deeply and bring relief to my overall health and experience in life. 

As I've been re-reading The Power of Now (maybe the 4th or 5th time), I've recognized many similarities in what Eckhart teaches relating to connecting to your own body. The power of Presence also, of course. Both of these teachers focus a large portion of their teachings on these two areas: Feeling Your Body & Presence.

It was a really difficult thing for me at first, and still often is. My mind is so damn powerful and always wants to be chattering. I've found that slowing down helps a lot. Deep breathing also. Slowing the hell down and breathing deeply automatically tell my mind to stop being so crazy. Also, doing body-focused practices like yoga, qigong, dancing, mindful walks in nature...these all help. Our society is tailored to mind-based living, so if one is not intentional and devoted to connecting with his own body then it will not happen. Just think about what most people do in school and work all day long. Think think think! EXHAUSTING.

So much more to be said about this. So much more I will be learning/growing in. Til next time beautiful people.