Let’s Contemplate Our Bodies…

Sure… in this life when we are each born into this world we arrive in a body.

But, may I ask… Who taught you to live in yours?

I suspect that you, like the majority of people learned to move, walk, climb stairs, etc. by mimicking those models that were around you, namely your parents.

Is it really such a surprise that as we age, our parent’s likeness begins to emerge more and more from within us? Have we even noticed those old body patterns and habits that we didn’t know we had? We couldn’t think to un-learn something that isn’t brought to our attention.

That is until now.

Now, you’ll have to take heed that your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual or energetic bodies are all interconnected, interwoven like fibers.

Your whole experience of “you” that you inhabit is within and surrounding your body.

Now we can all contemplate how, because of this inter-connection, shifting our physical patterns also shifts our mental, psycho-emotional and energetic patterns.

Have you ever contemplated this?

Quite possibly you’re not really present in your body unless you are truly, consciously focusing on being present within your body and with your breath.

Consciousness is free to roam and travel in this free will section of the galaxy.

Just because one “has a body” doesn’t mean that one is fully present and living within one’s body.

I know that may sound a little far fetched, but observe some people moving through their lives, walking from here to there or standing in the grocery line.

Check out how they stand and move through space and see if you can notice if they seem conscious of themselves moving through space, walking down the street or standing in line, simply breathing and being, conscious and aware of their surroundings.

Not self-conscious in the traditional sense of “Are people watching me and thinking things about me?” More self-aware like, “Feeling my feet on the floor, I breathe in… the present moment, I savor the moment and dwell in the present moment”.

I suspect, if you’re paying attention, you will notice most people are ahead of themselves. They lead with their chin like their head must arrive faster than the rest of their body.

It’s not their fault that they have been taught and shown to live this way.

I don’t suggest this is intentional; in fact it is totally unconscious. I see these body habits and patterns as deeply embedded in our physical structure and thus affecting our mind, emotions and spirit. “Our body is our sub-conscious mind”, to quote Candice Pert.

How I came to this awareness and what I purpose we do to shift these patterns…

Because I was a wiggly mover from the start, even in the womb, my parents had the bright notion to enroll me in dance classes as soon as they possibly could, which gave me an outlet to channel and discipline my tremendous energy.

For many years… ballet, jazz, improvisational dance and acting.

When I arrived at college, fresh out of a successful academic high school career, I enrolled in a broad spectrum liberal arts program, which I quickly decided wasn’t for me, partly because there was just too much sitting! I told you, I’m wiggly.

So I began dancing in the small modern/post-modern dance department and you know what I discovered?

I had all of these body habits and patterns from all my years of ballet and training.

There is a reason someone can tell that one is a “dancer”, because they have recognizable posturing.

In this progressive dance department with a focus on efficiency of movement, I learned many techniques and practices for tuning into our bodies natural alignment and clearing out old body patterns, which is an ongoing process.

You don’t just clean out your body and be done with it.

As each day is a mini-lifetime… being and becoming present within ourselves/cells is an ongoing process of unfolding discovery, which takes time, attention and intention.

The pay-off is tremendous because as one commits themselves to being present within themcells and their life, the experience of living shifts and changes.

That’s right, as you align and integrate within you, your life and whole “reality” can’t help but follow suit. And what lies beyond the experience of the known habits and patterns is a more authentic, feeling, knowing, sensing, open to observing and more deeply interacting self, a truer, brighter more empowered version of your self that is more of who you are and in alignment with who you probably want to become if you’re tuned into the spiritual reality of life, which is the foundational basis of all existence!

 

Copyright 2009 by Nicole Christine Porcaro
All rights reserved.