Embodying LOVE in Midst of Indignancy
To stay present in your body and heart amidst life’s challenges is no small task. The level of courage and commitment on behalf of oneself is honorable and carries with it the potential for infinite growth and the deepest sense of embodiment. Our experience of life – of living – of communing with others – of relating to ourselves – is magnified. Our senses are heightened and the possibilities of growing and morphing in our lives unfolds with endless possibilities.
This is not easy work and I sit here writing this post whole, wounded, scarred, and yet embodied after experiencing one of the most challenging and traumatizing experiences of my life. I feel a responsibility to spread the light like never before. Staying small and quiet is no longer an option.
Remaining embodied through traumatizing experiences takes a tremendous amount of perseverance and trust. When we are gutted by what life throws at us, what is left is the raw remains of who we actually are. Our guards are lifted, egos in check, personas are questioned, and we are called to dig to the depths of who we truly are. From our core -- our essence.
This can be disorienting and so incredibly scary. Situations such as what I am emerging from, force you to question everything and your innate sense of life as it becomes foreign. You know that life will never be the same you just have no clue what its going to look or feel like.
When trauma and invasion enter the system, the body naturally shuts down. Our protective shields go up and a level of disconnect emerges. This is natural and, quite frankly, necessary for many of us. When you have experienced abuse at the hands of the dysfunctional masculine in your life, it is not hard to become triggered. Shutting your system down in protection is our intrinsic way of sheltering our hearts from more heartbreak. The problem becomes when you shut down and do not do the work necessary to heal, shed, and reawaken – the trauma infests your body and entire system. We then walk around in protection mode, untrusting of the world, with our barriers around our hearts and bodies, and the armor builds. The trauma and the feelings associated with it do not go away. They just get pushed deeper into our systems – into our cells, our bones, our muscles, our psyche. Many turn to food, drugs, alcohol, over working, TV…anything that can serve as a distraction so as to not feel the pain of what we have experienced and are now carrying with us. There is no judgment here as I have been down many of those paths and still have some need for escape on occasion. What I am more aware of than ever is that there is no sustainability in that way of living. There is only more pain that will inevitably surface if you don’t actually deal with your experiences on an embodied level.
Yoga and meditation, if practiced regularly, can be so supportive in finding that presence and acceptance of ourselves in midst of challenge and angst. They can serve as a platform for self-inquiry and self-acceptance. There is the space for hard emotions to surface and move through our bodies and our hearts. There is the opportunity to simply breathe, pay attention to what is going on for us, and let it go. Over and over and over again. This is hard work. Can be grueling for those of us who have carried around generations of trauma and discourse in our systems. Yet, to me, is essential and it is my life’s path to support others in moving through their life’s anguish – through their beautiful bodies and their wounded hearts. To support others in finding that freedom by tapping into their inherent inner strength that is always there – just needs to be held in loving kindness, acceptance, and love.
I offer you this simple meditation in support of embodiment during indignant and agonizing times.
Come to lie on your backs on a comfortable, flat surface. A place where your spine can rest easefully and you are able to feel the connection of the earth underneath you.
Bend your knees, spread your feet wider than hips distance, and allow your knees to drop in towards each other. Feel your sacrum, right at the base of your spine, drop down into the ground. From that space invite in the support of your body and the earth beneath you.
Place one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly.
Come into your breath. Tune into the rise and fall of the inhalation and the exhalation.
From this still place – present to your body and it’s sensations – feeling the ground underneath you – the feel of your hands greeting your belly and your heart – your power centers – close your eyes and spend a few minutes simply feeling your experience. The entirety of the simplicity of being with yourself.
After a few minutes of only focusing on your breath begin to include a mantra with your inhalation and exhalation.
I invite you with your inhalation to say “Love” to yourself and your exhalation to repeat “Love”. Continue to do this for at least 10 minutes.
Simple, yet powerful way of infusing our bodies with the vibration of LOVE, PEACE, and ACCEPTANCE.
Repeat often.
