What Does the Body Know?
This is my first foray into blogging (aside from some Notes on Facebook), and I’ve chosen to center my first few posts around Body Wisdom.
Knowing that my audience here could be anyone makes it an interesting exercise. Through many years of stage and speaking experience, I learned how to play to an audience without even thinking about it. Here, in contrast, my own voice will have to sound out on its own.
Therefore, my commitment to myself as a writer, and to you, my unknown reader, is to remember to take things in stages so that what I say makes some sense. Hopefully!
So, let’s begin.
You: Did you say “Body Wisdom?”
Me: Yes. It’s one of the key themes in my coaching practice and the equine-facilitated PlayShops.
You: I don’t get it. What is it, and how does it play a part in coaching? And what the heck is a PlayShop?
Me: A PlayShop is a workshop, but its intent is to bring things forward in a joyful and playful manner.
Years ago, I lived in Silicon Valley, where I worked and worked and worked, and then shopped for recreation. Work – shop. Work – shop. Work – shop…you get the idea.
“Playshop” has a completely different connotation. I promise to blog about this, also, but it isn’t the central theme here.
Body Wisdom is the name I use for something that Candace Pert, Ph.D. has written about extensively. In The Molecules of Emotion, she says, “the body is the unconscious mind.” I agree completely.
The body stores an enormous amount of information in many forms, and we can tap into it easily in a coaching context using focus and intention, curiosity and breath.
You: Sounds pretty woo-woo.
Me: Yes, I imagine it does. The first time I experienced this, it blew me away. It’s a powerful thing to realize how much information is available.
You: Like what?
Me: Well, let’s say that something happens that scares you. Bring up the feeling of being scared for a moment, and feel what happens.
Notice how your body wants to kind of curl up. Muscles get tense, read for fight-or-flight, heart beats faster, breathing is shallow, yes? What did you experience?
You: ______________________________________(fill in the blank)
Me: Good! Now you have a feeling of your own body experience of fear. Emotions can create a very strong physiological response.
If the emotion isn’t dealt with completely, then a residue of it is left behind in the physiology of the body, usually lodging in some specific place, the location of which depends on the emotion and what is happening at the time.
One of the interesting traits of the human mind is that it tends to hold onto negative experiences and forget about positive ones, so many of the negatives will be stored in this way.
And with no reason to dissipate, they will stay for years, even for an entire lifetime.
However, since the residues are there, they can be found. Then the emotions can be released and cleared, and with them any stored memories that still need to be processed, understood, and/or forgiven. It’s simple, really.
You: So what? Why would I care about this?
Me: I don’t know why you would care. I only know why I care. I care because I’m committed to constant expansion of life and consciousness.
Whenever an emotion is lodged in the body, it can create anything from a sense of limitation to severe illness. My role is to hold space for my clients so they have the courage to explore the stuck area, free what needs to be freed, process the information, let go and move on. It’s a joyful and deeply liberating process.
You: Sounds like I would be reliving painful things.
Me: Not so much, actually. The context that we create for exploration is one of objectivity and compassion, so the emotions don’t overwhelm you, and you can see the experience with clarity and perspective.
That is tremendously empowering in its own right. And then the process of letting go is tremendously freeing.
I look at it as something like creating a sculpture. There is a central truth within each person, an energy that resides within them and lights their eyes, graces their step and warms their heart.
In some people that light is so fully expressed that one can feel it from across a huge room. In others, it is partly concealed behind the debris of years. But I still see it, and I recognize the difference between the debris and the truth.
The way we use it in coaching, the process removes the part that isn’t the truth, much as a sculptor removes the part of the marble block that isn’t the sculpture. And as we gently chip away at the debris, your inner light shines more brightly each day!
For more about coaching with me, please visit www.dianalees.com .
