Does Anything Need to Be Done?
After writing about pain and its meanings last week, I noticed myself having a lot of conversations about pain in the office this week. Ha! Of course.
I began to see deeper into pain as part of our healing response or part of our body's innate health and repair systems. I also saw that "pain" can be broadened in this context to include uncomfortable feelings or emotions we don't like. Also, tiredness or fatigue fits into this category.
Hmmm. "Tell me more Dr. Sara," you say. Lol.
With many healing approaches including Spinal Entrainments and also including resting in our true nature, the body starts to wake up as it lets go of tension and tightness.
When an area of the body has been functioning in a defense mode for a while (longer than a day) and it starts to let go, your brain registers this change and can more accurately assess what is going on in that body area. You get real-time feedback. This is the deeper power of opening up.
You can more accurately "see" reality as it is.
Your own body can then decide "Does anything more need to be done?". Often the answer is "Not right now" - just continue the process of letting go and releasing tension. Let the brain and body synchronize to unwind. This process may create uncomfortable sensations because your brain will be registering all the tightness that is still there and figuring out how to heal it.
Your own deeper wisdom is the most important voice to listen to. I can give information or what I know from working with lots of people for lots of years. However, your quiet voice of knowing knows.
Hint: This voice is always neutral and usually quiet. If you are feeling scared, angry, or anxious, don't listen.
As people's bodies start to open up and get back to their natural fluidity with entrainments, with sitting in a space of "no thought", it can start to hurt here and there. Or some people feel exhausted. This is like a detox. It takes energy. Sometimes a cellular replacement process needs to complete.
When people have been low on sleep and they start to get better sleep again, they invariably feel tired when they wake up. This is how you know you've switched from being chronically unrested to getting back to being rested. When you have replenished your "rested" tank or reserve again, you'll wake up feeling rested and refreshed. It takes longer than you want it to.
These are all examples of how the body goes through the process of opening up, letting go, and beginning to heal.
In a space of relaxation, you can neutrally ask yourself, "Does anything more need to be done?" and see what comes up and how that feels.
Lie Back
I recently was on a group Masterclass session with Dr. Dicken Bettinger, clinical psychologist and founder of 3 principles mentoring.
He read the most beautiful poem to us in his most relaxing beautiful voice. The poem is First Lesson by Philip Booth.
The author is teaching his little daughter to swim in the ocean and it’s a beautiful metaphor for learning to swim in the flow of life.
Here is the poem for your inspiration:
First Lesson
Lie back daughter, let your head
be tipped back in the cup of my hand.
Gently, and I will hold you. Spread
your arms wide, lie out on the stream
and look high at the gulls. A dead-
man's float is face down. You will dive
and swim soon enough where this tidewater
ebbs to the sea. Daughter, believe
me, when you tire on the long thrash
to your island, lie up, and survive.
As you float now, where I held you
and let go, remember when fear
cramps your heart what I told you:
lie gently and wide to the light-year
stars, lie back, and the sea will hold you.
~Philip Booth
Do you ever just listen?
Do you ever just listen?
To others
To yourself, your own wisdom.
Truly listening with nothing on your mind. Seeing the all of someone. Feeling them as they speak and listening without agenda.
Just listening or easy listening is a way of being with someone else or yourself that allows them to truly hear themselves and to be fully seen and heard.
It is in a way the opposite of active or reflective listening as you aren’t thinking about what to reflect back or what to say next but you are truly present with the other person in a way that is deeply honouring of who they are.
It’s not distracted listening or not paying attention. It’s being fully present and just listening.
I’ve heard it described as listening like a rock with ears or listening like the camera. Without trying to be helpful, judgement, or opinion. The other person will feel the difference and blossom.
It is also a profound way of being with yourself and hearing yourself. Most people either don’t hear their own knowing or they hear it and dismiss it. “I’m making that up”. To deeply listen to yourself without censoring yourself, fully accepting all aspects of yourself is extremely freeing. And healing.
Homework: For just today really deeply listen to yourself without judgement. Whatever comes up is okay. Listen to yourself like a rock with ears. You might be surprised.
With love,
Dr. Sara