I remember childhood sketches of family members who looked like one circle with sticks for arms and legs. It’s a process learning about our bodies. Most of us take our bodies for granted and then there are some of us who struggle for order in our body.
I’m building trust in my body, trust earned from years of pain; trust earned from withstanding and overcoming violations; trust earned from understanding my intolerances; trust earned as I practice acceptance.
Today I choose to vocalize this trust with my body. I trust my heart. I trust my stomach. I trust my intestines. I make this a practice running through every organ system, endocrine system, nervous system, venous system right down the list. I trust.
A friend of mine after enduring a car accident, is left with hip and back pain. An exercise in building body trust was given to her, suggesting she sit in silent meditation with pen and paper and talk to her hip, ask for insight in its experience. Let her hip vent feelings. Why not? We talk to our hearts. We talk to our brains. We communicate with our limbs through our brains. Why not bless our body?
As a survivor of fibromyalgia, making assumptions about my body came to a crashing halt. Pain interrupted what I took for granted. It’s really difficult to build trust with something or some thing when the things aren’t working right. I discovered I had more pain when I was negative and depressed. I slept better and felt calmer when I was able to control my fear and judgment.
I write this with the experience of my daughter born with two liver diseases. I don’t make assumptions about bodies. Some bodies struggle because they struggle. I don’t have answers. I do know we learn from our bodies.
While in California I was able to attend a talk given by Terry McBride. He’s a survivor. Terry says in his book The Hell I Can't: “It didn’t matter that I had an incurable disease. It didn’t matter that the odds against my getting well were a million to one. It didn’t matter that some of the finest doctors in the world said I couldn’t expect to come out of this ordeal whole. I was done listening.” This is a great book of inspiration about overcoming health challenges by demonstrating the power of the creative mind.
By Cleo Wade:
“A love note to my body today
First of all,
I want to say
Thank you.
For the heart you kept beating
Even when it was broken.
For every answer you gave me in my gut
For loving me back
Even when I didn’t know how to love you
For every time you recovered when I
Pushed you past your limits
For today,
For waking up
I love you”
Participants’ Reflections
In the stillness, I heard “in our weakness, we are made strong.” Each of us here in this group (or in any group of loved ones) are like a body part: when one is experiencing a hard thing, all of us feel for that person; we synchronize energy with that person. We are getting it all together. For my sister, who is not appreciated by her children, I put together a gratitude book full of letters from her friends.
As we share experiences, our energy is shared. It is boosting, and it takes trust to share.
That was a lovely reading. It is synchronistic. I am listening to my body instead of being a brain on a stick.
Thank you for the reminder to pay attention. It reminded me of a time I was hooked up to a machine and I could see my heartbeat. It woke me up to how many times my heart muscles are beating for me. These times when life is more simple, it’s good to take time to appreciate friends and self.
I think of my body as a friend. It talks back to me, telling me what to do. It takes care of me, it’s my buddy.
This reading is synchronistic. Recently, I found out I have a liver issue and yesterday, I found out my son is running a fever. I am sending love and energy to both.
I loved this reading. I want to print out the poem. There’s a part of my body I don’t like and I have hated that part. I am changing. I am thanking my body part. I feel silly talking to self, so being able to read it is good.
We heard Terry McBride talk about his process of recovering from getting E. Coli after back surgery. It didn't matter the doctors said he would need a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. When we saw him, he was fine and could dance around with no colostomy bag.
Thank you for the reminder of Terry McBride’s approach to healing. I spent the meditation talking to my heart and thanking it and encouraging it to regular rhythm.
We always learn about ourselves from our bodies, even what a stomachache tells us. The book “The Molecules of Emotions: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine” discusses how our minds can cause physical changes to our bodies.