01 Oct Embodying

Your body is a brilliant feedback mechanism that continually provides insights into how you are consciously and unconsciously conditioned in your interactions with life. In fact, in your earthly existence, it is the only tool you have to relate to life both within and around you. Thus, your body serves as an interface between spirit and matter.

However, few people are taught to interpret the language of the body in this way. If they were, and if they truly listened, they could prevent much discomfort and realise that their intuition serves as an excellent compass for navigating life in a magical and effortless manner.

To perceive the subtle and more apparent signals of your body, it is essential to focus your attention on the present moment—here and now. This is where most people encounter difficulties. Here, the connection with tension held in the body as stress becomes evident. Such tension draws your attention to the past or the future, diverting you from the present. As the Buddhist meditation teacher Thich Nhat Hanh aptly states: ‘I think, therefore I am not here.’

The highest priority, therefore, is to release stress from your system. The first step is to continually return your attention to your body. What is currently alive within you? What thoughts, feelings, emotions, and physical sensations are you aware of? When you acknowledge and embrace them, tension is released, bringing you incrementally closer to the present moment.

In my practice, I encounter many individuals who are poorly grounded, if at all. The symptoms are easily recognisable: feelings of overstimulation, chaos, and a lack of decisiveness, clarity, and perspective. Energetically, this phenomenon is clearly observable in the body. In the lower back and pelvic region, the flow of Chi, or life energy, is either absent or stagnant. Many individuals experience physical complaints in this area, such as lower back pain, menstrual issues, fertility problems, and sexual blockages.

The root cause of this stagnation often lies elsewhere, primarily in the heart or in mental processes such as overthinking, worrying, and ruminating. Emotional trauma, in particular, not only creates an energetic impact in the heart region but also immediately contracts the hip and pelvic areas, which symbolise fundamental safety on an energetic level. This contraction inhibits the downward flow of Chi, leading to a build-up of pressure in the heart and head regions. When this tension is triggered, the initial response is often to disconnect and escape from the present situation.

This reaction is typical for individuals who are poorly grounded. Instead of residing in the body, acknowledging what is happening, and allowing the reaction to exist fully, they escape the moment and disengage—simply because they do not know how to navigate the situation without feeling burdened. Another common response is to shut down entirely. The effect of this is a continual disempowerment, with the very thing one seeks to shut out gaining more energy. Both responses are tragic and ineffective strategies for keeping life at bay or attempting to flee from it.

Research has shown that the body is perfectly equipped to experience all aspects of life without being overwhelmed. The essential prerequisites for this are a combination of awareness and compassion. To achieve this, one must consciously re-inhabit the body, claim ownership of it, and transform it into a safe place.