Today I had a most spectacular New Moon Meditation – if that is what it can be called.
I felt my body on fire – I felt my energy expand beyond belief- I felt a flow of such joyous and vibrant energy it was hard to contain it – in fact I moved, and danced a little, as is my way – I felt light and dark, colour and formless, embodied in a most beautiful grace that is almost beyond words – and I felt I had come home to myself.
And I was told this phrase to share:
The Body is a Portal to the Soul
What does this mean for us? Can we truly touch into our bodies as temples and a guide to our whole sense of mystery, knowing and wholeness? Can our bodies reveal the knowledge and wisdom of our ancestors, and help us find soul in life?
I know how significant this phrase is, for me and many others…….
I have discovered that many of the techniques I was taught over the years for growth, healing, enlightenment etc are simply no longer working for me.
Take meditation for example – I am meant to sit and clear my mind, so that I can reach the light, be mindful, in the present and empty. I am not meant to move, I am not meant to feel my body at all, and I am meant to clear everything of the clutter of my being out. But is this actually what I need? I need the silence, and I need the formlessness, but do I need this structure and this process? No!
I no longer practice zazen, a form of Zen Buddhist meditation I was taught all those years ago. Nor any other form of practice such as the mantra practice, though mantras are beautiful. I no longer deny my body in this mystery of cleansing and clearing. NO, I breathe into my body and allow my inner self to take me wherever I need to go. This may include moving, breathing, thinking words, feeling emotions, seeing visions, it may even be the clear light of the soul within. It is whatever my body shows me it needs. This is my soul talking.
Take shamanic practice, something else I was ‘taught’ almost thirty years ago and still love deeply – I was shown how to drum, using the pace of the heart beat, to rattle with abandon, to use a singing bowl, or use other accessories. Anything that allowed my body to reach a trance like state was acceptable, as this was seen as the way to reach and ‘journey’ into non-ordinary reality in order to affect healing. Powerful techniques yes, and occasionally they still work! – but I simply do not need them as a structure – my body is the portal into this non-ordinary reality. If I wish to go there, she shows me where to go, who to meet, which energies to connect with, how to touch the deep divinity within the layers of my flesh. I may be called to use these techniques if my body wants this, but only then. This is the knowledge I have been hiding most of my adult life – that my body knows best.
Take channelling – I was taught to travel into an inner landscape, in visualisation, in silence and sitting, upto a mountain where I would find a sacred space to meet a teacher or guide. This being would give me the guidance I could then share with the world, wise words given for specific requests or for healing aims – But I do none of these things – I simply close my eyes, clear my body, allow myself to listen intently for a calling, for anything in my inner senses that resonate, and the words simply float into my being. If I am with another, offering healing or similar, the words, thoughts, feelings, sensations and images are always relevant for them. If I am alone, they are relevant to me. I never call this channelling now as it is my inner body talking to me. My body knows. I may have guides or I may not, but they come just however they want, and it is often my inner wisdom talking! My body….
There are many other examples of how my beautiful body, whose wisdom was neglected for much of my life, is the true teacher of my growth. Even when i undertook yoga, doing asanas, breathing practices and lying out to feel the breath, I could feel that my true self wanted to follow a different flow – to move, to shake, to feel, to speak, and even yes to make love. My sexual energy was awakened at times in this exploration, the deepest and most beautiful form of energy which is of course the source of life. I could not easily follow a system which appeared to rigidly make shapes, exercises and breathing styles alien to my body. But I was ashamed to admit this to my teachers and others, who all seemed to gain such deep satisfaction from these practices. So I attempted to deny my body her wisdom again, and again, and again.
Now I am listening. This meditation, if that is what it is called, is telling me the time is now, that to listen to my body is my way. Never again will I follow a system which is not aligned to my body. And I am not alone.
I am not alone. There is a movement of women all over the world beginning to wake up to this new system of growth and evolution which involves listening deeply to our bodies. And of course men too are listening, though I do feel these new forms bring in the feminine way finally. There are new yoga practices, new dance styles, new spiritual movement and sound healings, emerging daily. New feminine styles of spiritual and evolutionary growth are becoming ready to awaken our bodies. Now, every time I hear of a new technique I will ask my body ‘ Does it recognise my inner wisdom, my body knowledge?’ and listen closely to the answer.
So my meditation, this evening, has finally given me the validation of my own being, rather than seek it outside myself and outside of my own body. I am body, soul, psyche in one, and all my practices are now aligned to learning my own deep wisdoms. It is time.
Our bodies are the portal to our souls. Try it tonight!
Anna Grace-Jacobs