In mental health circles the health of the body is often neglected. The body is too often considered secondary, if at all, when people become over-involved in things of the mind. And of course our culture has split the body/mind when in fact they function as one. Becoming aware of my poor neglected body has been critically important in my healing process.
I found this quote in a delightful post about the symbolism of the color purple, which, of course, is not the subject of this post.
The separation of spirituality from the rest of life leaves us spiritually homeless. In reflection of the archetypal divorce between Earth Mother and Sky Father, we are taught to seek enlightenment by denying the basic nature of our biological existence. This chasm between Heaven and Earth creates a corresponding abyss between spirit and soul that many fall into as they engage in ascetic practices, sign their will over to gurus, and disengage from the world. Denying our basic nature in order to achieve unity is a contradiction steeped in dualistic thinking, which will never lead to unity or wholeness. — Anodea Judith
from Eastern Body, Western Mind
We are embodied creatures. We cannot neglect our bodies without grave consequence.
So deep is our modern disembodiment, then, that many of us have no trust in the body whatsoever and content ourselves with disregarding it on every occasion and at every possible level. In all of this, not surprisingly, there is rarely a sense that the body, on its own and from its own side, might have something to offer us; that the body might, in some sense, be more intelligent than our conscious self or ego, or that the body might have its own designs from which–if understood–we might stand to benefit a very great deal. — Reggie Ray, from Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body
I did a post on a meditation program of Reggie Ray’s. It was really wonderful and I learned a lot from it. See: Inhabiting our bodies in meditation
Lastly I’ll share these interesting and compelling thoughts by Mark Walsh on youtube.
How many of the world’s problems are connected to being alienated from our bodies?
–
Healing modalities talked about on Beyond Meds (not at all an exhaustive list because everything we do matters!):
More Somatic Modalities here
Support Beyond Meds. Enter Amazon via a link from this blog and do the shopping you’d be doing anyway. No need to purchase the book the link takes you to. THANK YOU or make a donation with PayPal
You must be logged in to post a comment.