Connecting Mind, Body And Spirit: Our Natural Way of Being

The attainment of "Body, Mind, Spirit" is not some far-out ideal only attained by eight hours of meditation a day, hours of intense daily yoga, or shaving your head and donning a monk's robe.  It is our innate way of being.

Sometime in the early 1900’s, societies moved away from this natural state by creating an inner “split” or division of who we are as humans. The responsibility of the mind went to the government in the form of state education, our bodies offered up to the scientific and medical communities and the spirit to organized religion and  churches.

Let’s address the effects of that split within each area:

1- How we educate our minds.
In our modern educational institutions, the inherent wisdom of parents and family is removed from the equation. All the focus is on our mind and brains as a giant collective. There is no thought given to the unique needs of the individual's creativity, emotions, or spirit. The cost of this neglect is a constant overriding of who we are innately. Children learn from an early age “don’t feel - just think,”  which is detrimental to our well being.

2 -How we heal our bodies.
Doctors treat symptoms, not human beings.  If you have a problem with your liver, it’s not only the liver that needs attention, it’s the whole of who you are and the interconnectedness within your physical body as well your mind and spirit that needs to be addressed.  Let’s not forget that no two people are alike. We do need science to treat the symptom, but we should also look closer at the individual cause.  There are numerous studies that prove that our body's biochemistry is inseparable from emotions and our energy. Our brain, glands and immune system are in constant communication.

3- How we connect to something bigger than ourselves.
Much of organized religion asks us to follow dogmatic belief and to completely cut ourselves off from our own internal wisdom.  Many religions ask their followers to believe that only god knows and ask us to succumb and surrender to an omnipotent being who is “higher ' above and separate from us, instead of teaching us to look within.  They give us instruction on how to "act in spiritual ways" rather than acknowledging that we are spirit.  Religion has put an emphasis on needing to relate, often fearfully, to God as other, instead of teaching that we are connected to, and indeed part of God.

The truth of our being is that you have all the information you need to awaken inside of you.

We're not conditioned to talk about it, because most business models are based on invalidating and dis-empowering us in order to buy or use their services.  Yet within our core - our connectedness is there. It is underneath all the invalidation and dis-empowerment that we carry in our bodymind.

If you are looking to release the blocks of the bodymind, here are three steps to get started:

1. Start looking at your internal talk. More than likely, most of your internal chatter is not serving you. You would never talk to a friend the way you are talking to yourself.  So inhale. Wave good-bye to the invalidation and say "Hello, validation."  This is a process of letting go of all that old energy.
2. When you notice you are stressed, angry etc, pay attention. Acknowledge the emotion. And STOP where you are. Yes, no matter where you are. Just say to yourself "Stop." Then breathe five full breaths. Emotions might come up - let them. If you need to cry, great go ahead. If you are angry, just let that happen too. And breathe…
3. Write down or think of 5 things you are grateful for and really feel them - even say them out loud.  You will quickly feel a shift in how you feeling.

This three-step process, validating your emotions, breathing deeply and harnessing the power of gratitude may feel awkward at first. In time and with practice,it will get easier and easier until it becomes second nature to incorporate these steps into your daily life. You are an amazing human being. Breathe in the essential amazing-ness of who you are. Enjoy.
 
It is important to create balance in your life by nurturing your whole person.