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RISING WOMEN EXPERT ADVICE...
How do I listen to my body’s internal guidance?
In our culture, the body is seen as tainted and sinful; our weakness and our
lower animal self. Ignoring our physical needs and the body is built right
into the fabric of our lives. In order to heal ourselves, we need to care
for the body, live within it and in accordance to its needs.
When we listen to the small, still, wise, intuitive voice within us -- the
voice of our own body -- healing can occur. We reclaim body wisdom first by
understanding the influence society has on how we think about and care for
our bodies. Our culture gives us messages that our body is our adversary. We
are taught to ignore fatigue, hunger, discomfort and the need for care and
nurturing. We learn to look outside ourselves for answers and we become
afraid of our natural body processes and emotions hence learning to suppress
our emotions at an early age. When we start listening however, our bodies
become stronger.
Our emotions and thoughts are physically linked to our bodies via the
immune, endocrine and the central nervous system. All parts of us think and
feel, and the mind exists in every cell of our bodies. Our inner guidance
comes to us through feelings and body wisdom first. Our beliefs, heavily
influenced by our culture, are unconscious and do not come from the
intellect. They come from the part that became lodged and buried in cell
tissue in the past. In order to heal, we have to re-enter our bodies and
experience them.
Understanding comes after you have allowed yourself to experience what you
are feeling. We need to learn to trust our emotions. In our culture, we are
taught that there is something wrong with pain. We are brought up to fear,
deny and judge our negative emotions and feelings as bad. Sadness and pain
are natural parts of life and great teachers. We have an innate ability to
deal with pain and the body knows how to do this. When we allow a full
emotional release, we feel cleansed and free, and insight comes after we
feel our emotions.
If we are encouraged to stay with what we are feeling, to go into it, make
the sounds we need to make, yell and cry as long as necessary, the body will
innately heal. Only our connection with our inner guidance and emotions are
reliable in the end.
Recovery from our culture requires living fully from the inside out.
For more advice on embracing your emotions, contact Sharon Stopforth,
MSW, RSW at Body Psychotherapy at 403.259.3427. Visit
www.bodypsych.ca
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