Macrobiotics Today, March/April 1992, Vol. 32, No. 2
"Welcome Your Spirit Home" Cindy Briscoe
My experience has led me to believe the greatest truth and freedom of being a woman lies in her body. Our body does not lie, as sometimes our minds can by bending and tricking us against the truth, and therefore trapping us in life like a prisoner, barred by unhappiness.
Some people might not hold the mortal body in such high esteem, maintaining that the spirit is more important and more worthy of attention. Body and spirit are equal partners and most intimate companions. One gives life to the other. We search for oneness and wholeness because fragmentation and separation of body and spirit can and does occur.
Trouble comes when we are not "in our bodies" or what is commonly known as not being "grounded." This phenomenon occurs in virtually all of us to some degree. Why? Separation of body and spirit can occur from physical injury, emotional trauma, surgery, or sudden fright. Our spirit may separate from our body because the trauma or pain is too much to endure. When we spiritually abandon our bodies to survive painful experiences, we also abandon experiences of pleasure and joy.
Many of us exist in this nether state of being. Depending on what issues affect us, parts of our bodies shut down. We protect ourselves from immediate suffering, but the loss in terms of fullness of living is great. We may live our lives unaware of the loss because we have become conditioned to the numbness. We are settling for much less than our birthright offers.
Reuniting body and spirit can begin with awareness. Let's look at some of the areas of the body and relate them to a few common issues. Begin with the head. The face tells us so much about a person. The best time to study a face is when the person is in a relaxed state and doesn't know anyone is observing. We "put on" the face we want the world to see. Recall the macrobiotic principle "the bigger the front, the bigger the back." The person who plasters a big grin on her face is the front. The back of that may be deep sadness, hurt, or unhappiness. Recently I met a bubbly, giggly, "always up" woman friend in her forties. On the surface she's the life of the party, but many tears lie just behind the little girl attitude. Two years ago her life met tragedy when her nineteen year old son was murdered. She is always busy. She frequently says, "I have to keep busy so I don't think about it." Obviously she needs support for her grief, anger, and tears. She takes cortisone from her doctor to combat skin eruptions on her face.
Try massaging or better yet, have someone deeply massage your jaw muscles. Is it more and more painful the longer and more deeply it is massaged? Are you able to just let your jaw hang loose? Many times when there are thoughts we would like to say or we are stuck in unhappy situations, we "bite the bullet," so to speak, creating chronic tight jaw muscles frozen with anger.
Next move on down to the neck. Tension and tightness here can denote the manner in which one deals with tense situations. Someone with tension in this area often finds it difficult to verbally express how they are really feeling. If you have a problem here, perhaps your world or your basic life situation, represented by the head, feels very heavy and burdensome to carry. The neck becomes rigid and pillar-like to support the load. A tight neck inhibits circulation and ki flow to the brain possibly resulting in headaches, rigid thinking, or poor judgment, therefore limiting individual freedom.
Stand before a mirror and observe your shoulders. Is one shoulder higher than the other? A raised left shoulder can indicate an overly dominant mother. A raised right shoulder can indicate an overly dominant father. Chances are as a child, you were filled with plenty of life and energy, but that energy was repressed through the careful training by a parent. Why would a parent do such a thing? An active child full of life reminds a parent of his or her own lack of life. Therefore a parent teaches the child to conform to his or her level of tolerance for life.
Mobility of the shoulders is also connected to the arms. Are you able to reach out for what you want? Are you able to accept gifts from others? Are you able to give as you would like? If not, perhaps you can recall as a child reaching up to a parent to be picked up and held, but those needs were not satisfied. Many people carry this type of memory in their arms, unable to reach out or to give without reason or justification. Somehow they don't feel worthy or that they are imposing on someone. Sometimes lack of energy in the arms can also represent suppressed anger or a desire to reach out and strike. If you can identify and work through the specific loss or anger, releasing it from your arms, a tingling, prickly sensation may occur in the arms and hands as the life flows back into the extremities.
For women, the breasts can denote "feeding the world." Do you give more than you receive in such a manner that eventually you deplete your energy stock? A small baby receives love, warmth, and comfort from nursing at the breast. The baby receives a flow of love, beyond simple nourishment, directly from the heart as he or she nurses. The mother must accept her animal nature and inherent feminine ability to nourish offspring directly from the nipple and find pleasure in it. So many of us were bottle fed, depending on "things" such as bottles, cribs, playpens, and walkers rather than direct holding and stimulation from a parent, sibling, or grandparent. Many people today seek material wealth and accumulation of "things" to feel honored and nourished. The breast becomes objectified.
Now observe your breathing. Full breathing comes from the abdomen. Watch a small baby breathe. The abdomen is relaxed and moves with each breath. Pay attention to your breathing when you are sad, angry, or scared. You may notice that you hold your breath or breathing becomes shallow. Sometime when you are upset, try lying on your back, knees bent, feet fully contacting the floor. You can place a rolled bath towel under the arch of your back to open up the chest cavity. Relax and practice breathing as a baby does, from the abdomen. Allow images to rise uncensored. When your emotions rise, don't forget to breathe. Open your mouth to take in or release as much breath as you would like. If any tears or sadness surface, allow them to come and go beautifully. Once I experienced this as spasms that I can only describe as giving birth to myself. Afterward I noticed my breathing became fuller and deeper.
Next palpate the soft midsection of your body. Do you notice any knots along the energy channel that runs along the line of main chakras down the center of the body? Some people may notice a knot at the solar plexis or in the area of the hara. This indicates a break in the main energy channel and may signify that the will is overriding the actual desires of the person. Sometimes we function through sheer force of will, becoming someone who is not true to their inner self. We operate from our heads rather than our guts. This blocks our life energy, draining our ki. Eventually we find ourselves tired and depressed. Living in such a manner denies our reason for being. To change this self-destructive pattern, we must discover and pursue those activities and people in our life that stimulate and excite enjoyment and personal creativity. Gradually the knots will dissolve so that a smooth flow of energy pulsates from the top to the bottom of our bodies.
Is your pelvis flexible and lilting? Actually when you are lying on your back, the pelvis should lift slightly with each breath. Many women hold anger and frustration, particularly toward men, in their pelvic area. Sometimes this may take the form of fibroids. Such women are angry pleasers toward their fathers, husbands, or other dominant males in their life. They bury their anger and frustration in the pelvis causing tightness and restriction. This closes off and deadens that part of the body. For some women who have experienced sexual abuse, shutting down that part of their body is their way of "owning" or regaining control of their pelvis. This inhibits sexual fulfillment. Orgasm is a natural function that releases tension while exciting every body cell and promoting smooth cell division and growth. The orgasmic charge cleanses the body of stagnation and excess energy. Women who are unable to achieve orgasm in a healthy sexual relationship add a burden to their body that may turn inward creating a host of female health problems and a denial of their natural femininity.
Next check your legs. Are they strong and able to support your weight comfortably? Are your knees flexible? Ideally, when you stand, the knees should remain slightly flexed, not locked in a rigid position. Inflexible knees can belong to the person who has difficulty asking for help. They need support but are unable to ask for it. For such a person, asking for help might indicate weakness and vulnerability. Somewhere they have learned that this is not acceptable. Can you stand comfortably, carry your own weight, or do you often look for the nearest chair or wall to lean against? Look at the people closest to you in life and ask yourself if you get the support you need.
For a general sense of well-being and connectedness, the foot should make secure contact with the ground. Do you walk on tiptoes with the heel not touching the floor? Do you curl your toes upward away from the floor? Being well grounded connects us to the earth, with our mother nature, which feeds, nourishes, and supplies our needs. Groundedness can also represent our bonding with our biological mother. Individuals whose feet are firmly planted on the ground have a positive, secure relationship with their mother. Those who do not may have fundamental mother issues to work through. For women who become mothers themselves, it is essential to discover peace and harmony with their mother or they unconsciously recreate the same issues in their children.
Herman Aihara gives a wonderful lecture in which he speaks about "the meaning of suffering." He says that if you can discover the meaning or reason for your suffering, suffering is OK. It is when we don't discover the big view that suffering is just that: suffering. Remember the macrobiotic axiom "everything changes"? The deeper the suffering, the greater the opportunity to transform it to something profoundly wonderful! Your body reveals your suffering. It is all recorded there. Let's find the meaning so we can change it to freedom!
Spiritual truth and freedom can be found in our bodies. We know because it "feels" right. If our spirits are the melody, our bodies are the sounding board. If some strings are too loose or too tight, we cannot play the song we would like.
I hope in the upcoming Women's Festival at Vega we can develop our individual songs, put them all together, and have heavenly harmony. We can work through specific physical and emotional exercises to welcome our spirits home to our bodies. Certainly, not all the issues are unique to women, but as women, we have many collective things to share.
A peaceful world begins right here in our bodies. Let us begin.
End of Article
Author bio-statement: Cindy Briscoe teaches at the Vega Study Center and lives in Oroville, California with her husband David and their five children.
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