I’ve been away practicing what I preach – deepening my commitment to my work at a profoundly impactful Presence-Based Coaching retreat with Doug Silsbee in North Carolina and deepening my well of trust and joy on a profoundly fun adventure in Chicago!
This “Body as Prayer” video by master yoga teacher and social activist Seane Corn became the moment-to-moment meditation for my journeys. It brought a new, gorgeous level of awareness and devotion to my actions and state of being.
She inspired me to consider how much richer my experience of life might be were every gesture of the hand an offering. Every breath a dedication. The subtlest opening of my heart a sublimely felt blessing to another.
The body as commitment. The body as surrender. The body as power. The body as happiness…. as tenderness… as curiosity… as faith.
Exploring this over the past 10 days meant breathing low and steady into the deepest part of me. It required coming back to the center of my energetic self again, again and then again. In moments of fear, it asked me to ground into my inherent value as a human being, my commitment to something greater, and my faith in the goodness of life.
I consciously allowed each sensation to permeate my whole being: every limb, each fingernail, the light in my eyes, the sides of my smile, the tissues of my brain, my big Buddha belly, and the center of my heart.
Then I practiced giving it away. Devotionally. As if it meant something.
I’m no Seane Corn; I wasn’t nearly as elegant in my practice as she; yet still, it was a profound experience of life fully felt in this body, with this heart and grounded in this soul. I don’t do drugs (ok, I do have an iced green tea addiction) but I imagine this is what they feel like. I just prefer to get there in a slightly more conscious way.
Whatever you are feeling in this very moment as you read this… what would it be like to let it permeate your whole being? Breathe it in deeply, allow it to move your body and move through your body to its final transformation. Even (and especially) if you are feeling stress, anger, fear or sadness… what could they be as bodily prayer? How would they feel as a whole-you offering?
I’d love to know.
Tags: a woman's body, devotion, prayer
