Workshops For A Better Life

Body Memories Article
 

How do our Judgments have an effect on our life?

A key part of Body Memories is that only the things we misunderstand or have judgments on negatively impact our experiences— particularly topics that are unresolved or incomplete. Topics  with which an individual has not yet come to terms with—that are stored in the body.  In contrast to these types of experiences and subsequent memories, joy and love pass easily through the body because they are complete experiences that allow the body and the mind to feel lighter and happier.  Because joy and love are feelings that are not based on upsetting experiences, they are considered “complete” and do not become blocked emotions.  In contrast, disturbing experiences that produce uncomfortable and painful emotions and if not experienced they become stuck in the psyche and body and end up manifesting in some sort of physical discomfort or disease.  

Practitioners of Body Memories understand that according to many integrated healing systems the reason that we have a body is to store information.  For example, it is as if the body is a diary and it collects traumatic or incomplete information.  The body holds on to the incomplete experiences until there is some sort of emotional and subsequent physical release or rectification of the trauma that has been stored.  

Although most of our identification with the body originates in our minds, that is, we think about our bodies and have an image of it in our minds, meaning we think the body is just one way—our way of seeing it. The body has so many more experiences then we realize but we still only look at it as an outer shell that is good or bad. The good news is that you can grow past these ideas of your own body, by increasing your feeling ability and awareness. Ultimately this will bring clarity to what is truly going on in your self and your life. This is done not by trying to convince yourself that you are not your body but by shifting your attention away from the external form of your body and from thoughts about your body. It is necessary to shift your attention away from questions such as, Why am I beautiful? Why am I ugly, strong, weak, too fat, or too thin? You need to start feeling the aliveness inside of the body no matter what your outer appearance is. Paradoxically going beyond the outer form of your body, is an important part in bringing more awareness and energy to your life and the physical form of your body.

How does an increased awareness in the body allow for healing and vitality?

This increased awareness of the effect that thoughts and judgments have on the body, highlights the continuous nature of the mind/body connection—our thoughts are always occurring and affecting the body. The key is becoming aware of the voice in your head. This thinking and self talk is happening to everybody, generally on a subconscious level, until the awareness occurs and you  become identified with the voice in the head and its repetitive thought patterns. Most people are trapped in a pattern of continuous negative judgment and lack of awareness about the effect of their likes, dislikes, prejudices and general content of their mind on the body. People allow their minds to become trapped in these thought patterns and derive a sense of self from them. These thought patterns make up their personality, which is ultimately insubstantial, conditioned by the past and not who they really are.

With this form of body/ soul work you can learn to free yourself from the addiction to the thoughts in your head and bring more awareness to the body and the miracle of life that continuously unfolds within and around you. Every cell of the body becomes part of that sense of presence and aliveness.  We can get a little glimpse or sense of our own presence, which has nothing to do with thinking. This sense of our presence occurs at a level that is deeper than thinking. You will find that you will get a glimpse of it but it is fleeting and that understanding  will be gone. I recommend that you see if you can feel the inner aliveness in your body. Is there any sense in which you can feel that there is an aliveness in every cell of the body? Body Memories addresses not only the mind but the deeper part of subtle life embedded in the mind, the soul and at times clients even experience realms beyond the soul which are pure consciousness or spirit.

How can the “inner world and awareness of you body” change your life?

We find that most people are not familiar with their “inner world and awareness of how they are feeling inside their body.”  Close your eyes for a moment and find out if there is life inside your feet or hands. Don’t ask your mind. It will say,” I can’t feel anything.” Probably it will also say, “I’m bored Give me something more interesting to think about.”

So instead of asking your mind, go directly to the feet or hands with your awareness. Become Aware of the subtle feeling of aliveness inside them. Remember it is there, you’re not dead, you are alive! You just have not been feeling the aliveness of your hands. You just have to go there with your attention to notice how your hands and feet feel right at the moment.  This awareness in the  moment can be one of the greatest experiences you may ever have. You may get a slight tingling sensation at first.  Next, a feeling of energy or aliveness will start to grow. If you hold your attention in your body for a while, the sense of aliveness will intensify. You will be able to feel what “inner worlds and aliveness really means” at the same time as you read these words.

Now, pay attention to your hands, keeping your awareness there for a minute or so.  Begin to feel your hands and feet at the same time. Then incorporate other parts of the body: your abdomen, chest, legs, arms and so on, until you are aware that your inner body has a whole feeling of  sense and aliveness.

Why is physical pain trying to get our attention?

A Body Memories practitioner will also address physical pain in the body.  Physical body pain has a story to tell. Pain will continue to get stronger and louder until we start to pay attention to our bodies and lives. If we would just slow down and bring awareness to our bodies by listening to them on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level, we would have the ability to change our lives.

Physical pain reveals itself in a non-moving, “stuck” ailment in the body. The goal of a Body Memories practitioner is to help a client increase movement and lessen the tightness in parts of the body.  The physical effects of the work will also free emotions and will have a healing effect on the whole physical system..

Typically, we experience life through the physical body, meaning that if our physical bodies are off, our whole experience of life will feel heavier and more emotionally painful.  A healthy physical body is able to expand and the more it expands the healthier the body is.  A healthier body will lead to us feeling, as if we can expand in every aspect of our selves.

Life is a factor of these two points:  Movement versus non-movement in the body, and expansion or contraction in our body and life. These two key elements each have a complete effect on our whole person, as well as a reminder when there is something “off” in our physical bodies through the manifestation of sensory pain.  Being “off” in the physical body means that  the whole person is “off”.

Can thoughts change our cells?

The work of Masaru Emoto, a Japanese doctor, provides an example of how our negative judgments and feelings can affect the body in a detrimental way.  Emoto performed studies on how human thought and speech could have a direct effect on water droplets and crystals. Emoto's water crystal experiments consisted of exposing water to environments that were either hostile or beautiful in various forms including words and pictures.  He then froze the water and examined the aesthetics of the resulting crystals with microscopic photography.  Emoto found that depending on whether the influencing factor (thoughts, words, or writing to name a few) was positive or negative, there was a corresponding effect on the resulting crystal structures (beautiful crystals had a positive influence and unattractive crystals had a negative influence. So the next time you get angry and say, ”I'm am so stupid for doing ….etc.” you might want to stop and think, what effect you are having on your bodies physical structure and the water that makes up 90% of your body.

Emoto’s work is relevant to the work of Body Memories because we know that the physical body matter is mostly made up of water, meaning that negative thoughts and judgments affect the physical body in a harmful way. The negative judgments we make in every situation are leaving us with less movement and more contraction in our bodies.  Additionally, the individual body may be affected by the judgments and thoughts of other people. In Body Memories we learn that it is easy to reverse the negativity on the body by simply bringing awareness to the body and focusing on the present (which is hard for most of us to do).

Reading the body is much like reading a book?

Having been "blown away" by a similar experience many years ago. It was magic, this ability to read the thoughts and memories of the body. Once exploring it, we discovered it was not only real, but readily accessible to everyone. It is not a psychic exercise available only to the clairvoyant. It is a practical physical process available to all. Reading the body is much like reading a book. You just have to understand the writing.

With practice, it becomes extremely easy to see in the body the events that shape a person's life. In fact, once you start looking and opening yourself to receive information, it becomes extremely difficult not to see it. Bodies have been so neglected and overlooked that they respond with great enthusiasm when someone speaks directly to them. They cannot wait to tell their story, their entire story, and when approached in the right way, they have no withholding or secrets when they talk.

Being able to connect with a person's body thoughts, including your own, offers benefits on many levels. By responding appropriately to body thoughts you can change lives. The body will tell you how to communicate effectively with a person, what words to use and actions to take. It will tell you how to reach that person and get your message through. It will tell you how to release unhealthy and restrictive thoughts from the body. It will tell you what action is appropriate in every circumstance for your own success and happiness. In short, it will tell you whatever you need to know.

Your body is the physical representative of your Life!

Your body is the physical representative of your soul. Everything that has ever happened to you exists in your body. It is a storehouse for all your victories, successes and triumphs as well as your injuries, failures and traumas. All of these events are thoughts, which are stored in the body. By affecting our bodies, they affect our lives. Until released, incomplete traumas and memories from your body will be limiting factors in your life. Even some scientific circles are now acknowledging what body workers have known for many years; memory resides in the connective  and cellular tissues of the body. This is the magic that allows for contacting the body's thoughts and unlocking its restrictions. Many traditional forms of medicine and psychotherapy now acknowledge the importance of bodywork or physical therapy in releasing the memory of traumatic experiences from the body. This is especially true in cases of abuse. The mind may choose to forget or ignore traumatic events, but the body never does. Until memory is physically released from the body, a person is never truly free from the effects of such an event.

The tissues of the human body cannot tell a lie. It is not possible. The mind, however, is another story. So often when we work with people we get two answers to the questions we ask. One from their mind, via their mouth, and the other from their body. We trust the body's answer.

The mind is able to devise an elaborate defense system of thoughts, rationalizations and avoidances. The body cannot. At worst, bodies can honestly believe a lie the mind has told them over and over again. They cannot tell a lie. This is where physical problems arise in the body. Either the mind has overridden the body and convinced it to do something not in its best interest, or the body has decided to believe in a lie the mind has devised. The cause always comes down to a thought and the effect is always seen in the body. This is why releasing body thoughts is such an effective process in the realms of healing and personal growth. The human body has an innate ability to heal itself, all it has to do is release the restrictions and limitations imposed on it by thoughts and belief systems.

The process is actually very simple. It only requires that the mind be diverted long enough for the body to take over a function as it was designed.

Have you ever wondered why you do not have everything you want in life, whether it is on the material, mental, emotional or spiritual level?

If so, take a look at your belief systems and thoughts. All limitations start with a thought. If you have worked on the thought process for years, as many people have, then why does the limitation still exist?

Because all limitations share a common process that exists in the physical body as well as the mental body. The belief of a limitation becomes ingrained in the body and will remain there until it is released. Fortunately, the process of unwinding and releasing thoughts and limitations from the body is quite easy. For any given limitation or negative thought there is a corresponding physical restriction somewhere in the connective tissue of the human body. The body is usually only too happy to tell you where the spot is and direct you in how to release it. When these restrictions are released, people experience a state of freedom, a flowing moment to moment state of pure unlimited divineness where they are whole.

How does Body Memories explore the phenomenon of touch ?

In Body Memories, “the best state for a practitioner is to be in a state of newness, being open to  each moment.” The body’s tissue is approached with infinite respect for its intelligence.  A body worker uses the hands and uses touch in a variety of profound and healing ways: the hands gently contour to the client with a quality of listening and timeless patience, supporting and blending with the life of the tissue, sensing for it's secrets, exploring "tissue parameters" with the lightest of touches, feeling for the lines of least resistance and following... following and waiting. It can be said that "every place you touch has an inherent directionality to it.”  You simply follow the path of greatest ease, allowing the body to experience itself and ultimately letting go: what follows is a tribute to the quality of your presence. The practitioner's organization and touch is a suggestion to the tissue, and therefore the practitioner’s field of awareness encompasses the self and the client.

Once you have arrived at sympathetic resonance, deliberate suggestions are tactfully introduced into the tissue. Less is more - the lighter and more attuned your exploration of the tissue is, the deeper and more profound the changes.

Are you ready to be more present, more alive for yourself?

You cannot really bring other people along unless you become present.  Sometimes you bring other people along simply because you embody a different state of consciousness even while you sit with them. They may be telling you their sad story, but you don't buy into the sad story nor do you question the sad story. You’re just there as a spacious, conscious presence.

You start to learn, being conscious, aware of what you are feeling yourself and aware of how you are in touch with your body to give your body just what your body needs. Then it becomes not about the diet and the food or how many repetitions you did at the gym, but about being aware. Most of the world is focused on the surface such as what you eat. Being in touch with the body helps greatly because the body knows what it needs. For example, overeating happens because it's part of the mind, which seeks a substitute for the sense of aliveness.

We feel impatient when we have to wait and we don’t like the present moment.  We would rather have another moment.  Yet, if we tried to completely inhabit this moment and feel our bodies we could feel the energy that flows through them.  

Why not practice being, rather than waiting, which means completely inhabit this moment and feel your body, perhaps feel the energy? Be present and feel that you are alive.

That is the peace that surpasses all of the thinking and judgments in this moment. In Body Memories you have to learn to be in present time to have real change happen. The magic of this moment is incredibly healing. The magic to heal is there because you live in alignment with the present moment. That's the peace. Peace is living in alignment and allowing healing to happen.

Contact us at 978-439-9956

Dunja@workshopsforabetterlife.com