Fooling the Body

There is an Intelligence that guides every form of life including us.  It is what makes a seed grow into a plant that then blossoms to fulfill its purpose in the grander scheme of things. It is the organizing principle behind the workings of all the systems of the body. And it is also in charge of the body’s responses to outside reality.

An animal that is cornered acquires extraordinary strength and speed. In a  situation of  danger or adversity, this intelligence releases cortisol and adrenaline which quickens the heartbeat, contracts the muscles, shortens the breath and guides all the energy to where it is optimized for flight or fight.  These reactions also known as primordial fear or primordial anger prepare the body to respond to an imminent threat.  Once the danger passes, the energy moves through and the body is restored back into balance. While often confused with emotions, they are the body’s instinctive response to an external situation.

Fear and anger can also come as a response to a real situation but as seen through the filters of the mind, through past experiences and concepts of bad and good. These are emotions and they are the body’s reactions to thoughts.

And while emotions of fear and anger produce the same kind of chemical reaction  in the body as an instinctive reflex, they often create a vicious circle that maintains a chemical imbalance long after the event has passed.

The body does not make the distinction between what is real  and what is perceived by the mind as a threat. It reacts to every thought as if it is reality. A stressful thought quickens the heart beat, contracts the muscles and shortens the breath. There is a build up of energy as if the threat was real. But since the danger is only a story made up by the mind, that energy has no outlet. Some of it is fed back to the mind creating even more stressful thoughts. The rest of it becomes toxic and interferes with the normal functioning of the body.

Adrenaline and cortisol, the stress hormones, instead of being released in a flight or fight reaction so the body can come back into balance, become trapped disrupting sleep, dampening the thyroid function and impairing the immune system among many other effects.

This is the underlying  cause of disease. It is what manifests as all forms of imbalance and it is what must be addressed when there is an intention to heal.

The good news is that the body can also be fooled to release balancing chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins. There are ways we can intentionally cause these neurotransmitters to flow even when faced with adverse situations.

Reflecting on past achievements allows the brain to relive the experience and in the process release serotonin into the body. Gratitude has the same effect. Feeling thankful uplifts and creates well being.

Breaking goals into smaller pieces allows for a continuous celebration of achievements. This is linked to higher levels of dopamine. Creating new goals and experiencing their results as if they’re already happening, has the same effect.

Hugging promotes the release of oxytocin and strengthens the immune system. While your intimate relationship might be going through a difficult phase, the simple act of hugging someone, makes up for the stress that accompanies any discord.

Endorphin levels rise with exercise but are also released with laughter. Having a sense of humor in what might be a difficult situation increases their level in the body. Laughter is believed to be a great way to keep the doctor away. Fortunately it is becoming widely accepted by the medical profession that a positive mood is conducive to healing .

Mindfulness is another wonderful tool for getting rid of disease. It is proven that any type of meditation will reduce anxiety and lower cortisol levels in the body.

The mind is a very powerful thing. It can make or break a body. Use it wisely. One of my favorite daily reminders is a quote passed on to me by a friend – “Worrying is a very poor use of your imagination.”

See yourself in health and wholeness and that is the reality you will create.

Feminine Rising

Instagram photo by @jordanxtopher

And so begins another chapter in the great human experiment. The land of marketing has created its leader in its own image and likeness. Packaged and sold like any other product to appeal to a certain portion of the public – without regard to truth, ethics or morals and ultimately concerned only with outcome, with profit.

He now stands before us in all of his Ego’s arrogance and ignorance wielding the sword of power over our heads – the epitome of male chauvinism. We have the option to rage and despair or we can rise to the challenge and follow in the footsteps of those who came before and created paradigm shifts in perception.

Today we choose to march with conviction, certain that, yes, we can and ultimately will bring about the change we are seeking. And we will do so not through hate, anger and despair but through the deep inner knowledge that we are powerful beings – peaceful warriors, our yin and yang energies in balance, our resolve unwavering.

In the Civil Rights marches and War protests of the 20th century, we glimpsed the coming of the Age of Aquarius. This tremendous force of love and unity was felt again as we completed the cycle in 2012. We are  finally stepping over the threshold of a new dimension, emerging into the flow of feminine energy which pours into the world today in the form of millions of protesters. We live in a world of duality. There is no good without evil, no beauty without ugliness, no joy without sorrow. But today we begin to come into balance where duality becomes polarity and polarity is unity.

Thank you Donald Trump for your participation in our evolution. You have volunteered at a soul level to energize us and propel us into a new dimension. The ugliness of your words and your gestures awakens the eloquence and grace in us. The divisiveness you sow, unites us all -men, women, straight and gay, young and old, black, white, Latino, Native American and Asian American, native born or immigrant. The hate you propagate turns into Love. And that love will ultimately be your demise. For as the new era emerges, we will no longer need the likes of you.

We will be whole. We will be One.

Coming Into Alignment

Balance is your nature. In Deepak Chopra’s meditation series on health, we are lead to embrace this truth as the doorway to healing.

Your spine, hips, shoulders and the whole skeletal structure are meant, like the rest of your physical body, to be in balance. However, because of ingrained patterns of thinking resulting in emotional blockages, over time your posture begins  to reflect your mindset. You end up wearing your emotions.

Notice how a person who is depressed carries themselves and you will see depression personified. Slumped shoulders, lowered head, sunken in chest project an overall feeling of heaviness which if exercised for months and years eventually becomes your normal state of being. Your body becomes stuck in misalignment as it grows spurs and tissues to compensate for the imbalance. And if nothing is done to correct this, the consequences can be permanently debilitating.

One of  the biggest benefits of Hatha Yoga is the alignment of the entire body.

At the first level of yoga practice, postures are performed with attention to form using press points and energetic extensions.

Press points are those parts of the body that are in contact with the earth. These are usually the soles of the feet but they can also be the palms of the hands as in Downward Dog, Plank or Cobra. These press points create grounding and a strong foundation for your pose.

Energetic extensions are sensations of reaching up and out. Their purpose is to help adjust the body into balance. Energetic extensions can be felt through the toes and fingertips that are pushing out from center, as in Sundog, or in the arms reaching up as in Mountain. An energetic elongation also happens when the crown of the head reaches up towards the sky. And it can be felt in the tailbone as you come into Downward Dog, or in the pelvis as you hold in Bridge.

As your awareness tunes into these energetic points, the body naturally begins to align. This is where visualization comes in. When attention moves inward there is an amplified sense of self. You can picture in your mind’s eye, the center of your body and your limbs in relation to that center. In Mountain pose, for example, the feet are pressing into the ground as the crown of the head lifts up. As you extend your arms to the sides moving into Warrior II, the fingertips reach out. When you remain in a non-mental state of being, just observing without qualifying or resisting, the tendency of the body is to move towards that center. Whether standing, sitting or lying down, press points can be seen as connections with energy being drawn up from the earth. The energy is then channeled up the spine and picked up by the extensions, opening space in between the vertebrae as well as between the bones and their connective tissue.  This energetic decompression allows for the vertebrae as well as the whole skeletal structure to adjust and fall in line.

Once form has been established, surrender can happen, without striving or effort. Postures are performed with respect to your body’s limitations. Unconscious flight or fight reactions that accompany struggle or force are replaced with conscious effort of moving into form, from doing into being.

As you hold the pose in this manner and allow yourself to feel, releases happen. Here the whole body mind complex begins to move back into balance and ultimately  into wholeness.