At Home in the Body

January 22, 2004

At Home in the Body

We cannot be grateful unless we are grounded in the present moment, and we

cannot be grounded in the present moment unless we are grounded in the body.

Much of the time we live like disembodied minds, not even noticing what's around

us, but preoccupied with past and future. But when this mug of tea warms first

our hands and then our stomach on a cold day, or the cat purrs contentedly in

our lap, we are suddenly present and grateful.

We can learn to cultivate the joy of this awareness, but it may not always be

easy. Illness, poverty, old age, or abuse can make it a great challenge for us

to accept embodiment. And yet, bringing ourselves back into the body again and

again is central to the practice of grateful living. When we do so, we allow

healing power to flow through us, and we appreciate our aliveness as the great

gift it is.

Practicing gratitude for the marvels of the body

Welcome! In how many places have you lived in the course of your life? The list

may be a long one. Remember how it feels to be a stranger in a new place, and

how grateful you are when someone helps you become at home there? You may have

managed to make a great many different places your home, and still need help to

become more truly at home in your own body. If you feel that need, this practice

session may appeal to you.

Step 1

Returning after a long time to your childhood home, you may find your bedroom

pretty much unchanged, though someone else may live there now. In contrast, the

body in which you live is constantly changing. As you know, over a space of

seven years your body replaces practically every single molecule with a new one.

But did you know that every morning, the first time you open your eyes, the top

layer of your vision-sensor receptors is simply scorched away, and you literally

see the world with new eyes? And still more amazingly, that two million of your

red blood cells die every single second; and two million new ones take their

place? You will find these and other stunning facts, as you move your cursor

slowly over this diagram of the human body.

Step 2

It is one thing to see bones, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels depicted " out

there " on your screen; vividly to connect these mental images with this living

body of yours is quite a different thing. It takes training; you have to shift

your attention. All this million-fold dying and renewal is actually going on

within you at this very moment. Just think of it: two million red blood cells -

that is more than the population of some countries! Close your eyes and say a

few times slowly, " Now, now, now, " aware that with every " now " this million-fold

renewal is happening in your body. Now, now, now: a pure gift. Maybe it was an

experience like this that made Abraham Heschel exclaim, " Just to be is a

blessing; just to live is holy. " You may want to repeat your " now " a few more

times, with closed eyes - not so much thinking about, but feeling the life force

at work within your body.

Step 3

You have been focusing your attention inward to become aware of the blessing of

life bubbling up within you. But you can also expand the conscious awareness of

your embodiment outwards. Where are the borders of your bodily reality? Are you

imprisoned within your skin? Is not your very skin an organ of encounter and

exchange? Every breeze that touches your cheek connects you with the farthest

reaches of the earth's atmosphere. A whole ocean of air has gone through your

lungs, wave by wave. Portions of some storm raging now in the arctic may once

have been inside you. The poet Rainer Maria Rilke mused on this and called our

very breathing an " invisible poem. "

Your eyes take in stars that are unimaginably far away. And what about the food

your body takes in? At every meal, what has been alive and died becomes alive

again in you by nourishing your own aliveness. Eating is an act of holy

communion with the Earth. Letting this sink in will take time, but you can make

a start at any time. As you pause for a moment before your next meal, you can

think of the cosmic connection established by eating. Promise yourself right now

to do so.

Step 4

Which of the marvelous functions going on in your body amazes you most? Your

heart has been beating uninterruptedly since before you were born. What keeps it

beating? You eat an apple; a mysterious life force made a tiny seed grow into

the tree that produced this fruit. That same life force will guide your

digestion, turning this apple into energy to move and think, even the very

thought you're thinking now. You drink a glass of water, and your kidneys know

how to take care of the rest; the same life force guides them.

Have you ever shown yourself grateful for these everyday marvels too deep for

your mind to fathom? Now is your opportunity. Write the simple sentence: " I am

grateful for my... (eyes, kidneys, spine, teeth, lungs, etc.) ... because... "

To write this sentence down is a helpful exercise. It gives your gratefulness a

body.

Congratulations!

Having followed the simple steps suggested by this practice session, you may

feel a little more grounded now, a little more at home, not only in your body,

but in this amazing universe which is our larger home. And thank you for helping

this website become home for many on the internet.

http://www.gratefulness.org/p/body.cfm

»§« ·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.»§« please include ss tag thank you·.»§«

·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.»§«

spiritually_speaking- : )

January 22, 2004

That is stunningly beautiful!!

And so true.

I am so tired of a certain type of "New Ager" who seems to be in such

a hurry to "ascend" and leave the body

behind.

We are already there.

Be Here Now. This body is holy.

Eat Wild. Feel Great. Save the Rainforest in the process!http://wildhealing.net

January 23, 2004

Dear Ieneke,

The lure of Cosmic Consciousness is one of merger with Divine Mind. Those who seek this state are always entrapped within the illusion of perfection. It is not that perfection is an illusion rather it is the seeking of it that is. One who chooses to do this is always outside of this moment and unaware that that which he seeks coexists with him in each moment of time. Some ask where is the Ocean of Love and Mercy, the abode of God. Where is IT? It is right here and right now for God exists beyond time and yet within it. Ask yourself one question. Is there anything which life presents to us in this moment that is larger than we are? The answer resounds like a clear bell. All that exists within this moment coexists with our heart. It is only the past and the future which activate the mind. None can realize truth anywhere else but here and now. Only a fool believes that the future is more beautiful than the present. If man cannot find heaven in this world, he will surely not find it in the next. Why? Because man must look to the kingdom within himself for heaven, that which he carries with him wherever he is.

Much Love in Spirit,

Stephen

Ieneke van Houten [ien]Thursday, January 22, 2004 6:07 PM Subject: Re: At Home in the Body

That is stunningly beautiful!!

And so true.

I am so tired of a certain type of "New Ager" who seems to be in such

a hurry to "ascend" and leave the body

behind.

We are already there.

Be Here Now. This body is holy.

Eat Wild. Feel Great. Save the Rainforest in the process!http://wildhealing.net

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