Embodied Listening: A Felt-Sense Prayer

As I continue to connect more deeply with my own body, and learn to listen to its subtle cues. The tiny whispers of sensation that come up that tell me it needs tender love and care show up more readily when I slow down and remember to listen. I can reflect on past times where I had very little capacity or awareness of my body. In other words, I might have been in a state of survival or had to leave body because the sensations were far too uncomfortable or overwhelming to bear. Sometimes when scary things happen to us, we might have to “leave” our bodies so that we can get through our days or survive the scary moments. This is where practising compassion and introducing body-focused awareness tools are key to experiencing integration and wholeness. Though it might seem like a loss of connection with the body, the body has a mind of its own and it is far more intelligent than the mind itself. The body knows how to heal and trusting in its innate wisdom is crucial when it comes to healing from all if not most wounds. In fact, our bodies can be a safe haven and sanctuary for us to return home to once the dust has settled. Our only job is to remember we have a body, to befriend it, and to tend to it like we would tend to a garden so that we may experience the wonderful fruits and flowers it will provide for us when we give it nourishment.

Here’s a wonderful reminder to listen to body! This reading is called “A Felt-Sense Prayer” and it has supported me in my own journey of becoming an embodied being who is a part of nature and not separate from it! I heard it from a talk that Tara Brach had shared, never could find the author though!

I am the pain in your head, the knot in your stomach, the unspoken grief in your smile.

I'm your high blood pressure, your elevated blood pressure, your fear of challenge, your

lack of trust.

I'm your hot flashes, your fragile low back, your agitation, and your fatigue.

You tend to disown me, suppress me, ignore me, inflate me, coddle me, condemn me.

You usually want me to go away immediately, to disappear, just back into obscurity.

More times than not, I'm only the most recent notes of a long symphony, the most

evident branches of roots that have been challenged for seasons.

So, I implore you. I am a messenger with good news, as disturbing as I can be at times.

I am wanting to guide you back to those tender places in yourself, the place where you

can hold yourself with compassion and honesty. I may ask you to alter your diet, get

more sleep, exercise regularly, breathe more consciously.

I might encourage you to seek a vaster reality and worry less about the day-to-day

fluctuations of life. I may ask you to explore the bonds and the wounds of your

relationship. Wherever I lead you, my hope is that you will realize that success will not

be measured by my eradication, but by the shift in the internal landscape from which I

emerge.

I am your friend, not your enemy. I belong. I have no desire to bring pain and suffering

into your life. I'm simply tugging at your sleeve, too long immune to gentle nudges. I

desire for you to allow me to speak to you in a way that enlivens your higher instincts for

self-care.

My charge is to energize you, to listen to me with the sensitive ear and heart of a

mother attending to her precious baby. You are a being so vast, so complex with

amazing capacities for self-regulation and healing.

Let me be one of the harbingers that lead you to the mysterious core of your being,

where insight and wisdom are naturally available when called upon with a sincere heart.

~Author Unknown