Photo by Sasha Freemind (2018) via Unsplash.com, CC0 Public Domain[/caption]
Within each one of us is an innate desire for, and indeed propulsion towards, wholeness. It’s been woven into the fibers of our being. And just as our Creator has planted deep within us the desire for wholeness, so too He provides the way. The Lord whispers of unity, through our own senses, bodily sensations, emotions, intuitions, our thoughts, ponderings, and wonderings.
One of the first things we do in spiritual coaching is experiment with tuning in to His whispers. We pause, look and listen, becoming more aware of ourselves on a physical as well as emotional level. Below is an example from a recent conversation with a spiritual coaching client, whom we’ll call Judy. Judy was becoming more aware of how frequently she tells herself: “life is hard,” “you have to suffer,” and “you have to handle it all yourself.” She expressed being struck by a growing desire for inner peace.
Judy came to this particular session asking many questions, “I want to do _____, but what about ____? Maybe I’m supposed to ______?” I sensed that she was carrying uncertainty, confusion, worry, perhaps fear.
Knowing that the Holy Spirit is always present within, steering towards wholeness, I wanted for us to tune in to His presence, to look and listen for information that might be helpful for her. I asked Judy to notice what was happening in her body as she shared her confusion with me. We paused, took a deep breath, and she described being aware of her feet swinging back and forth and of movement in her left arm.
I asked her to tune into her swinging feet first, to listen to what they might be communicating by starting with, “Hi, I’m Judy’s feet and I’m swinging … back and forth, back and forth.” She easily added, "I feel peaceful, like a child on a swing. Carefree."
Then she became aware that her left arm seemed to be resisting this idea of carefree and peaceful with its more rigid movement, through which she expressed the beliefs she was becoming more aware of: “life is hard,” “you have to suffer,” and “you have to handle it all yourself.”
From perhaps seemingly inconsequential movements in her body came revelation of a longstanding inner conflict. Judy was able to listen in to the part of herself that plays out “suffer and hard” and to ask the Lord to shine His light onto these beliefs, illuminating what’s True. She is now also spending time getting to know the part of herself that is carefree and peaceful, listening and expanding her comfort with this partially forgotten way of being in her life.
Copyright 2018 De Yarrison. All rights reserved.[/caption]
Stepping into wholeness means embracing the whole story: Life may be hard and life can be easy.
I imagine both have been true in all of our lives at one time or another (and will be again!). Yet rather than allowing these polarities to begin an inner battle, the Lord wants to guide us toward wholeness – acceptance of the whole thing. The hard and the easy. The dis-ease and the peace. The uncertainty and the knowing.
For our part? We truly stand in His power through our weakness when we recognize our discomfort, pain or anxiety as promptings of the Holy Spirit, telling us that something inside is pushing for resolution. Nudging us to pay attention to the finest details of our existence – physical movements or sensations, emotions and feelings, intuitive thoughts, or hunches. Opening to the idea that He may very well be showing us something, saying, “Pause for a moment, and pay attention to those swinging feet. I have a message for you through them.”
I am always awed at how the Lord works, but never surprised to see, once again, that HE IS WORKING! Our God is consistently at work right here within our own organism. One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is the gift of presence to our inner world, Taking time each day to connect with ourselves in a compassionate, supportive way.
For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 30:17)
Copyright 2018 De Yarrison
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