The distance we live from our body is the distance we live from ourselves, from our emotional reality.
In the socially manufactured separation of spirit and biology, the capacity to feel and sense has been lost. conscience, self-refection, historical memory, imagination, compassion, intuition, energy, and spiritual truth are less accessible to us when our ability to feel has been trimmed from us. this leads to innumerable problems, including difficulty in building trust, working effectively with others, being skillful in action, managing moods and emotions, and accessing the intuitive part of our nature; as well as the physical, emotional, and mental problems that all add up to a disjointed, incoherent life. Currently, it is estimated that over 80% of physician visits are stress related. we have lost the ability to creatively be worth the many pressures that are part of our daily routines.
If we live at a distance from the life of our body, we are unable to feel ourselves, and if we are unable to feel it is difficult to learn, change, and transform ourselves. it also makes it impossible to feel others.
The institutionalised, rationalistic view that compartmentalises our bodies, minds, emotions, spirit, and nature has arguably been a cause for the increase of violence, stress, isolation, and physical, emotional, and sexual trauma. This makes it understandable why so many people choose to live outside of their bodies. Simply it is an intelligent strategy that allows one to survive while minimising suffering and pain.
The primary difference of living in our bodies or at a distance from our bodies lies in the heart’s intent, that is, what we pay attention to, how we pay attention, and in the very purpose of our attending. Most of us live out lives that we have unconsciously inherited, and we are mimicking patterns of living that have been passed on to us by family, school, religion, government, economic institutions, and the media. We have lost touch with the rich, subjective life of being in the human body, upon which our entire experience is based.
The body, the soma, is a source of wisdom and intelligence that is the medicine for much of what ails us. To live from our inner impulse of harmony, of our disconnectedness, the urge to be at one with life is an evolutionary step. It is evolutionary in that it asks us to confront our own compulsion for separateness and how separation breeds aggression and violence against ourselves, others, and the environment. It’s evolutionary because it is the next step for human beings to embody the principles of harmony that are explicit in nature and in the cosmos.
