Reflecting Your Heart

Photo by dan-duffey on Unsplash

Our reflections say a lot about us. How we carry ourselves and embody life in our movements, words, and actions is a barometer of our inner world. In truth, words are not necessary because actions and demeanor present a more accurate picture.

At a time when I was watching television I would turn off the sound and observe the movements on the screen mentally drafting my own original script. This ritual trained my eye to acutely observe body language in ways I had not considered until recently. I learned to see beyond sound and since I was writing my own story I could draft a different message from that presented by the screen writers. I engaged in this exercise for many years until I stopped watching TV because of the subliminal messaging and commercial interruptions. However, what I called entertainment gave me the skills to consciously write my own screen play, sometimes more successfully than others.

I still engage in people watching, but now I devote more time witnessing myself and how I might be projecting my unconscious attitudes toward another person or onto a situation. Am I a witness of peace and reconciliation? If not can I make it so? Am I participating in holding sacred space and a field of compassion or is my energy muddying the flow of things? It may seem tedious work but it really isn’t for it is one way of living in the moment.

I’m thinking this is what Eckhart Tolle is proposing when he says:

Be the silent watcher of your thoughts and behavior. You are beneath the thinker. You are the stillness beneath the mental noise. You are the love and joy beneath the pain.

This process requires a kind of stepping back and acknowledging that you are not all the chatter that is going on inside of you. You rise to another level observing things as they are, releasing your personal emotional energy, and not being attached to any specific outcome.

From a dancer’s viewpoint, professional ballet dancers are highly attuned individuals. They understand pain and suffering, but also beauty and elegance. In order to stay healthy and alert to all the nuances of body, music, movement, and other dancers they have to tune into a more reliable barometer—their inner compass. Whether it is the awareness of a minor twitch or muscle stiffness that could be a cue of a potential injury requiring some rest, or being aware of outer circumstances in the studio and on stage of the positioning of dancers and stage sets; a highly attuned kinesthetic and spiritual alignment is necessary.

This goes beyond thoughts and feelings into total bodily engagement. While dancers might have the advantage of a lifetime of training, I believe that nondancers — to some degree— can teach themselves to be more kinesthetically aware. It just requires attention to one body part at a time until one acknowledges personal holding patterns. For example one day you could just focus on your neck—a common place where people hold tension— and notice throughout the day if there is tightness or underlying pain. You would then breathe into that place or gently rub that area until it softens as you notice the releasing of tension. Another day you might focus on your face, especially your jaw and notice what is going on in a specific area of your face. Probably the easiest is to focus on the area around your heart and recognize if your breath is restricted and tight; resting your hands on your heart and breathing deeply will allow it to soften and become more open and relaxed. Each day you focus on a different body part, awakening to tightness and blockages making yourself more aware kinesthetically.

Our bodies are sensors of energy and the more we can relax into our skin, we also relax into our souls. As we sensitize the body we also become more aware spiritually. Maybe that’s why Henri Nouwen said:

Your body is in your soul, and your soul suffuses you completely.

A full-bodied experience affects the way you carry yourself and therefore your interactions with others. From what I’ve observed it takes practice to be kinesthetically and spiritually attuned. In fact people who have done amazing things throughout history: overcoming societal norms in regards to gender, race, misogyny, or occupation were those who stood in their bodies and moved through their souls. They became the stillness within and therefore didn’t have to announce themselves in broad pronouncements or a lot of fanfare. They exhibited their inner selves reflecting from their heart.

One example is Clare of Assisi (1194-1253) whose feast day is today. She was Francis’ counterpart in the Franciscan movement. She carried herself with dignity, quiet poise, measured persistence, and an anti-elitist demeanor. She was refined in her behavior and clear in her delivery of information. To take this stance in her day especially as a woman took a kind of courage rooted in stillness and clarity of vision—the vision of wholeness in Christ.

Our times require people with inner conviction and values. People who don’t get easily flustered and who are whole in body, mind, and soul. Perhaps you are one of them!

In honor of Clare of Assisi I offer this short prayer—

Open to divinity

My light shines brightly

Heart, body, and soul

Reflect who I am. SHALOM