I grew up with the sense that the body and soul were separate and even oppositional parts of us. I believed that the soul was the eternal, sacred, unblemished, divinely created part... and the body’s only redeeming quality was that it was the vessel for the soul. Otherwise, I thought, our bodies were unsafe and ruled by profane desires that were constantly tempting us to do “unholy” things. My body in particular seemed to betray me by falling short of beauty standards and being uncoordinated and “weak” compared to others. 

Then half my life ago, in my early 20s, I went to my first yoga class. It was a “Bikram” class - which meant ninety minutes of challenging exercises in a 105 degree room. I was sweating, burping and farting all the way through the class and just wanted out. When I finally got out, I felt exhausted, angry and couldn’t wait for the comfort of my air conditioned car and cigarette. But when I tried to take a drag from my familiar Camel companion, my body rejected it. I was coughing like a virgin smoker and couldn’t get even one drag. I went home and took a three hour nap, then woke up with a terrible headache and a strong craving for water, fruits and vegetables. I had never in my life remembered *craving* a fruit or vegetable. 

That night and the next day I still couldn’t smoke, regardless of wanting to and the site of my typical staples - bagel, coffee, cheese, chips, beer - made me want to vomit. My cravings did a total 180 and I never smoked another cigarette again. I decided to give the class another try - and another try after that... five times a week for two years before getting trained to teach yoga myself.  Somehow in that stanky smelling sauna of a yoga room, my body finally broke the door down and invited me to come back home. 

Our bodies are our source of our purest wisdom. Whether we can decode the messages we receive through the body’s language or not, our bodies simply can not lie. And most of the time, the innate intelligence of our body plays out beautifully, sustaining our life without any conscious awareness of our mind. When I woke up this morning, I didn’t have to tell my heart to beat, my lungs to breathe, my liver to filter or my skin to regenerate. I didn’t even have to tell myself to wake up. The part of me that is biological intelligence, just knew... and thank goodness for that!

I now sense that my body is not only not separate from my souls -- but it is indeed the most communicative part of our souls. It is the aspect of ourselves that we can know most clearly and intimately. It is the portal through which all other knowing and experience happens. At the foundation of living a soul oriented life is being in a fuller, more intimate relationship with yourself as an embodied being. 

This first week our meditation’s focus will be on our Soul’s experience of “Soma” -- or embodiment. We will explore life through the lense of our senses and breath and learn how being in present time awareness brings with it a sense of safety, ease, calm and being energized. 

As you go through this week, set the intention to pause often and simply bring yourself into a more fully embodied place by deepening your breath and tuning into your sensory experience.  

Even discomfort and pain hold amazing wisdom for us to hear and integrate when we are willing to slow down and listen. 

I hope you enjoy this series! 

With love,

Vanessa