Walk with a Peaceful Heart through Somatic Sensuality. . .
Recently, many people have come to me and communicated that they are feeling especially stressed out by the state of the world. Not only are they maintaining their own full, daily professional, family and personal lives and experience, they feel they are being pummeled with negative news updates. While they value being informed, they are emotionally containing the aggressive actions they are witnessing that which represents our country, culture, and environment at present, and feel upset and confused over how to handle the anxiety the news induces in them. More than ever people are filled with a dread and anxiety over the uncertainty in the safety of future, but this is not necessarily new. People recently and have often come to me with a wish to reclaim and cultivate a voice, a power, and be guided toward feeling whole, intelligent and thus limitless in possibility, truly alive and thriving.
Another phrase I have been hearing often lately is, “I spend too much time in my head.” Followed by thoughts like, “I think too much, I worry too much, I am not able to relax or let go. I want to surrender.” What does this mean? While of course these are good thoughts attached to good ideas about the Self, and a true wish for Self care, my concern is that these messages one receives and gives to themselves are not grounded in anything tangible; often an idea or goal that isn’t connected to anything tangible makes a person feel even more anxious and powerless.
How do we become what our mind sees as the goal?
Together we begin to talk, to understand what these words mean to the person by coming to an understanding of what it is that they are craving to feel and how we together can help them learn to get that space in session, and over time to find that space on their own. This begins with the body experiencing this new state of being.
“We can always push beyond into new boundaries and thus experience new states in this infinite universe of body of being, openness, new expansion. . . remember we are energy, we do not die we only transform. . . We are always expanding, transforming. . . and the boundaries of experience in the body mind and spirit are limitless. . .” xo Sara
This happens when you put yourself in an environment where you become free to wallow in an unfiltered experience. . . The body learns through experience. Through leads to this experience, this state of being becomes a new, learned way of being for the body. Yes, we don’t forget the mind completely ever. This sensory, body experience and opening of cellular vibrations to develop new pathways can become something that you learn to allow to occur in tandem with the mind. Through the tangible practice of turning your mind’s eye and focus to experiencing what is right now, what is happening inside of your body, by following and feeling internal sensations even before they become processed in your mind and labeled as an emotion, you help your mind understand tangible ways to experience your body. This allows you to become empowered to be able to bring yourself to a calm, grounded aliveness and stillness at any time throughout the day.
Understanding Mantra
Recently, at the close a deep breath and energy session with a new seeker of Tantra practice and principals, the young seeker and I were discussing the techniques we had just used in session and how they can practice at home. The seeker turned to me and said, “Well can’t I just say a mantra or something to make me feel better?” This was not the first person to ask me to just give them a mantra that they can repeat when they feel stressed. I have also had many long time practicing Zen Buddhist meditators, and highly trained academic scholars who meditate, come to me and say, “I can’t get out of my head. I want to feel my body. I have been trained to only focus on the mind, the third eye, but I don’t feel alive in my body anymore.”
Yes, I do appreciate and feel strongly that mantra, chanting and third eye meditations can be very wonderful tools for energetic transformation and growth. I consider the use of conscious thought combined with vocal vibration in the body a powerful tool that helps express and channel excess energy that wishes to be transformed, by setting visceral and unconscious intention throughout the cellular system. Yes, I am enlivened by how yoga and meditation tools, techniques, practices and messages about meditation and mantra are transforming people’s lives all over the world! Yet, I am intrigued by the cerebral wish to have a “catch phrase” to “feel better.”
My concern is that using a “mantra to feel better” could be yet another another idea or thought with no tangible grounding. . . I mean, using words that activate the mind with a thought of “what I should or want to feel,” without knowing how or putting focus on engaging your body experience may be an absolutely positive wish to reach a peaceful state of being. . . but if the mind and body are not yet trained to turn focus and experience what is happening inward right now, this cerebral action could actually make the person bi-pass cultivating body and sensory aliveness and again, leave them stuck in their head, detached from body aliveness and visceral energy, and wondering ‘what is wrong with me! How come I can’t escape anxiety and tension!’
“Once the mind begins shaming the body, we are back to a spiral into the mind being split off from body and again living in a world of ideas and personas to try to gain short term fulfillment. . . In Tantra we learn to transcend this state of frustration and split off-ness from body. . . to quieting the mind by becoming more fully connected to the internal sensations and life flow of your body, and to listen deeply beyond cerebral chatter and command, to the intuitive joy and wisdom of your heart. . . “ xo Dakini
To me the only way to really find calm in the nervous system is to first experience breath and vibration in the body, and then travel inward to experience somatic reality. I know we have all heard it before or seen it written on T-shirts: “Breathe.”
What does ‘Breathe’ mean?
Breath is a lovely concept. Yet, have you ever sat there and told yourself, “Breathe” ? It’s another command from the mind that can make your body feel anxious; one often finds themselves trying to do it right, or to find an outcome through the action without really experiencing the action. . . We must allow ourselves to learn to experience our body as we breathe, rather than command ourselves to breathe, and expect to feel better. Breath creates more space for your vibrational force to flow and expand, allowing your blood to circulate more freely throughout your entire system.
I looked back to some of Yoganada’s teachings. Here is my answer to the above:
“Within the gross vibration of the flesh is the fine vibration of the cosmic current, the life energy: permeating both flesh and life energy is the most subtle vibration: consciousness- and emanating through word, act, look, gesture, silence attitude, on. Each human is stamped with the vibratory signature of one’s state of consciousness, which influences all one enters space and time with.”
“It seems to me that this subtle vibrancy is clearly who we are; even more so than DNA. . .” oceana
Tangible tools . . can be done anytime, anywhere. . . feel the warmth of breath moving in and across your tongue, down your throat, find the subtle movement of your diaphragm muscle in your solar plexus as it opens to allow breath, expanding your internal core with heat feel the pulse in your organs, stomach, blood, the movement breath opening your pelvis, even imagine it moving down into your thighs. . . . . . then opening of your lungs beneath your upper ribs. . . feel the movement of breath as the warm air moves out of your body. . . your pulse, warm breath moving out through your beating heart . . . tune into your internal body sensations, pulsing through your body, your internal vibration and libidinal flow. Rub your fingertips together to create more sensation in the body. Tuning into your body, the now, what you are feeling right now, remembering your connection to all other living beings through this shared flow of life in your body, and the repetition of breath as it enters and leaves your being, can calm your anxieties, so you can make more grounded choices and actions as you continue your day.
“Breathe breathe in the air. . . don’t be afraid to care. . .” . . . “All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be. . . breathe. . .” David Gilmour/ Roger Waters of Pink Floyd
How do we learn this new way of being?
The body learns through experience and experience becomes memory. Once a body has memory of a state of being it is more willing to easily return to that state of being.
Claiming your right to feel pleasure
Begin to explore the core of your thoughts and perceptions, making observations of your emotional connection to self . . . How do you speak to yourself internally? Do you invite and listen to your deepest feelings, needs, thoughts, body experiences?
What do we find when we slow down and tune in?
The mind wants to understand. Slowing down, quieting our mind is such that we can more fully connect with others in the moment. When we can begin to calm the nervous system and thus let go of defenses, we can allow our energy to flow more freely and we can feel the natural vibrancy within. When we allow the breath to become a way that we then attune to our present emotions, whatever they are, we can allow ourselves to experience ourselves, and our body to experience our feelings.
As you begin tuning into your body, becoming more connected with what is happening inside of you, you become more able to receive more deeply the input and thus transformative exchange you experience with other living beings. Then we can allow others in. Due to this transformative exchange, varying aspects of yourself will emerge, naturally.
“I at the core must be present caring open to myself, and in turn can be present to the other. Through this shared experience and introspection we create the opportunity to understand plenty about our own thoughts, feeling behaviors relationships and fantasies. This intimate exchange becomes healing for us both.“ xo Dakini
Touch. . .
Being touched with pleasure and love energy can help you feel increasingly in your power. . . more at home in your body, no longer held back by the force of energy within or its powerful mystery, ambiguity, but able to contain and become empowered by your Source. Seeking healing touch, asking for healing touch, and discovering that you can claim your right to feel pleasure are beautiful ways to find this new state of being, find calm in your breath and body, and be able to continue exploring the infinite aspects of you as you give and receive with others . . .
As a seeker of touch and healing You are communicating to yourself and the universe that you deserve pleasure and are seeking to cultivate more pleasure in your life. . . so being lovingly held in your practitioner’s arms, and touched energetically and consciously toward raising, transforming and enlightening subtle vibration in the body are each ways that you communicate to yourself and the world that you deserve pleasure, love. That you welcome the cultivation of heart energy in your daily life. . .
Becoming more attuned to the beauty and positive abundance around you are ways you can actively seek pleasure in your daily life. . . and thus become more deeply touched and loved by Life. . . Feel more connected to Self, Others, and this is vibrational force that what ties us together in a unity of transforming energy. . .
“I am here to help you, guide you to Discover the beautiful power of your spirit. . . Practice internal body sensation experience and pleasure seeking between sessions, so when you visit to continue, you are ready for more profound awakening and connection. . . “ xo Dakini
Actively learning to integrate and grow by Feeling more connected to Pleasure, Life. . .
Maintaining that feeling of beauty, love and connection we experience in the session can be done by developing new ways of relating to your Self and body and others. Cultivate pleasure by being present to things like the sensation of gentle rain on your face. . . Self- pleasuring can be sought beyond simply seeking release to finding pleasure. . . but by finding pleasure in your ways of moving, experiencing, fabric on your skin. . . the way you hear music, experience nature, move, dance, see color, take in theatre, ponder film. You can direct your mind to experience the sensations within toward cultivating pleasure; by processing and integrate feelings and experiences with spiritual faith, connection to nature, journaling.
“A deep, abiding integrated connection with out generative sexual and erotic wildness is the necessary foundation of our authentic expression and participation in the world. This foundation of an integrated connection to our erotic wildness and generativity provides a constant stream of encounters with our essential soulful self; poised to risk everything in service of what it loves. This creates a resilient self-guided person, differentiated from dominant cultures overt and covert attempts to to have us conform and behave. We support the unfolding healing of human bodies, cultures and earth.” Words from a book titled, Healers on the Edge, Somatic Sex Education by Moore, Jesse, Yahya
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