The Wisdom of the Body

The Felt Sense Prayer by Anonymous

I am the pain in your head, the knot in your stomach, the unspoken grief in your smile.

I’m your high blood pressure, your fear of challenge, your lack of trust.

I’m your hot flashes, your fragile lower back, your agitation, your fatigue.

You tend to disown me, suppress me, ignore me, inflate me, coddle me, condemn me.

You usually want me to go away immediately, to disappear, just back into obscurity.

More times than not, I’m only the most recent notes of a long symphony, the most evident branches of roots that have been challenged for seasons.

So, I implore you. I am a messenger with good news, as disturbing as I can be at times.

I am wanting to guide you back to those tender places in yourself, the place where you can hold yourself with compassion and honesty.

I may ask you to alter your diet, get more sleep, exercise regularly, breathe more consciously.

I might encourage you to find a vaster reality and worry less about the day-to-day fluctuations of life.

I may ask you to explore the bonds and wounds of your relationships.

Wherever I lead you, my hope is that you will realise that success will not be measured by my eradication, but by the shift in the internal landscape from which I emerge.

I am your friend not your enemy. I belong. I have no desire to bring pain and suffering into your life.

I’m simply tugging at your sleeve, too long immune to gentle nudges. I desire for you to allow me to speak to you in a way that enlivens your higher instincts for self-care.

My charge is to energise you, to listen to me with the sensitive ear and heart of a mother attending to her precious baby.

You are a being so vast, so complex with amazing capacities for self-regulation and healing.

Let me be one of the harbingers that lead you to the mysterious core of your being, where insight and wisdom are naturally available when called upon with a sincere heart.”