Christ Invites Us Into Embodied Spirituality

We’ve heard the story, God came to earth in human form; God was birthed into flesh, just like each of us.

Born as a helpless infant in need of care and love, just like every human being before and after. 
 

Fully Human. 

Fully Divine. 

Incarnation: Body and Spirit operating and respected as One. 

This is Mystery.

Christ grew into his Becoming. From helpless infant to Man of healing ministry and eventually to his execution and bodily resurrection.  

We too are Becoming. A Becoming into our full humanity connected with Spirit within.  

Historical Jesus lived as an example of Embodied Spirituality. He was a body fully inhabited by Spirit, a living expression of the Divine. 

We too are invited to live as full expressions of Spirit in wisdom and insight in each present moment, as much as we are able. This is found through our bodies and as such, is living in Christ-likeness. 

In a 2011 speech by Eastern Mennonite University student, Meg Brauckmann titled: Embodied Faith, she said: 

“Embodied spirituality refers to a lived experience of spirituality that is grounded in the body. When we embrace embodied spirituality, we come out of our minds [as dominant] and back into our bodies: into that which is visceral, instinctual, and deeply felt through the senses. We see the body isn’t just a temple of the Divine, but a living expression of Spirit. As such, the body becomes a source of tremendous wisdom and insight: a doorway to the present moment. Not only do we see the body as sacred, but we see it as a microscope of the macrocosm—it becomes a path to both the transcendent and immanent nature of the Divine.” 

Did you hear that?
 

Our bodies, which are the temple of the Divine are not stagnant, unmovable forms. But rather dynamic, living, flowing multidimensional expressions of Spirit! 

Christ-likeness.

It is through our bodies that we access wisdom and insight into each present moment. It is through Embodied Spirituality, that we are able to co-create with the Divine.

Each of us is a microcosm of the macrocosm, a part of the whole. We are invited on a path of both transcendence and immanence, which is the nature of the Divine. 

Now. 

In this present moment. 

In our very breath. 

This is Christ-likeness. 

Our material body is as important as Spirit. They are One, connected in the Divine. 

How might we practice Embodied Spirituality?

We practice with humility, tenderness and compassion.  

We begin with slowing down.

As a body, our entire life experiences come through our skin, muscles, nervous systems, our senses, our cells and our very bones. Even our brain, which is in our body, cannot be separated from our body. 

Brain is body too. 

Slowing down, pausing, allows us to feel and notice what is happening around us and in us. Slowing down opens space ushering us into Presence with ourselves and with Living Presence. 

We enter into what is really happening around us and in us. It empowers us to attune to others, to the undercurrent of what is flowing beneath the surface and to connect ourselves and Spirit.

Next we notice our breath.

We are invited to breathe. Breathing ‘on purpose’ helps us slow down. Mostly our autonomic nervous system breathes us. This means we are alive. This is good.

But when we pause and notice our breath, we connect with the Divine. Every breath is grace. Living Presence is as close and as near to us as our very breath. 

When we slow down and breathe on purpose we ask: 

How is my breath arriving?

Then we breath with intention, slow and deep.

Next we ask:

What sensations am I noticing in my body?

What is really going on here?

What am I being invited into?

These questions help us to bring into our awareness what we are experiencing and feeling. They open us to the moment and possibly offer us an alternate pathway. 

Slowing down and breathing are the beginning invitations to Embodied Spirituality.

These practices are not about perfection or achieving. They are about living, flowing and the Great Unfolding of life. They are Love resonating in ourselves, for ourselves and for others. 

They are doorways to Christ-likeness. 

We are alive.

We are becoming.  

If you are interested in learning more, I invite you to join me for my five-week course, Embodied Spirituality: An Exploration. I am offering two time choices: Mondays, starting January 9, 2023 at 5:30pm PT or Tuesdays, starting January 10, 2023 at 12 noon PT.

We meet weekly to explore the topics of: Body, Presence, Movement, Felt Sense and Soul Nerve (our nervous system) through discussion and sharing, gently facilitated experiences, journaling and home practices.
  

Let’s practice Embodied Spirituality in community!