With all of the heartbreaking craziness that is happening in the world recently, it’s no wonder we are all feeling a little unnerved. We watch the accounts on the news in horror, we stop watching but the images remain with us. We feel worried, immense sadness and compassion for people directly affected and their families, fearful for ourselves and our families. Without being conscious of it, we hold our stress in our bodies and it might come out as the worst headache ever, nagging neck pain, or shoulder pain. We’re not sleeping well. We feel awful. It’s painful on every level – physical, mental, spiritual.
This last spring we began a meditation class here in our studio at Pain Free Performance in Charlottesville. We feel it’s an excellent compliment to the Egoscue work we do. Our clients and friends had been talking more and more about wanting to join a group meditation so we found an inspired teacher and began weekly meditations –it’s been great!
One of the first things we noticed is that some of the people in our group were claiming their place in the meditation circle with a mat and an Egoscue block. They participated in the guided class in static back! The rest of us had powered through trying to perfect the more traditional meditation pose of sitting cross-legged with our hands in our laps. While we were squirming and twisting to keep from cramping up, our friends were deep in pain free meditation. We switched over pronto! What we learned is that being in such a restorative physical position (static back) enabled us to be in a more receptive restful mental /spiritual position for meditation. The results on every level were amazing.
So it got me thinking as I look for some peace and centeredness in these overwhelmingly turbulent times, that not only meditation might be in order but Egoscue as Meditation makes perfect sense. In the Egoscue world, we teach our clients that their point of pain is not our focus but the alignment of the entire body is our focus. Every part of the body is connected and interrelated just as is every part of our being – our bodies, our minds, our hearts. We know how our physical pain can affect our mental status. We know how our broken spirits can make us stumble physically.
So let me encourage you to use your Egoscue program time to take a few extra breaths; breathe in strength, health, peace; breathe out fear, pain, worry. We say it all the time in Egoscue – listen to your body. Let’s add listen to your heart. Take another moment or two in static back to count your blessings and be grateful. Not only can we heal our bodies but we can heal our spirits and minds.
In order to be the best advocate for peace for our families, community, country and our world, we have to start with ourselves and decompress, breathe, have faith, be kind, be well. Egoscue as Meditation? Absolutely.
