Healing From the Core

by Suzanne Scurlock-Durana
with Diane M. Cooper

In order to reconnect body, mind, and spirit, there are a few skills we have to re-
member. First, is the ability to listen. Second, is the ability to understand or
comprehend and then articulate what we hear.
Listening

Listening to your body involves many things, most importantly, feeling it. Sensations
signal to you that something significant is going on. It is necessary to figure out what
that ''something'' is. Feelings, both physical and emotional, tell us how we are doing in
terms of our health, aliveness, creativity, and joy. Many of us, however, have not been
taught to listen to these normal signals.

For example, a woman developing a hypothyroid condition may get many signals.
Over time, she will start to feel things slowing down in her body. She may notice that
she is having more headaches than normal. She may notice hair changes, or being
tired. She goes to bed at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m., wakes up at 7:00 in the morning, and is
still tired. All of these symptoms are fairly reliable signals that she has something
going on with her thyroid. However, she may not know how to ''read'' the signals.
Instead of knowing that this information is telling her she has a medical condition, she
may simply start to drink more coffee, or worry that she may be aging quickly.
Articulating What We Hear

What pain feels like to us is broader and richer than mere physiologic sensations,
because feelings are truly unique to each individual. Unfortunately, our culture lacks a
language that articulates well the internal sensations of being alive. So be imaginative.
If your shoulders hurt, for example, is there a great weight upon them? Or are they
being crushed together in a vise? If you have pain in your chest, does it feel like a fist
is gripping your heart? Or like a spear is piercing it? The image may possibly help
you figure out the source of the pain, because you can then have a further
....conversation'' with the spear or the fist about what it is doing there. The fist might
be trying to protect the heart from being hurt again.The spear might be pinpointing an
area that has ''shut down,'' so that you can jump start it to being alive again.

As you feel the sensations of the body (all of them, not just pain), see if you can
metaphorically ''step back'' and say to yourself something like, Isn't that interesting? I
have a spear in my heart. Not only does this give you a larger space or context, and
objectivity about your situation, but also, anything that is interesting to you has value.
Your attention or consciousness is directed to it. It is respected.

So our bodies communicate with us -- we just need to take the time to learn their
language. Slow down. Feel it. Things hurt for a reason. If it hurts immensely, take
away the label of ''hurting'' and see if you can experience the actual sensations of the
pain -- the tingling, the throbbing, the numbness. The language the body speaks is
often metaphoric, which means that its meaning may be conveyed in images. We
already understand this on some level. Who hasn't felt immediate relief of the pain in
the back of the neck when the co-worker who was ''a pain in the neck'' was fired or
resigned?
Life-Giving vs. Life-Taking Responses

In my view, we are always moving along a continuum between life-giving and life-
taking actions, thoughts, and feelings. When our responses to experience are life-
giving, there is more energy generated by what we are doing, whether it be
conversing, drawing, walking, or daydreaming. When we are responding in ways that
are life-taking, we are trying to repress something, disconnect from someone or
something, push it away, or tighten down. The body tells us when we are doing too
much life-taking by developing symptoms.

So ''life giving,'' in a larger sense, means being connected to the life force all around
us, the sea of energy we live in, so that we have access to whatever is nourishing for
ourselves. ....Life taking'' then means closing off to some degree from that sea of
energy that can and does constantly nourish us on all levels.
The ''Container'' Concept

Just as our pain deserves respect, the body itself deserves respect. After all, it is the
container for our life force, for our spirit, our soul. So I use the term ''container'' to
refer to the body -- not as an empty vessel, but as a vehicle or medium for all
sensations and the flow of the life force through us. As we allow ourselves to feel
these life-force sensations, we will have more and more of them. And as we do so, the
strength of our ''container'' grows, so that no matter what life gives us, we can accept
it. We can stay grounded and centered so that we make wise choices.

It is important to realize, as we are now learning scientifically, that the body is

naturally integrated; that is, our emotions and feelings are not just specific parts of the
body. Rather, they exist throughout the body. You might want to refer to Candace
Pert's book Molecules of Emotion for a more in-depth discussion of this idea.
Furthermore, in order to have vibrant health we need to be ''in'' all the cells of our
bodies. We operate best when all our parts are integrated, working together on our
behalf. Yet religions and cultural standards usually give permission to men and
women differently regarding which parts of the body they are allowed to be ''in.'' For
example, in our culture men have more freedom to be in their heads and their
pelvises, whereas women have more permission to be in their hearts. These are
generalities for the purpose of example, and fortunately the situation is changing. But
when I refer to the container of the body, I am referring to a system where, when
everything is happening optimally, the physical, emotional, and spiritual all blend into
one.
The Five Principles

To help teach people to feel the energy flow of life and connect it with their bodies, I
have developed the Five Principles, which I also call the "Circle of Life," because all
the principles are equally important -- like points on a circle, they are not hierarchical
in nature. The following explains these principles and how to apply them in your own
healing:

* Principle 1: Recognize the connection/ separation continuum in your life, and

where you are on that continuum at any given moment. This is the ability we spoke of
earlier to know at any moment whether you are headed in a life-giving or life-taking
direction by the sensation of connection or disconnection that you have with your life
force and with the world around you. When you are connected, it feels right.

If you do not currently have this ability, how do you develop it? One of the first things
I teach is how to develop a connection to the ground. Take your shoes off and feel the
sensation of its firmness under your feet. There is energy there, and you can feel it
nurture and support you. You can draw upon this unconditional energy whenever you
need to, using your intention and sensation signals. Grounding can enable you to feel
what you need to feel so that you are not overwhelmed by life's experiences. Second,
ask yourself ''Am I present/connected now?'' You might be amazed at how often you
drift into the past or future.

* Principle 2: Acknowledge and widen your perceptual lens. We all develop a

perceptual lens, or worldview, based on our experiences and sometimes just based on
what other people tell us. We create a whole set of assumptions and conclusions about
life based on what we have experienced, what our family has experienced, what we
have been exposed to in our culture, our religion, our gender, and so forth. Everything
we experience is filtered through that lens and is given an interpretation by it. It is
important to realize that it is just a lens and that we can change it if we choose. If we
have a narrow perceptual lens, we might miss or misinterpret what is going on in the
present moment.

To open or widen our perceptual lens, we can start by connecting with the intelligence
in our bodies. When we are connected in the sense just mentioned, that intelligence
informs us, for example of situations to avoid (danger) or situations to approach
(synchronicity). However, it cannot inform us if we are caught in a perceptual lens
that limits how we see the situation, like blinders on a horse. We must acknowledge
our thoughts and feelings as allies. This intelligence is everywhere in the body, not
just in the head. Candace Pert has shown, for example, that there are endorphin-
producing molecules in the gut, in the finger, ready to create the sensation of pleasure.
Similarly, there are adrenaline-producing molecules everywhere ready to create a
response to fear. When we listen to that intelligence and, say, get out of a situation in
which our body is signaling fear instead of listening to our narrow perceptual lens that
is telling us that it is not polite to leave a party 10 minutes after you arrive, then the
lens has been widened.

* Principle 3: Recognize that you have a Core, your spirit, which is uniquely yours,
and that you need to create a container that integrates your body, mind, emotions,
and core essence, or Spirit. It is perhaps inaccurate to say that you have a core, as if it
were somehow separate from you; rather, you are your Core. Your Core, as it flows
through your container, is you. It is hard to pin down the nature of Core because it is
flowing continually. It is made up of life force, and is often strengthened through the
practice of chi kung (qi gong), t'ai chi, or yoga. We know that we can amplify and
change this energy by doing certain movements, breath work, or even having certain
thoughts. It is always there, it is what connects everything with everything else: your
head with your gut, you with your spouse, your feelings with your actions. Your Core
integrates your experience such that when your gut says ''Danger, get out of here''
your head formulates the best way out, and your body moves in accord. When you
listen to your body, take its signals seriously, and not let your perceptual lenses get in
the way, you have attained the ability to trust yourself.
* Principle 4: Connect your Core to your Source. Because your Core is the flow of
life itself, it is not separate from the flow of all life, the Source. So you are not
separate from the flow of all life. You are not an island. If you start feeling like an
island, it is time to go to your perceptual lens and ask ''What am I believing about
myself right now such that I am not drawing in the energy I need?'' This can be done
by the process of grounding and centering yourself, so you can restore the flow of
energy and thereby heal. It is the process of shifting from life-taking to life-giving.

* Principle 5: Know that there is an ever-present Source of nourishing life energy.

The Source is called by many different names in the different spiritual traditions, but
it is the same Source to which they all refer. This Source never runs out. It is
unconditional in its giving, in its flow. When we truly trust in our bodies and know
that in all things we are supported, life takes on a whole new resonance, an aliveness.
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