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November: The nights are lengthening and we're approaching the solstice. December
21 gives us the longest night of the year, then the days lengthen and daylight
increases. The solstice marks the rebirth of light into the world. Myth and
image spin the solstice story into the fabric of many cultures. The Egyptian story
of Isis giving birth to Horus, the story of Mary giving birth to Jesus are just
two examples: A woman bears the Divine Child in her womb; she births a new and
healing consciousness into the world. Whatever your faith, as we move into
the holiday season you can't help but notice all the images of Mary, pregnant,
her belly big and round with child. In a culture that makes board-flat abdomens
the standard for women's beauty, big-bellied Mary is one remaining image of woman's
sacred power, our belly-centered power to promote creation. The solstice
story is a parable of coming into wholeness. It's a holy story in the sense that
"holy," "wholeness," "hale," and "healing" are words stemming from the same root. The
story tells us that healing occurs through the encounter of opposites: day and
night, light and dark, this and that. When polarities meet and move through each
other, their union generates a more encompassing awareness, an expanded sense
of self, an evolution of consciousness: rebirth. What are these polarities?
In the Christmas story, Mary's womb is the meeting place of human and divine,
masculine and feminine, heaven and earth. Embracing these polarities within her
body's center, Mary bears the Divine Child, a consciousness of peace, love, justice,
unity. We tell the solstice story in our own lives as we identify the polarities,
the conflicting needs and desires, that give rise to our own distress and dis-ease.
As we distinguish these apparent opposites and allow them to meet and integrate
through breath, image, and gesture, we facilitate our own healing. Like Isis and
Mary, we bear a new and healing consciousness within our body's core and birth
it into the world.
| Healing into Wholeness - Take a few moments—through
journal-writing, meditation, or reflection—to identify some of the apparently
conflicting needs and desires operating in your life at this time. Part of you
may want to have or do "this" and at the same time another part of you may want
to have or do "that." Distinguish these polarities as clearly as you can.
- Sitting comfortably, your back straight and your feet flat on the
floor, place your hands upon your knees, palms facing upward. Deepen your breath,
allowing your belly to move out and in with your inhalation and exhalation. Let
your eyes close to focus your inner awareness.
- Choose one of
the polarities and, focusing on your right hand, imagine you're holding its essence
in your right palm. What does this polarity look like? See its shape, color, degree
of gloss. What does this polarity feel like? Feel its weight, density, texture,
temperature, degree of stillness. What does this polarity sound like? Listen for
its music, its voice. Thoroughly immerse yourself in the sights, sensations, and
sounds of this polarity.
- As you're ready, shift your attention
into your left hand and imagine you're holding the essence of the other polarity
in your left palm. What does this polarity look like? See its shape, color, degree
of gloss. What does this polarity feel like? Feel its weight, density, texture,
temperature, degree of stillness. What does this polarity sound like? Listen for
its music, its voice. Thoroughly immerse yourself in the sights, sensations, and
sounds of this polarity.
- Now shift your awareness so that you
can see and feel both hands, and what they each contain, at once. Still breathing
deeply, letting your belly move with your breath, slowly lift your hands from
your knees. Gradually bring your hands toward each other, watching and feeling
the images and sensations in both hands.
- Very slowly and gradually,
bring your palms together so that their surfaces come entirely into contact with
each other. Continue to breathe deeply and relax as you wait and watch, without
expectation or demand, for whatever new images and sensations may emerge. (If
no new image emerges immediately, that's fine; it may become apparent to you in
the next few days, perhaps when you least expect it.)
- With your
palms in firm contact with each other, rotate your hands to bring your thumbs
to your chest, your fingers pointing upward. Bring whatever new images and sensations
that have emerged into your heart of compassion, surrounding them with your love.
- With your palms still in firm contact with each other, rotate your
hands to point your fingers downward and bring the heels of your hands to your
belly center, a point about two inches below your navel. Bring whatever new images
and sensations that have emerged into your belly, your heart of creation, infusing
them with your pro-creative power.
- Then rest, absorbing and
appreciating your experience of uniting polarities into a greater whole.
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Lisa Sarasohn is the author of The Woman's
Belly Book and creator of Honoring Your
Belly, a project supporting women in developing our body-centered soul-power.
me for more information. |
