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Honoring and energizing our bellies with movement and
breath brings forth our inner knowing. When we move and breathe from center we
are refining, amplifying, and increasing our receptivity to the sensations and
images which convey our "gut feelings" and "gut instincts."
Attending to the intuitive knowing that stirs in our body's center gives us access
to our inner source of wisdom and direction.
In this
sense, your belly is your inner oracle. In ancient Greece, oracles were priestesses
of the Great Goddess. They served as conduits for her wisdom as it emerged from
her body, the earth. Oracles voiced the earth's wisdom at places of power such
as caves and deep clefts in the earth's surface, ancient trees, and rounded mounds.
One Greek oracle, still known in this day, dwelled at Delphi, a word literally
meaning "womb." The association between woman's belly and oracular wisdom
is primordial. The experience of being guided from
within is precious to me. I grew up with the sense that everyone else was very
busily telling me what I should do and who I should be. Now, when I continue to
look to an external authority to give me direction, I lose contact with who I
am. I feel abandoned and empty, as if no one's home inside my body. But
if I focus my attention within my body's center when I'm seeking guidance, the
sensations arising in my belly provide an immediate response to whatever question
I pose. Sometimes my belly's response is a "yes" feeling-an opening,
a relaxation, an expansion into greater spaciousness. Sometimes its response is
a "no" feeling-a tightening or closing or tensing. Sometimes the feeling
is muddled, which I take to mean "wait for more information or greater clarity
before you choose." Addressing our inner source
of wisdom is making a pilgrimage to consult the oracle. Following the guidance
we receive there is yielding to the direction of she who lives within us, trusting
in her love and her protection. The next time you
need guidance or direction, experiment with this way of consulting your personal
oracle and drawing out your inner wisdom: |
Consulting Your Oracle - Gather
together some sheets of plain white paper and an array of colors (crayons, markers,
oil pastels).
- Specify your question
or request for guidance as simply and directly as you can. Write the words down
on a slip of paper and put the paper aside.
- Clear
your mind, focusing your attention within your body, your belly, and your breath.
Take several minutes to breathe deeply into and out from your belly.
- When you're ready, come back to sit with the paper
and colors you've collected. Place your palms over your belly and, without judging
or censoring, simply witness what's happening within.
- Notice
whatever images-colors, shapes, lines, pictures-come into your awareness. Gather
impressions. What sensations are here within this interior volume? Perhaps there
are sensations of temperature, density, texture, vibration. Listen, too, for sounds.
There may be words or phrases, comments, even messages.
- When
you're ready, regard the colors arrayed before you. Maintaining your awareness
in your belly, let your hand be magnetically drawn to the color or colors that
appeal to you most. Then let your hand and arm move across the page, effortlessly
spilling out colors, shapes, lines, and images from your belly onto paper.
- When you sense that your drawing is complete,
pause and regard it. Is there a word or phrase that would serve well as a title
or a caption for the drawing? If there is such a word or phrase, write it on the
page in the color and in the place that feels right to you. Then set this page
aside and place a new sheet of paper in front of you.
- Return
your attention and awareness to the images, sensations, and sounds within your
belly. Now, posing your question or request for guidance, simply attend to whatever
shifts in image, sensation, or sound take place.
- Again,
when you're ready, regard the colors arrayed before you. Maintaining your awareness
in your belly, take the colors that appeal to you and let shapes, lines, and images
spill from your belly onto the paper.
- When
you feel your drawing is complete, pause and regard it. If a word or phrase arrives
as a suitable title or caption, write it on the page in the color and placement
of your choice.
- Breathing deeply, maintaining
your awareness in your belly center, recall your question or request for guidance,
and regard your drawing. Receive the intuitions and insights that emerge as daydreams,
whispers, breezes, hunches, hints, inclinations. Receive from your belly and from
your drawing the guidance you've requested.
- Always
allow for the possibility that one valid choice is to do nothing. Another option
is to wait while seeking greater clarity. Your best guidance may be "Wait.
This situation needs more time to develop." Waiting takes guts, especially
if you're feeling pressured to act. Appreciate yourself for the courage you display
by practicing patience.
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