Amazing Cells: Listening and Learning

As I lay in Savasana (corpse pose) after completing my morning yoga this morning, I was practicing putting my attention on the sensations in my body. A slight irritation in my abdominal area took precedence. Breathing slowly, I noticed that the discomfort was dissipating. And as a metaphor for life in general, my mind began to demand that my attention flow elsewhere…saying, “Do you feel that tightness in your chest? Time to put your attention there.” My mind once again trying to take over. I have been practicing putting my mind into my heart, effectively giving my mind a break and my body the attention it so deserves….and respecting the signals my body so beautifully expresses.

And then I had my “Ah Ha” moment…..My body knows what it needs, where attention needs to flow. The cells in my body do not vie with one another for attention. The attention goes where the need is and the flow of the workings of my amazing body goes on and on functioning, repairing, moving and resting. The cells in my body are in harmony, doing their job and making the whole operate as best it can. So, why can’t the cells of society, in other words- the people in a society- function like the cells of our body….IN HARMONY, giving attention to where it needs to go? From the individual (certainly myself included!) and expanding to the family, to communities and to the world, we vie for attention at the expense of the good of the whole, from ourselves to our societies. We have forgotten how to just BE, how to respect the FLOW of life and how to focus on the matter at hand without being pulled in a zillion directions at once.

As soon as my head tried to take over, driving attention from my abdomen to my chest, the natural workings of my body…of its cells…were being asked to switch gear. My abdominal area was speaking to me, asking for its due attention. My chest could wait. I am becoming more aware of how the FEELINGS in my body are to be trusted, not to be interrupted by the thoughts in my mind that suggest another path…..that just may need to wait its turn.

I am learning. I am practicing. I am taking time to observe the feelings in my body and giving them the attention they so deserve. I am noticing that these feelings have corresponding correlates to my life…..What is going on in my life, both good and challenging. What I am concerned or fearful about. What I am resisting. What I need to let go of. And the list goes on. My cells are speaking to me and I must choose to listen to, to observe, what they have to say…..best from my heart and not from my head.