Mind-Body-Spirit connections: spirit and body

The most recent mind-body-spirit connection I have discovered in my own life is one between my spirit and body.  It is so recent that I am far from understanding all that is happening.  But even as I’m only experiencing the beginnings of this connection, it’s impact on me is by far the most profound.  I believe you can grow significantly in your healing journey as you understand and appreciate your mind and body as separate and distinct aspects of your being.  When you acknowledge the connection between these two parts and harness their powerful influences on each other, you can heal on a new level.  But there is an even greater level of healing within our reach—one that connects us to Spirit.*body-spirit - when sex hurts there is hope

I previously shared some examples of a spirit-mind connection such as a peace that goes beyond an understanding of your circumstances.  The peace I experienced in my soul was as real to me as the pain of a broken heart.  However, I acknowledge that an internal peace, or really any connection between spirit and mind, is difficult for others to see evidence of.  We can’t read each other’s thoughts and most of us can’t discern another’s spiritual state.  The body-spirit connection, however, can provide visible validation of the healing taking place.

My first experiences of a healing connection between my body and spirit were during holistic bodywork sessions with Mary Ruth Velicki (you can check out the footnote on my previous post for more information).  One experience came during a session which started when a familiar bible verse popped into my head: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6 KJV).  After it replayed a couple times in my mind it occurred to me to share this aloud.  Mary Ruth responded, explaining how God’s presence is with us always.  As she started this explanation I felt a tingling sensation in my body and a flood of emotion that felt like a wave rushing from my head to my toes.  Immediately afterwards I could feel a significant tension release in my right hip, which was where she had her hand during this body-spirit experience.  Aside from this immediate effect I also noticed lasting postural changes after sessions.  Instead of walking with most of my weight bearing on the balls of my feet as I had for many years, I started walking more grounded into my heels.

This body-spirit connection has also manifested as myofascial unwinding.  I could probably do a whole series explaining myofascial release through unwinding, but here is a brief description.  The “myo” means muscle and “fascial” is pertaining to the fascia or connective tissue that surrounds every muscle, bone, ligament, and organ in our bodies.  Unwinding is a form of releasing restrictions in the muscles and fascia through involuntary movements of the body.  John F. Barnes is considered a leading authority in the current practice of myofascial release if you want to learn more on his website, myofascialrelease.com.  I have not personally taken any of his courses, but I know some physical therapists who have found them very beneficial.

My first unwinding experience came on my own during a yoga class.  There was nothing mystical about the class, but yoga is one of the few times that I calm the busy thoughts in mind enough to focus on my body and spirit.  It began when I was in child’s pose with my forehead resting on the mat.  My head slowly started turning to the side completely on its own.  My mind was not telling my head to move, but it kept moving—slowly looking to the left then to the right, and continuing this gentle back and forth motion.  I admit I was a little freaked out in the moment.  Thankfully, I knew what unwinding was because I had read about Mary Ruth’s own unwinding experiences in her book, Healing Through Chronic Pain.  This knowledge allowed me to experience the moment freely without feeling a need to stop it from flowing.

You may be wondering how some random head movement can have a healing impact on pelvic pain.  This is where I am still learning about the “how” of a body-spirit connection.  But, what I can tell you is that I noticed a change in my posture that same night which allowed me to lay on my back without the usual increase in pelvic pain.  Normally the curve in my low back is so pronounced that it causes a painful pressure point which exacerbates my pelvic pain and forces me to sleep on my side rather than my back.  Somehow that slight unwinding movement in my head and neck had released tension in my spine to improve my posture in a noticeable way.

I have experienced much more myofascial unwinding and healing through this body-spirit connection.  The physical changes that have come from my own body-spirit healing process are evident from increased muscle tone to improved flexibility and correction of my lordosis (swayback) to the point where I am actually taller than I used to be (seriously!).  I believe the healing I am experiencing through a free-flowing mind-body-spirit connection is just beginning and I believe it is possible for you too.  Your journey may look different from mine, but I hope that it too will lead you to experience and appreciate your own mind-body-spirit connection.  It is not a process that can be rushed, and it is only possible if you are open to receiving it.  My hope is that you will be open to receive!

*The only lens I am able to share from is that of my own beliefs and experiences.  You are free to receive this information through your own lens, but the Spirit that I have described here is the Holy Spirit.  There are a number of verses in the Bible that describe the Holy Spirit, but here are a few for quick reference:  John 14:26, Genesis 1:2, John 3:8, Acts 2:1-4, I Corinthians 12:7-11.

Mind-Body-Spirit connections: spirit and mind

As I continue this series about the mind-body-spirit connection, my hope is that you will be able to open your awareness to your own body and spirit connections.  I think for most people this is a foreign concept and requires an entirely new way of thinking.  For me this new perspective took time to form and began first by recognizing the evidence that already existed in my own experiences.

spirit connection - when sex hurts there is hopeMind and body are aspects of ourselves that are easy to identify.  We all think and process things in our minds, and we all have physical bodies.  However, the idea that we are also spiritual beings can be harder to grasp.  By growing up in a Christian home and progressing in my own faith journey I have always known that I have a soul or spirit.  But knowing in my mind that I am spirit and experiencing and connecting with this spiritual aspect of myself are two very different things.  Your background is likely different from mine and you may still be unsure about the concept of spirit.  As I share some of my personal experiences, perhaps you can evaluate your own moments to identify if a spirit connection has surfaced in the past. Continue reading

Waiting in the wilderness

I am an impatient person and not a fan of waiting, no matter what the context.  I have learned to combat this impatience with everyday waiting through multitasking.  Stuck in traffic?…catch up on the latest podcast.  Stuck in line?…catch up on email.  (Honestly, some days I wonder what I ever did before I had an iPhone.)  But what do I do when the
waiting goes way beyond the waiting in the wilderness - when sex hurts there is hopeeveryday nuances of traffic and long lines?  My iPhone is no
match for the inevitable seasons in life when I find myself waiting in the wilderness.  Multitasking can’t combat the frustration of not knowing when difficulties will ever end.  Instead, I think the constant shifting of focus from one distraction to the next is often what prolongs these periods of wilderness waiting. Continue reading

How hope began in the darkness

how hope began - when sex hurts there is hopeI think it is time for me to share the story of how this blog came to be.  It’s strange, I was thinking that it felt like the right time to finally share this and I didn’t even realize what month it is until I sat down to write.  This month marks two years since the start of this blog and three years since God put the vision in my heart to create it.  Here’s my story of how hope began in the darkness.

I think I’ve mentioned before about how 2013 was a really tough year for me.  March is when the worst of it began—the beginning of the end of my marriage—and April 1st was my absolute worst day.  I had been given some pretty devastating news the night before and my heart was still reeling from the reality of it all.  I remember that I had to go to work that day due to a number of responsibilities I couldn’t postpone.  I cried as I got ready and I cried as I drove to work, but somehow I managed to hold it together to get through the day.  The next morning I was getting ready for work again and an idea came into my mind about starting a website.  It would be something that could be a resource for others like me—something that could have allowed me to find help sooner. Continue reading

Relax and enjoy the journey

I feel like the recent message God has been communicating to me (in many forms) is all about stopping my worrying. First it was the song and the verse repeatedly coming to me about casting my cares on God. (Finding Favour’s “Cast My Cares” and 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God for he cares about you.”) That message continued for probably the past two weeks. But now it’s continuing in other forms. I was just praying a quick prayer driving home from work, asking God to show me how to let go and truly let Him have control of my life. I was feeling like yet another day passed that was out of balance and I was feeling unsure about whether I’m missing the point altogether. After I got home I decided to postpone getting ready for bed a little longer and read my devotional, Jesus Calling (amazing book by the way—I strongly recommend it!). The message I read today hit me as such a direct answer that I literally started laughing. I felt a moment of God’s presence washing over me with the realization of His answer to my practical question of how do I do this life His way.

For those of you who have the Jesus Calling devotional, the message was for February 26th. Here’s an excerpt: “I am leading you, step by step through your life. Hold My hand in trusting dependence, letting Me guide you through this day…When you try to figure out the future, you are grasping at things that are Mine…Whenever you find yourself worrying about the future, repent and return to Me. I will show you the next step forward…” The last sentence is what hit me the hardest, “Relax and enjoy the journey in My Presence, trusting me to open up the way before you as you go.” Relax—and enjoy the journey! Oh how little I stop and soak in the beauty of this journey. Continue reading

Consider

consider - when sex hurts there is hopeThis month marks one year since the start of this blog. Even though it was just an introductory post, it signified the beginning of a vision. And so I couldn’t let this month pass without taking a moment to consider—to consider all that has been accomplished, all that has been shared, and all that is still to come.

An entire website exists—full of lessons learned and messages of hope—that did not exist just over a year ago. And when I consider that, I am amazed—amazed at what is possible. If I can recover from a divorce, deal with chronic pain, work a full-time job, live a full life, and still find time to create a blog, what else can I accomplish? And what can you accomplish? I would venture to say that you can accomplish a lot more than you think or even allow yourself to dream. Continue reading

All things, even the bad things

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NRSV)

We have all heard it, we’ve probably all said it (I know I have)—everything happens for a reason. And while I do believe that many things in our lives happen for a reason, this statement in its entirety is not actually true. Bad things happen, sometimes for no reason at all. I suffer from pelvic pain and painful sex, and I am still healing from the emotional devastation of a divorce, but it doesn’t mean there was a reason that these bad things happened to me.

all things work together for good - when sex hurts there is hope

Everything may not happen for a reason, but God does make all things work together for good. Even the bad things.

Pelvic and sexual pain definitely fall into my “bad things” category. Living with any type of pain, especially chronic pain, can be debilitating. But pelvic pain has the ability to go beyond any other kind in its effects on your life. It is a pain that you hide, that others can’t understand. The emotional pain goes deep and the psychological damage is not easily repaired. Painful sex not only causes broken relationships, but broken individuals—broken to the core of who we are. I have been broken, I have felt the pain of hopelessness and emptiness. In all honesty it was the emotional pain that came at the end of my marriage—loaded down with years of carrying the burden of my sexual pain—that hurt the worst. Continue reading