We are made of energy and energy surrounds us in the form of
other living beings, space, and food.
Energy by its very nature wants to dance, move, create and celebrate.
Part of you wants to dance with the energy and part of you doesn’t.
The part of you that resists the energy does so because:
In the past you got in trouble for dancing with it. So, you now believe
that opening up to your energy (more love, more growth, more life)
will bring me pain. Note that this is a belief that is created in the mind
and can be dissolved if you are willing to let go.
You have old messages from parents, churches, schools and other
sources that tell you that it is wrong, bad, harmful or sinful to open up to
your creative energy.
You, like most of us, are afraid of the unknown. The mind is afraid to
let you surrender to experiencing the energy directly. It wants to
make a deal. I’ll let someone else experience it and if they turn out okay,
then I will too.
The fact is the next moment, the creative moment is always unknown.
To be creative is to be willing to jump off into the unknown. If you
don’t let go of your energy, you carry the past forward into the
present and kill your creativity.
Energy always feels good. If you surrender to energy deeply, you feel
blissful, powerful, ecstatic and creative. Resistance to energy is what feels bad.
If you resist you feel tense, stuck, sick, or in pain. We all become
stuck now and then. Life is not about trying to avoid being stuck,
but rather the process of getting stuck and unstuck.
When you are stuck, you have often slowed down to look at something that you
need to discover or experience. Being willing to experience and express the full
truth of it is what liberates you.
-paraphrased from the words of Gay and Katie Hendricks
Expression-Release-Integration
All emotions must be expressed. By expressing ourselves we support the flow of
presence through our bodies.
The tendency to suppress feelings is psychologically and physically detrimental to
our health and wellbeing. In each life experience we have a choice of whether to
participate with it or withdraw from it. Expression is seen in body movements and
telling the truth about one’s physical and emotional experience or communication.
Unexpressed anger can be very harmful. It can be the root of much pain and many
illnesses. Too many people confuse anger with resentment. Saying “no” to what no
longer fits can be an empowering stance. The ability to say no is seen as a trait of
long term survivors; the ability to communicate authentically.
By amplifying our breathing and moving, a release, physical or emotional, often
occurs. Release is the exhale, so to speak: releasing what is no longer tolerated or
needed by the body and mind: whether it be physical or emotional pain.
When we use our breath to amplify a feeling, we are bringing consciousness to an
unconscious pattern… Amplifying it will either make it disappear or reveal what
else is underneath the surface feeling.
The use of amplifying breathing and moving makes it more difficult to resist the
mind and body’s impulses to release what no longer fits; contracted states of being.
As you breathe into your pain, thus creating an opening through which it can be
released, then there is nothing left to hide or fear.
Bodily Changes/ Bodymind Integration/New Belief
After a release there are physical changes and inner changes felt by the person
expressing. Change is possible by consciously accepting what is. By finding an
authentic expression for what is being sensed and felt, and then releasing what is no
longer true, change occurs. Our movement and breathing soften after the release.
What is being observed is the outward exhibition of inner conditions through
changes in the physical body. It can be observed that s/he seemed more alive
or full of vitality because his/her cheeks were rosy.
The corresponding internal results of releasing are the feelings of
Essence or Presence. These are expanded or spacious feelings such as warmth,
peace, strength, exhilaration and joy. From these feeling states it is difficult to
view ourselves, others or the world from a contracted perspective anymore.
By committing to expressing your feelings as soon as you are able, you keep
the flow of life moving through you and are then able to live in these
expanded states more often in your daily life.
This is the process of transformation.