Traps

Holiday De-stressor class #3. Well the snow hampered attendance at our last class of this series, but thankfully some of you were able to make it. The falling snow was beautiful as we practiced together in a warm, cozy room.

The opening theme, from Kitchen Table Wisdom, centered around how it is possible for our physical bodies to serve as a warning when we compromise our integrity, even in very little ways... such as not saying "no" when we need to, etc. Maybe we get a migraine, or chest pain, or just exhaustion.
Our old belief systems, even our instincts sometimes do not serve us and may not offer us wisdom. They may actually be "traps".
When you are experiencing physical symptoms, you might ask yourself, "am I betraying my values in some way, what I know to be true and right?"
The author also says, when we experience pain, there may be a deep wisdom or message wrapped up inside that pain. "In a paradoxical way, pain might point the way to a greater wholeness and become a potent force in healing....."
The author warns us against "denying our suffering and seeking comfort at all cost.... or we may be left without intimacy or compassion."
She also says that unexplained pain may sometimes direct our attention to something that is unacknowledged, something we are afraid to know or feel.

So maybe we do not need to strengthen the life force within as much as we need to free it, where it has become trapped in old beliefs and shame.

"We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are."
- a Talmudic teaching