What does it mean to have a body?
What does it mean to have a body... because my friend, Heather, doesn't have one anymore.
I have been thinking a lot about her journey...and subsequently my journey.. and subsequently “our” journey, meaning, the human one.
But before I get into all of that, a backstory:
When I entered my 30's, I realized that I had spent so much of my teens and twenties analyzing myself and others, that I forgot completely to check and see what was happening in and with my body. Like many, I had lived the majority of my life in my head and in my thoughts. It hadn't even occurred to me to live anywhere else. As I started to pay attention to how I felt in my physical body, I realized it was kind of an unfamiliar place to live.
In 2012, I was asked to help a group of women work on weight loss and food addiction. As I listened to their stories, I got it. I related. These folks also weren't living in their bodies. I understood. Being in a your body is a hard place to be. Especially if it feels uncomfortable to live there. Especially if there are things about your body that you judge. And especially if you have some tiny awareness that your body is only a temporary condition and that your soul is only renting it for a finite amount of time....
In 2015, my body-curiosity hit a different level when I had the privilege to learn from the renowned psychic medium, Tony Stockwell. Tony taught a class called “Trance Mediumship” at one of my favorite places, the Omega Institute. I saw the advertisement for the class. I had a reaction in my body. I felt like I should go.
Then my head took over and judged it.
“Well, it's a lot of money...”
“Well, I am not ready for Tony's work...”
“Well, I just don't know...”
Yet the image of Tony and Omega kept coming back to me.. over and over.