Truth is an interesting word. It has all sorts of baggage with it. My truth, their truth, his truth, her truth, THE TRUTH. We have been taught from a young age that there is a truth, but that it lies outside of ourselves. But in the most simple way, the Truth is just what it is. As Eckhart Tolle says in his book, A New Earth, “The Truth is inseparable from who you are. Yes, you are the Truth. If you look elsewhere, you will be deceived every time.”
We are accustomed to looking outside of ourselves for the Truth. The truth of how to be, who to be, how to act, what to do, etc. etc. I have heard from many, many women the question (or one in a similar vein), how can I bring my whole self, my sensuality, my loving side and my intelligence and wisdom to everything I do? To my home, my relationships, and (the place that causes the most distress) to work.
The Truth is that you are already the Truth. The Truth of your Being is what you are. This Truth is alive within your female body. Bringing all of you to all that you do is a matter of realizing what you are and seeing the ways in which your Voice of Judgment (VOJ or ego as some call it) keeps you from expressing the Truth of the wholeness of what you are.
“What is your truth? Ask your heart, your back, your bones, and your dreams. Listen to that truth with your whole body. Understand that this truth will destroy no one and that you’re too old to be sent to your room.” —John Lee from Writing from the Body
As John Lee writes, listen to the Truth of what you are with your WHOLE BODY. Learning to be in the body, to feel the aliveness that moves within it frees up this Truth and its expression. Feeling all parts of the body helps to awaken this Truth within, helps to awaken a true authenticity that is You. Then, all actions flow from within.
The stretch for women is to feel the body without judgment. We have learned, in one way or another, to judge ourselves by the way we look. But allow the body to be what it is…a sensing device for the Truth of what you are.
So, as John Lee writes, ask your whole Being, “What is my Truth?” And when you ask, Listen. Then, live it, speak it, express it. Be it. This is creativity. This is the source of true leadership. This is how we will once again discover the Truth of the Feminine.
I have found a practice to be the best way to invite investigation of my Truth through my Body. My practice is dance, specifically Five Rhythms by Gabrielle Roth. The dance has taught me well how to love my body and how to be in it without feelings of self-loathing or denial of the depth of the sacredness of my Being. The dance has re-introduced me to the Sacred Feminine that is within me and within all of Life. The dance has taught me to trust myself, to trust Life and to trust womanhood and the humanity of woman.
What practice do you have to bring your Being back into wholeness?
The Sacred Feminine World, image by JoanLovesPaper on Flickr
wonderful post. I felt this today in yoga. I have been reading the Wild Feminine, about feeling where your pelvic bowl is and releasing tension in the pelvic area. I have started to feel where my core feminine energy is living. In yoga today I felt unselfconscious for the first time (in a small class with 4 friends). I felt my lithe body writhing, circling, opening and closing, moving on all fours or standing, in tight stretchy leggings and t-shirt, and I didn’t care what I looked like. I didn’t care what anybody might see looking. I luxuriated in the feline movements of the poses, and that is new for me. I think the thing about yoga is that you have to breathe to really flow with it. Breathing and focusing inside are such freeing, home-comfort feelings for me (after years of practise mind you). I don’t think so much anymore, I just let my self be drawn….there.
the first time I did dance classes in high school, and then joined a theatre group that did a mime presentation of Eskimo legends, I also was in leotards for a week or two, and loved it! But the difference was I was 18 years old and 105 pounds. I could do handstands and headstands and shoulderstands! Today our instructor said, imagine your optimal health, imagine you are 20 again, and that’s where it brought me, back to the weeks of leotard and stretching and movement. Hmmmmm
Jenn – Thank you for sharing your experience in Yoga, today. It sounds like you are tapping into that beautiful sacred creative energy in the bowl of your belly. Isn’t that such an amazing feeling? Thank you for stopping here, reading and sharing.
Love, Julie