Hello sweet listeners!
Click here for the podcast and scroll down for the video.
I am glad to have another chance to pop into your ears.
Today, I will talk about one of the big and fabulous tools you have in your holistic swag bag.
My friend Diane recently came up with the name holistic swag bag, and I love it. Because your personal holistic swag bag contains all the free gifts you were given the day you were born.
Today we're focusing on your fabulous gift, or tool called the body. I am going to help you utilize your body more personally than usual. I want to teach you how to communicate with your body throughout the day as you make decisions for yourself.
If you are anything like me, a living, breathing human, you make many decisions daily. And I am talking not only about the big decisions but smaller ones. For example, what am I going to cook tonite? Should I invite friends for dinner tonite? Should I travel to Germany? Should I write a podcast about the body?
You see what I mean, right?
And how often do we need to make decisions … ? Often.
How often do we let our minds decide? Often.
Our mind is driven by a lot of things that lie in the subconscious. Hence the decision our mind makes are not always driven by our highest and best.
For example, various thoughts cross my mind when I think about traveling to Germany.
I haven't in many years. My parents are getting older. They want me to come for ten days. I can't imagine being away from home for more than five.
You see how I can become a thinking machine pushing all the thoughts around in my head, and in the end, I will make a decision based on a lot of feelings and old patterns and beliefs that have nothing to do with my highest and best.
Our highest and best is always about ease. Just like our animals teach us, by nature, we're supposed to be soft and relaxed, not tense and discombobulated.
Our body is different. Our body only knows our highest and best.
I make some of these big and small decisions by asking my body to assist me.
I ask my body what is for my highest and best and then follow her suggestion.
Here is what I do. You have heard me say this before. Take your left pointer and index finger to your forehead above your right eyebrow. Then sweep, sweep, sweepedy-sweep, I sweep across from above the right to the left eyebrow. I swipe across my forehead, across the midline, from right to left 5-7 times to get myself into a balanced and aligned state of being.
Then I test that I am genuinely balanced. Standing solidly on my feet, I say out loud, "My name is Nicole." As I say it, I notice my body wanting to lean forward, and I follow.
Then I check it with a name that is unfamiliar or has no articular emotions attached to it. So in my case, I say, "My name is Jennifer," and my body sways backward.
Swaying forward toward something means yes. Swaying backward, away from things, means no.
I made a video for you where you can see me teaching this body sway to my friend Kristen, the fantastic photographer who takes these beautiful pictures of me with animals.
Please take a look at it and try it out.
Be aware your sway might be very subtle initially. For example, I did it with one of my barn clients just yesterday. And because she had not practiced the body sway, her movements were subtle to the eye, but my client felt them.
Using your entire body as your guide or compass is called kinesthetic muscle testing.
And as with all muscles, once you use them, they get stronger.
In the video, you will see the difference between Kristen and me. You will see that my body flies forward when Kristen's movement is more subtle.
That changes over time. You will know the feeling if you have ever worked with a pendulum. At first, the pendulum shows small moves, a little back and forth, and a small tiny circle. As you use the pendulum more, that changes. As you acquaint yourself with your body in this way, your body and you will build a closer connection, resulting in bigger expressions.
Now let's go back to the choices and how your body can help you make a good one.
When I stand in front of the veggy aisle at the local coop, overwhelmed with what to cook, I go swipe, swipedy-swipe 5-7 times across the forehead. I do that so fast that nobody knows what I am doing. Then I do a quick check. My name is Nicole, forward move, yes. My name is Jennifer, backward move, all set.
And then I eye a vegetable … and ask, is that for my highest and best? Then look at another option and repeat it, and then another one one shelf over. And before you know it, I am clear that we have bok choy for dinner.
When it comes to inviting friends for dinner, I can do the same. After I make sure I am balanced and aligned, I ask, "is it for everyone's highest and best for me to invite Susie and Paul for dinner? If my body sways forward, I will text an invite.
If my body says no by moving backward, I often get an impression of what I can do instead. For example, I might see my horses standing near the fence, waiting for me to see them. Ahhh, something more important than hosting Susie and Paul. Or I might remember I wanted to write a particular story or article … ahhhh, something more important than hosting Susie and Paul.
When it comes to traveling to Germany, I ask myself, "Is it for my highest and best to travel?" Yes. And then I can say, four days, no. Five days, yes, six days, yes, seven days, no. Ahhhh, ideally I book a trip for five-six days. Perfect.
And, when it comes to writing a podcast, often I ask myself what is for everyone's highest and best? And if I have a couple of ideas, I muscle test, which is the most important message.
And today, it was about teaching you to use your body in meaningful ways.
Your body is your gift. You came into this life to live to be embodied. I invite you to give your body a chance to help you make good decisions and choices. Take a look at the video. Play and practice. Strengthen this fabulous tool you got in your holistic swag bag.
Because next time we will talk about how you can use your body as a guide with your animals.
Happy swaying, until next time … bye bye und Tschuess!