It would seem the concept of physical safety and Soul do not go hand in hand. One conjures yield signs, hiding out in a shelter or reflective tape on a yellow vest. Soulful energy elicits experiences of soft brilliance, divine insight and peace. Yet, it is when you feel safe in your very human body that you can access your inner spiritual light.
When you approach any self-care or spiritual practices you assume you’ll experience physical safety, though that might not be at the forefront of your mind. More than likely you speak of calming, centering or nurturing yourself so you can get to your Soulful center. If you can’t easily reach calm, no worries, you might have missed the phase of creating safety in your body.
Safety First
Are there days it’s hard to experience calm or centeredness no matter how hard you try? Does this frustrate you? Do you worry you are not “spiritual” enough?
Safety isn’t so much a thought, but an experience. It is felt and your nervous system and brain are the “wiring” that is interpreting this. This is an amazing aspect of your human design and must be honored. It keeps you alive.
Your safety system is always running, always paying attention. Like electricity coursing through the wires in your house, you are not conscious of this process until it goes awry. So, let’s break down how to feel safety in your spiritual practices by first looking at how your body interprets safety and threat.
What does a Lack of Safety Feel Like?
Obvious moments of feeling unsafe usually come when danger or dis-ease is present. Stomach tightening, jaw clenching or muscles ready to move are your body telling you danger is near. Sometimes that feeling of lack of safety makes you want to shut down, “check-out” or sleep.
Yet, a lack of safety in your body isn’t always this obvious. Some signs are more subtle. You might feel irritable, or annoyed. Maybe you can’t stop fussing, your sleep is off or your breathing is short or you can’t sit still. We immediately want to tamp these experiences down and might criticize ourselves for being moody or testy. This doesn’t make sense to you, because everything around you is fine, but you don’t feel fine.
Approach feeling “off” not as a character issue, but as your body asking to be heard. Listen to your body in the same way that you would like to be heard by others. Things will change.
How to Listen to Your Body?
Start by being curious and kind. This eliminates judgement. Slow down. Be intentional. Pull slow breaths into your body and notice how the air flows. Breathing is at the core of regulating your body and bringing it to safety.
Notice where you are feeling activation. Notice where you are experiencing tightness or calm. Your body does not just have one message running through it. It has many communicating at one time. There may be warmth or coolness. Even sensations of color or patterns. Some energies are more overt than others. Make space to just notice.
Breathe into the obvious energies. Make way for the subtleties. Stay curious about your stomach, back, shoulders, neck, arms or legs. Are there areas that feel tight or blocked? Be curious about these blocked energies, too. Stay in a place of just noticing as if this is the first time you have met your body.
7 Steps to Creating Safety in your Body
- Notice where you feel the strongest activation and pull a breath into it.
- Welcome this energy.
- Take a hand and rest it on the area of activation.
- Continue to pull in slow, intentional breaths.
- Stay curious as if you are meeting a child for the first time.
- Stay present and notice if this energy has anything it wants to communicate.
- Honor what it tells you and thank it for showing up.
Welcoming and making room for energies we might have subconsciously pushed away for years, allows it to be “heard”. Have you ever slowed down to listen to an upset child? Did that child calm as you listened? This is how you can respect any discomfort in your system. It seems counterintuitive to open to pain or uneasiness, but that part of your body has been needing to be heard by you for a long time. By being present and open to it, you are creating safety. Being non-judgmental pulls in the energy of safety.
Safety as an Inside and Outside Job
You can feel safe in a room or with certain people. You can feel safe in a place or town. Notice where and how you feel safe.
Think of a room that you walk into that immediately calms you. Perhaps it is a room you designed in your house. Is it a massage therapist’s office? A meditation center? This calm registers as safety in your nervous system. Notice where you feel that safety in your body as you imagine this space.
You can create a calm space outside of you that continues to encourage safety within you. Bring in colors, scents, textures and forms that you are drawn to. How does your body feel around these items?
Clear out clutter that might be causing stress. Even notice where you feel this stress from the clutter. Did you realize you had felt this in your body before. As you intentionally create safety outside of you, allow for the warm essence and wisdom inside of you to expand. Breathe into that. This essence is where your Soul speaks to you.
