Pay attention to your body, from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, to the head and brain full of ideas, to your belly full of fears, to your arms and hands that do, to your legs and feet that are either reluctant or eager, to your inner systems that pump life into you and keep you alive, that keep your body functioning so that life may proceed. Treat this mass of yourself well so that it may treat you well, so that your spirit may reside in a house of calmness and unspoiled beauty. When your body suffers so does your spirit. Keep both of them happy and healthy, in alignment with nature and the bounty provided. Even in times of hardship and stress, it is these two companions, body and spirit, that deserve your utmost attention so that they may remain in tune, in alignment, and fully functioning in a healthy manner upon your path of heart. Their intent is your intent. Their life is your life. Their importance is your uppermost importance too. Everything else pales in comparison. Without one there is no other. Be well.
Just Breathe… anywhere, anytime… – Photo by Chuck Ketchel
There are many phases of a recapitulation, especially a recapitulation of childhood, especially a recapitulation of a childhood of sexual or physical abuse with its many layers of psyche and soma.
Each layer needs its own separate recapitulation time. Memories are multifaceted and multidimensional, like the skins of an onion, layer upon layer of thin veils of information that must be addressed one at a time. This is one reason that a recapitulation can take a long time. But we can facilitate a recapitulation by consciously attending to each of those layers with intent and awareness, paying attention to where we need to go next by what comes to guide us.
Recapitulation is guided by spirit, that of our body and that of our high self. Dreams guide us too, and we should pay attention to where they take us; our spirit speaking to us in its own language of symbol, myth, and possibility, tapping into other dimensions of truth and fact that we may be missing during our waking life.
During my own recapitulation, I discovered how the many layers of memory came. First there were visual flashbacks. Then those flashbacks fused together into movie-like scenarios, with sounds, smells, feelings, in both physical body and emotional body. Eventually each of those separate somatic experiences required their own recapitulation, so that in the end my recapitulation became a many-layered experience, as each part of each experience took its own time to show me what it had to show me.
The body holds just as much memory, or possibly more than the mind. This is what I came to discover, that the body holds its own memories, separate and yet connected to the memories that come from the deep recesses of the mind, that which is stored in the memory centers of the brain.
These body memories appeared as stuck in my body, energy caught in various places, causing pain and discomfort, anxiety and tensions, and they often acted out real physical disabilities, such as unexplained limping, numbness, swelling, rashes, etc. Often, just the remembering and reliving of a memory did not fully release it from my physical body. Such memories remained deeply embedded in my muscles and sinews until I did something physical to urge them out of me.
I found running, walking, doing yoga, Magical Passes and breathing, Embodyment Therapy® and energy work by an energy worker helpful in releasing these memories from the sinews of the body. Massage, making love, with a partner or alone (yes, masturbation is an excellent means by which to release stuck energy); physical work, gardening, creative endeavors like painting, dancing, singing, playing music, even taking lots of soothing baths. Don’t force; do what comes naturally to you. Anything that stirs the body is helpful in addressing the deep needs of the body to release what it has stored alongside the mental memories.
If physical activity is limited, pain and incapacitation will continue. Mysterious symptoms that no doctor can explain will continue. Illnesses of no origin will continue. So, I urge all of my readers to get up off the couch, out of the bed, and onto the yoga mat. Do some exercises that appeal to you. Put on some running or walking shoes, ride a bike, do something you enjoy in order to get moving.
If physical movement is difficult, even just lots of deep breathing will begin to open the passageways to release what’s stuck; either the recapitulation breath or any other deep breathing technique will suffice. Or simply breathe consciously, with awareness, paying attention to the gentle and natural in-breath and out-breath that your body makes on its own. Breath is life; breath is healing.
Whatever you choose to do, begin slowly, proceed at a pace that you and your body can handle, but be persistent. Ask your body to show you what it needs; this is often the best way to start the physical release of recapitulation. Your body will respond and show you what it needs.
Both your psyche and your body will thank you for getting in touch at a new and deeper level. Your recapitulation will get unstuck, and you will be better prepared to handle what it reveals to you.
It will make you stronger in mind and body, psyche and soma. And your spirit will be overjoyed.
Wishing you well on your continued journey of recapitulation.
Engage your intent from morning until night. Even when you dream, state your intent to change, to be a loving being, to connect with your spirit, and to express peace and happiness wherever you find yourself, in every world you enter. By your declaration of loving kindness and your intent to evolve, become the beacon of light you wish to see and know yourself to truly be. Face your inner difficulties with this same intent of loving kindness so that you may be truly free of all that now binds you. Have compassion for yourself and the life you have lived. Seek your freedom by remaining intent upon your path of heart. As every warrior knows, there is more than one way to get there, but once there, there is no turning back. Intent!
Is your spirit hiding from life? – Photo by Jan Ketchel
As the world is roused from its global pandemic pause, it must confront the intensity of demand it receives from its very pregnant desire body. The restraint imposed upon that desire body has, for some, resulted in a refinement of spirit, as sacrifice has opened the door to calm and connection at an ethereal level.
For others, the hunger for life in the dense physical plane has thrown caution to the wind, as they reengage the Earth, and enjoy the fullness of her physical bounty.
Both attitudes reflect the journey of spirit. The big bang of the esoteric world begins with the One, that is, the wholeness of everything, deciding to manifest, fragmenting into the many in this world of time and space. The One chooses this diaspora to get to know itself in a finite drama.
All humans are parts of the One, launched to Earth to have a lifetime of experience and to offer the results of that life experience in the form of a life review or completed recapitulation at the conclusion of life in human form. This contributes to the One growing in knowledge of itself.
Thus the journey of spirit initiates from the One, as the many travel through increasingly dense dimensions of expression until they reach the shores of physical manifestation, at birth. The subtle dimension, just prior to the physical, is called the astral plane, the home of the desire body.
The function of the desire body is to attract the incoming spirit to involvement with the physical body through primal animal drives, emotions, and sensations. The desire body engages the physical world in life. Life in time and space ends, however. Thus, the journey of spirit, that once leaped into involvement in physical life, must ultimately reverse course, as it resumes its spirit journey back to its source, the One.
To achieve the necessary lightness of spirit for the journey back to source, spirit must become quite subtle, shedding all of its denser attachments. We can call this a Buddhic maturity that no longer bites at the showcase of desire, as presented by Maya, the weaver of projected illusion on the astral plane. Disciplined spiritual traditions capitalize on sacrificial practices to dispel these attachments in order to reach the higher spiritual planes.
However, if one has not fully seeded one’s spirit in the fertile soil of this Earth, one may be checkmating one’s spiritual evolution. To refuse desire before one has allowed for the actual experience of desire, is to hold back life. This would be a life in-body where spirit remains, at least in part, out-of-body. The challenge at this stage is to let go and fully enter life in the body, with all its vicissitudes.
For others, life becomes frozen in a round of repetitive habits where the desire body continues to rule the personality at the densest level. Here the challenge is to repeat every day the same regretted habits until one is satiated to completion, or finally ready to let go to sacrifice.
What is sacrificed is attachment to the lower instincts for the benefit of the higher. The higher is the subtle spirit, reached through the shedding of physical attachments. This is energy redeployed to the benefit of the energy body’s evolution in its journey of spirit.
Sacrifice is critical to obtain the energy for this journey. But sacrifice can only be initiated by the will. To obtain true transmutation of energy, one needs the support of one’s highest self, who sees through the veils of illusion and can provide direction on one’s path of heart.
Finally, there are spirits who both see the necessity of, and are ready to evolve their desire body while in dense physical form. Those are the leaders who will square with and spiritually raise humankind’s current relationship with the Earth.
Thus, the many—all who inhabit the Earth at this time—find themselves at different stages of their spirit journeys. With equanimity, we must grant all their place in the Oneness of this current drama. This is acceptance, not resignation.
We don’t know how this drama will unfold. Perhaps there is a preponderance of desire body energy waiting to ravage the Earth. We don’t know the karma of that action; we simply observe that it appears unstoppable and must be played out. As a conglomerate, we may not yet be ready for the global sacrifice needed to sustain the Earth.
Perhaps the pause has already manifested a different karma. Perhaps the transmuted energies of a significant many will no longer fund attachment to desire in an old way. Perhaps that intent has been deeply seeded with this pause. We must wait to see how it unfolds.
Avoid judgment. We are all in this together, the many of the One. Where we take this drama is our offering to the One getting to know itself in a particular constellation.
We can’t go wrong as we complete this finite chapter of infinite knowing. Whether coming in or moving up, be sure to follow the bliss of your own spirit!
Each day is a brand new day, if you make it so. By your own volition, by the power within you, grab hold of your dreams and enact them in every step you take, in every thought you conjure, in every breath you take. Set your intent and do not forget it. Let it be your roadmap, and ask your spirit to be your compass. With such preparation nothing will thwart your progress, for you and your spirit are a powerful duo. Your intent is strong and your spirit is stronger. Remember this as you take your next step on your path with heart, the only path worth taking. Bon Voyage!
