You may have noticed that “in-the-bones†understanding is a favorite phrase of mine. Intellectual knowledge gradually seeps into my body. As knowledge penetrates “the bones†it becomes spiritual understanding. And like our skeleton, this spiritual understanding creates a structure that can support our whole lives.
One of my healing clients currently has cancer in her bones. Her experience is taking this metaphor to a whole other level. She gave me her enthusiastic permission to share the ideas that her healing as inspired.
No one wants to hear they have cancer in their bones. It is too often a terminal diagnosis because it reflects that the disease is compromising our most fundamental structure.
While few of us may have experienced cancer in our bones, I think this is also a powerful metaphor. Climate change and environmental pollution are a bit like cancer in the bones in the way that it threatens the capacity of the eco-system to support life as we know it.
What is holding you?
As I worked with my client we realized that she felt a real absence of support through her life. It wasn’t just her bones being compromised with cancer. Many painful things had happened in her life which felt a whole lot like the universe was a broken place.
As we have worked together she has begun to feel more solid in herself and in connection to the universe. She hasn’t been knocked to the ground by recent family dramas. She’s even reconciled with a sibling from whom she’d been estranged for decades.
Recently she pondered out loud with me “how can I feel so exceptionally well mentally, physically and spiritually when I have cancer in every bone in my body?â€
It was like it fell too good to be true: how could she feel the pleasure of being alive and healthy even though she’s been told she’s terminal?
What is beautiful about her question is that even though her bones are providing questionable support, she has discovered “in-your-bones†understanding of the support from the universe. She’s even been revising her relationship to her bones. Or in her words: “How grateful I am that [my skeleton] can “hold me” and everything I go through and have gone through my whole life…. Thank you for “holding me” through this process until I can be more aware of how I’m being held by the universe.â€
We’ve done nothing to create more certainty about her health outcomes. But she is feeling profoundly more certain that the universe is a loving, supportive place.
Can we all feel exceptionally well in the midst of crisis?
How I would love to hear all the people around me exclaiming “I feel so exceptionally well mentally, physically, and spiritually in the midst of __________ (fill in the blank with the crisis/uncertainty that most shakes you).
I imagine this can be possible as we each build our in-the-bones understanding of the infinite outpouring of love from the universe. This type of understanding grows through practice, reflection, and support from others. We benefit greatly from community practice and teachers.
As you face your present circumstance, do you create a story in your head about how hard it is going to be and what it is going to feel like? Can you imagine the possibility of feeling exceptionally healthy and supported through it all? It is not only okay to feel good in the midst of uncertainty, I am convinced it is can help us discover the best possible outcome.
With love,
emily
Needing individual support?
Contact me about individual healing sessions based in qigong, a form of energy work based in Chinese Medicine.
In-your-bones understanding of your place in the whole
Immerse yourself in a full weekend retreat in the woods, using meditation, sound, movement, and the four elements to attune to the universe’s unfolding story.
Spiritual practice groups
Healing Waters Qigong, a Certified Spring Forest Qigong practice group, uses movement and meditation to promote healing by the water, for the water, and through the water.
Enter the cosmic dance of life through the Living Wisdom dance practice – based on Laura Shannon’s research of the dance-based women’s wisdom tradition from indigenous Europe.
