Within

"You, the richest person in the world, have been laboring and struggling endlessly, not understnading that you already possess all that you seek." _The Lotus Sutra

So, if this is true, which I believe it is. Why do we sometimes feel so stuck, so at a loss for how to get out of the anger, the depression, the unhealthy relationship, the anxiety...etc. While I believe we all have our answers within us, I also believe that those answers get covered up by pain, self-criticism, distractions, unawareness, and simple unknowing.

One of the things that can help us to find answers is our body. Friedrich Nietzsche said, "There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophies."

The practice: Begin noticing your gut, quite literally...begin noticing your stomach area. Start by taking 1 min. each day this week to simply breath, close your eyes, let go of thoughts, and just notice the stomach. As you breath, notice its movement. Notice any tightness or looseness, notice any parts of the stomach that feel heavy or light. If there is any tightness, any spots of heaviness, if it feels blah or grayish (and you don't have the flu) ask yourself, "what am I believing or thinking about myself in this moment." What I have found is that the gut always communicates to us when we're believing something untrue about ourself. For example, I forget to call a friend back, I remember the next week and think, "Ah, I'm a bad friend." This is an untrue belief because even though I didn't remember to call my friend, and even though I may have hurt her feelings, I'm not a bad friend. My gut would tighten up if I were carrying this belief or thought. As you take time to practice moments of concentrated effort in this you may begin to notice your stomach speaking more often, not because it wasn't speaking before, but because you were unaware. I will talk more about body work in future posts, as the body is one of the best ways to better understand ourself.