So what does this woo-woo-liminal-space-life-change stuff have to do with Bowen?
I can hear some readers thinking this…heck, I’ve been thinking it. As I work to wrap my arms around that question, I keep coming back to why I felt compelled to study Bowen in the first place.
What I love about this modality is its holistic philosophy and approach. It addresses, honors and takes into consideration the entire amazing organism that we are. The more years I spend in this human form, the more certain I am that our spiritual-emotionality (is that a word?) is more a factor in our bodily comfort than is our physicality.
The French philosopher Pierre Teilhard deChardin said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
And that is why I ask you some version of the question, “How are you?” before we begin our session. It’s not empty conversation or social nicety. It’s necessity. And I really want the answer. You are a whole being and that whole being is important and acknowledged here, not just your physical form.
If you are…
Experiencing huge change
Resisting huge change
Frightened
Grieving
Feeling put upon, harried, without a moment’s rest
Traumatized
Realizing that you have forgotten who you are
Ignoring who you really are
...that's gonna show up in your body eventually. It could show up as that hip injury that never quite healed. You know, the one you got when you tripped down the stairs during that argument with your daughter. Or it could be hanging around in your upper back, between the shoulder blades...because you're carrying the world on your shoulders. Decreased respiration? Hard to get a full breath? My doc calls this "air hunger" and, yes, I've experienced it. It often shows up after we've carried around years of grief or anxiety.
Our emotional/mental/spiritual experience will show up, always, in our physical experience. When one is off, they all are off. Sorta like how, as a parent, you’re only as happy as your least happy child.
Dr. Wayne Andersen, creator of Habits of Health. claims that the root/leading cause of death is emotional mismanagement. And, after getting healthy again myself, I see how that can be true. Growth, change, boundaries, fear, allowance, patience, resistance…it’s all part of our human experience. It all factors into how we respond to the world and how we show up in the world. And it all factors into our physical experience.
And that’s why I began this blog with all this talk about woo-woo-liminal-space-life-change “stuff” (rather than solely fascia, muscles and physical health). Because, while physical health and body alignment is quite important, sometimes (often) the root of our physical health lies within our emotions. We are so much more than just a body. And there is so much to get to know so we can live our beautiful lives.
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