Your 4 bodies: Are you working with all of them?
Seven years ago I was in my early thirties, a new homeowner, held a corporate job as a marketing manager, had just graduated with my MBA, and maintained multiple volunteer board positions.
And I was constantly in pain.
When I look back at my life during that period, it had a lot of the trappings that would make you think I was happy and successful. But we know that’s not always the case, that looks can be deceiving. I look back and see that as one of the most difficult times in my life so far. I couldn’t imagine living another year with the pain I was in, let alone longer. My body was sending a serious message, and I didn’t have the tools back then to translate it.
Luckily, now, I do.
Introducing our energetic anatomy
After working to heal myself and help others do the same, I’m still captivated by the body and its mysteries. My favorite show in college was Mystery Diagnosis – where people’s bodies begin failing in the wildest ways, confounding doctors. So I love a good mystery. And one of my favorites is how body ailments – pain, illness, and even injuries – begin outside of our physical bodies, and much much earlier than that first twinge or tumble that we label as the “start” of our problem.
Introducing: our energetic anatomy.
Introducing: the four (yes, four) bodies.
In actuality, we have many more bodies than these. But for today’s purposes, we’ll focus on these four:
Our physical body (the one you know and can touch), our foundation and home to our organs, muscles, bones, etc. and the primary seven energy centers (or chakras).
Our mental body, home to our thoughts, beliefs, and cognition, which feeds our sensory perception and creativity.
Our emotional body, the realm of our feelings, emotions, and nervous system, which bridges our physical and mental states.
Our spiritual body, where we connect to our sense of purpose, oneness with the collective, and connection to a force greater than ourselves.
The price of neglecting our non-physical bodies
We may be careful to go to the gym, prepare healthy meals, and go to bed early to take care of our physical body (the densest of the four). But how often do we tend to the other three? The occasional yoga class, therapy session, or sound healing aside, often these are the bodies we’re inclined to neglect, to put at the bottom of the to-do list or else avoid thinking about altogether. Because they’re “messy,” “confusing,” or “less critical” than the day to day functions of our lives.
But when we get sick, or injured, or diagnosed, the vast majority of the time the root cause is in one of more of these “other” bodies. Even just stubbing your toe. Even just a bump on the head.
In fact, those small things are normally the first warning signs to get your attention.
The other three bodies can also hold the key to physical habits that won’t seem to stick: quitting substances, exercising regularly, getting more sleep, eating more plants. Often we’re so hard on our physical bodies and ourselves for not being able to do these “simple” tasks. But the reason isn’t in the physical – it’s in our feelings, thoughts, and/or spirit.
How to take advantage of the other bodies to heal
How do we nurture these other bodies? How do we listen to them more deeply so that they don’t resort to banging down the door of our physicality to get the message across? Sometimes I put my hands on someone and they’re body is screaming out for help, or drained from fatigue, or armored up with protection. They’ve gotten so accustomed to living that way that they’ve become numb to themselves – so the body screams louder.
Often the answer is not to put more tax on the physical body (for example, by way of deep massage, cold plunging, or extreme diets), but rather to do practices that feed and calm the other bodies.
Here are some examples of ways to nurture each of the bodies:
Ease the mental body with mindfulness practices, dreamlining, artistic play, or pranayama.
Soothe the emotional body with emotional mapping, inner child healing, intuitive dance, or journaling
Connect to the spiritual body with chanting, sound healing, kundalini yoga, or candle gazing.
Support the physical body with grounding meditations, walks in nature, mindful eating, or healing baths.
There's even more to explore...
This is only scratching the surface of what your energy anatomy has to offer you. If you enjoy getting to know each of these bodies and want to learn more, I encourage you to download the free guide Meet Your Energy Body to develop an even deeper understanding of how your energy field interacts with the world outside (and within) to create your reality.
Click to download the free guide:
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