The Body Knows

The Body knows. Okay, maybe the real line is that "the shadow knows," but that's a whole different posting. The body is the thing.

The body holds us together in this reality. It allows us to express ourselves and to communicate. Without it we would be dealing with another reality, so again, let's allow our focus to be bodily. The body is also often a reflection of our inner selves. It has its own language. The body changes expression if you are comfortable or disinterested, even if your words say something else.

But does it tell you the truth?

Look at the study done in 1952 by E. Sh. Ayrapetyants. To make quick work of this, basically the study tested people's response to having pressure applied to their bladders. During this time, they were given a meter to read so that they could see the increase of air pressure their bladders were incurring. Later, without telling the participants, the researchers stopped applying air pressure to the bladders, but the meters continued to read as though the pressure was still happening. Ultimately, the participants all reacted and felt the bodily response of having pressure on their bladder just by seeing the meter results. Pavlovian all the way.

Again, I ask, considering this, does the body always tell the truth?

What this experiment shows is that the body is affected by the past. The participants continued to bodily act as though the same conditions were applied even when the conditions were static. This proves that the body acts on memory. It hangs on and is a faithful mate to the past. So, what the body is really saying is that it reacts to some stimulus that is either happening or affected them greatly in the past.

Sometimes this is for the greater good. We gain muscle memory. Muscle memory helps us to take care of ourselves, especially in the more athletic realms (remembering steps and actions). Even driving becomes a bodily reaction to a past stimulant. We do not have to consciously tell ourselves to depress the gas pedal or the brake.

Then there are the times when the body actions inhibits life. It could be from phobias. Maybe we get into a crowd and our body feels like its suffocating. Even things that provide mental barriers for us, may show through certain bodily actions. Depression for instance, the body acts a certain way, maybe feeling tired or painful.

This is why regression hypnosis can be especially helpful. By regressing to the past moment that is influencing the body reactions, such as found in phobia work or certain uncontrolled responses, the subconscious mind can release the memory, helping to create new reactions in the present. It allows us to explore our mental past and change the past in a way. We can view it with our new eyes of greater experience and offer wisdom to our past selves.

Source: Toward an Integral Methodology for Transpersonal Studies