How Lying Down will get you Standing Up Again

Last December I spent 10 days and 10 nights lying down on my hardwood floor. No it wasn't some nutty new esoteric practice I was trying out. My low back went out on me, and left me flat on my back. I literally was forced to spend the next 10 days and nights in the confines of my room and with myself. My back felt like a thousand daggers were stabbing every inch of my sacrum. Any movement brought me to tears within seconds, and electrical shocks down my whole lower body. I cried, I sobbed and begged for mercy. Nothing helped until I just let go and stopped resisting. The moment I felt my pain, allowed it to be and drew on my inner capacity to feel compassion for myself was the moment my body started to relax and heal.

The whole experience actually turned out to be a gift from the universe. As much as I cringed in pain and fear , I am so very fortunate to have that happen to me.

It was the spark that initiated this Core Connection Healing project and book. Lying on my back brought me to the ground in a very literal sense and also a deep metaphorical one. I was given the opportunity to STOP right in my crazy tracks of being in auto pilot mode, to truly experiencing PRESENCE and BEING in the now.

From grasping outwards to gain insight, and "guidance" from all kinds of teachers, yogis, gurus and the like, I began to do the real work and instead went INWARDS. Lying on my floor prompted me to face my pain directly as it was. No running away, no heading to the gym or yoga studio, no going out and socializing, no helping or healing others, and no throwing myself into my work or relationships.


Grounded and Grounding :

It was me, my pain and the floor. A trio that brought me to gain greater understanding of my own self and inner terrain. I realized how much my body communicates to me and how much I neglect to hear it. I realized that if I kept ignoring the signals and inner voice that was screaming for me to just stay still for once and listen, I would lose the very precious gift that life offers us each and every day. The gift of knowing we are already blessed and perfect just as we are.

Just as Osho states "you can go on changing the outer lives, and never be satisfied", I knew I came to a point of needing to just stop from having to feel the need to change all the external circumstances in order to feel ok and acceptable to everyone around me.



Where does it stop?

The reality is, it doesn't. We can continually go outwardly and change our bodies, our clothes, our homes, our cars, our bank accounts, our friends, our partners, our networks, our gadgets and never FEEL the only thing that truly gives us satisfaction - our Core Connection to source and that inner being.

They say you need to stumble and fall, in order to rise higher. For me this really did happen. Not in the sense of getting better or more ahead, that would be EGO talking. What I mean here with "rising Higher" is coming closer to that higher self, or THE inner TEACHER, that is infallible and speaks our TRUTH.

Tools you can use to get grounded!

1. GET ON THE GROUND:
   

Lie on the ground for a few minutes everyday. You can do this just before bed. Get down to the primal ground we came from. Feel what it's like to just be close to the solidity that is always under our feet. Even in those times when we feel the rug is being pulled from under us, or when our "world" feels like its crumbling apart before our eyes, the ground is still there! This will allow you to feel how solid your foundation remains regardless of what your mind tells you.



2. MEDITATION:

Sitting on the floor gets you connected with your base or 1st chakra. The base chakra is found between your genitals and anus. Breath into this area as you sit and envision red light illuminating it. This is your connection to security and the basic needs of life. When we feel FEAR and become scared that we are not going to have our basic needs met, this area shuts down. So physical ailments such as constipation or diarrhea, hemorrhoids, colitis, IBS, Crohn's, bladder and urinary ailments can arise when this chakra is blocked or out of balance. Just sit, breath and feel the body from within.



3. Standing with Awareness:

So after practicing the above, we can rise up and feel that grounded stability as we stand. Standing with a long spine, relax the neck shoulders , and back, and slightly tilt the hips forward. Feel the feet pressing into the ground beneath you, drawing up the energy to the rest of your body. Feel all 4 corners of your feet pressing down as if they had roots. Doing this just for a few minutes everyday will encourage your self awareness to become stronger and stronger. You awaken your whole being when you come into mindfulness and the practice of experiencing the NOW.


In health and happiness,

Namaste Piera