Inhale, exhale. Up, down. In, out. Forward, backward. , Feminine, masculine. Yin, yang. Ida, Pingala. Action, inaction...? Passive, aggressive...? Doing, being....? You get it.
We live in a world characterized by opposites. Nature arises due to what scientists say is a series of chemical reactions occurring both in our environment to produce stimulus, and in our brain to interpret the stimuli. They say that all matter is comprised of atoms, which have a positive charge at their core, surrounded by negative electrons. The number of these will determine what the element does. It is this balance of opposite forces that creates, governs, and sustains the entire Universe as we know it.
Perhaps this explains why we are bilateral creatures - with two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears... the list of twos goes on. Apparently, even our brain is operating in this odd sort of opposites paradigm - with right and left brain hemispheres that are responsible for creating different thought patterns and emotional states. You could even personify the characteristics of this divided brain into masculine/feminine roles. One is linear and analytical, the other is circular and creative. Hm.
Obviously, it is best to operate any piece of machinery using integration and balance, and the brain and body is no exception. It is important to consider the fact that our mindbody complex is the most advanced piece of technology in the Universe. So of course we owe it to ourselves to at least perform some basic maintenance on this beautiful gift. The maintenance that we do will allow the thing to work together more holistically. Instead of us operating too often from one side of our brain, or being imbalanced in ways that we all know we are subject to, we can flow between the two effortlessly, blending the concrete form of logic with the abstract formlessness of art. Through integrating the two halves of 'us', we find that we are infinitely creative AND powerful enough to make our formless creations, formed realities. We pull from the infinite heavenly realm of dreams and imagination, and we ground it down onto the Earth. But we can only do that when we are balanced between the two opposites.
What bridges the two, and how do we bring Heaven to Earth? I have a few theories.
It is clear that our upper trunk and our lower trunk are separate sub-systems in the entire systematic unit of the body. But it is also clear that the whole body is exactly that - a WHOLE body. It should work together harmoniously. We've lost the harmony and we can see what a world looks like due to humans who've lost touch with their integrated self. Perhaps a fully integrated self is THE Self...?
We have got to re-connect our lower half to our upper half.
From a psycho-spiritual level, our lower half represents the animalistic nature of our psyche. Our 'Earthly' existence - one that is bound by endless lists of things to do, things we need, the pursuit of material pleasures, etc. We can see that the legs are the actual organs of motor action to accomplish these tasks. The legs are what will take us to the places we need to go, to do the things we need to do, to get the things we think we need. The legs propel us forward into action. Also consider the fact that the 'lower half' encompasses the sexual region of the body. So it's safe to say that there is a lot of traffic coming from the lower body to brain, instructing us to carry out it's bidding. What sort of instructions are we receiving? It depends on how we connected we have become to our 'lower selves'. Yes, our bodies communicate to us through the nerves and other pathways, and when the signals get disrupted, there is no longer an open flow of information but rather a distorted message.
Connecting to our lower half means waking up the sacrum and our brain's ability to be in communion with this area of our body. This is because all of the nerves from the spine exit the sacrum as their last 'way point' on the way down. The spinal cord terminates here, and for the most part, our consciousness resides here as well. When consciousness remains stuck in any area of the spine, the energy cannot properly rise up from that region and therefore there is a muted message being received from 'down lower'. It's like trying to pump water up a hose against gravity. Gravity itself represents Earthly existence - it keeps us here! If we are to evolve our consciousness, we've got to use tremendous energy to propel it to rise from the lower bits of us into the higher bits. I'll let you determine what that means for you.
Awakening the sacrum, through activating the nerve pathways from the brain to the sacrum, will allow us to reach down into our toes with new awareness. We've been so disconnected from our feet in this modern age, and it is represented by the symptoms of this 'lower self' imbalance that we see. Connect to the feet, man! Strong feet, strong legs, strong hips, sacrum ON. Think about what this means in a body. We feel strong when we are rooted. We are grounded. We feel safe. We are less likely to be swayed by the currents of life. We are more likely to overcome the 'lower self' tendencies. Think about what happens when you're frozen in fear - the legs won't move! Move the legs, the feet, the hips. Move them often and observe the deeper repercussions of such a pursuit.
Now, our upper half represents our Heavenly existence. We have hands that can create anything that the head can imagine. Only, we need legs to carry out the mission. See where I'm going with this?
The skull, our cranium, is the opposite pole with the sacrum on the bottom end. If consciousness resides in the higher centers of the brain, when we've done all the work to unblock the energy from the body and allow it to rise in our head, we are transformed. Physiologically this can be measured in altered brainwaves and there are some really interesting studies about this, with Kriya yoga and Transcendental Meditation. But spiritually, we are diving into the realm of the infinite. Because our nature is infinite, only most of the time we are identified with our finite selves. We are stuck on Earth with nowhere to go. Well, I suggest looking up. Not just between your eyebrows when you meditate, but away from the logical, rational, linear explanations for all of these things.
My attempt here with this post is to establish some questioning. To allow us to consider the spiritual implications of the obvious symbolism that our bodies represent. And to put them into a working practice that gives us opportunity to work with these concepts on our own. What does it actually feel like to connect bare feet to the grass as part of a daily ritual? How might an overhead stretch change when reaching up the arms but also being mindful of pressing downward with the feet? What if we keep the breath and the heart at the center of our attention, and expand outward from them?
Humans continue to reveal to us all the many inspiring feats of mankind. The potential to do something wonderful is in every human being, existing as a seed. These seeds need watering. If we aren't mindful, we end up automatically watering the seeds that exist lower on the totem pole, so to speak. Redirect the energy. Raise your consciousness. Pseudo-science or not, this is real life. And we need our upper and lower half to be fully integrated to heal ourselves, just like we need to work together as a species to heal the world. Bring Heaven to Earth - YOU are the bridge.