HEALTH: When the Pain Won't Stop

[Guest guest]

When the Pain Won't Stop

by Bela Johnson

 

Do you have a painful physical condition which eludes diagnosis, or do

you know someone else thusly afflicted? Most of us know at least one

person in chronic pain. How has this condition become almost epidemic in

recent times? We live in a time unlike any preceding it. Moving at an

increasingly faster pace, we are at the same time opening to knowledge

that once existed only in mystery schools. As human consciousness

collectively expands, we are similarly being stretched to our physical

limits through the stress of living in a technological age. These two

forms of expansion, whether we are conscious of them or not, are pulling

us in opposite directions. This makes it challenging to maintain a level

of physical comfort, not to mention wellness. Consciousness and

conceptual thought are expansive. These energies seek ground in the

physical body in order to be felt, integrated and finally understood.

Like a funnel, we are pouring expanded awareness through a big opening

into a stressed out, restrictive vessel. This can and does cause problems.

 

In her book Conscious Femininity, Marion Woodman shares both her

experience as a Jungian analyst over the past twenty-five years, as well

as her personal struggle with body image. Both have shaped her career in

helping others come to terms with being in the bodies we must reckon

with, here on Earth. She describes the body, whether male or female, as

our feminine element (earth, the mater-ial). We are entering a stage of

human evolution where the feminine is becoming conscious for the first

time. This does not mean that matriarchal societies, for example, did

not honor the feminine. Rather, this feminine energy was never

consciously integrated. And patriarchy has, as we know, little respect

or space for its feminine counterpart. Thus, we find our collective

selves in a state of disembodiment, a place where we value mind over

matter. Enter the feminine, which many of us feel is emerging to balance

the scales. Our bodies have become an afterthought, and they are

demanding our attention.

 

Many of us on a path of personal growth are finding our bodies betraying

us, but here's the funnel effect again. As Woodman states, " You can't

put spirit into dense matter. Matter is dark; it's obtuse. There has to

be a consciousness to receive spirit. The way I'm understanding it, more

and more from dreams, is that consciousness exists in matter, and that

consciousness opens to receive spirit. " We may resist this process, for

it requires we surrender our habitual way of being in the world. This

resistance creates pain we are currently experiencing, individually as

well as collectively. For, as Woodman continues, " We are adolescents

with a hydrogen bomb and without a sense of the love that can use that

energy creatively. " She likewise believes the addictive quality of our

society contributes to the awakening of this feminine energy. For as

addicts are confronted with healing their condition, they are forced to

surrender. This is " the point of vulnerability ... where the god enters

.... The feminine is forcing her way into consciousness by means of these

addictions. "

 

Whether alcoholic or workaholic, addictions are distractions that keep

us numb to the presence of feelings, of emotional pain, both within

ourselves and in relation to others. As the feminine element awakens

within us, our numbness begins to thaw and we experience more physical

discomfort. Medicating this pain is one choice and moving through it,

another. One step we can take to move through pain is to breathe more

deeply. Woodman states that " most of us keep our breath as shallow as

possible because the eruption of feeling is too intense if we inhale

deeply. Breathing is very important because it is a matter of receiving

and that is the feminine principle incarnate. " Exercise, such as walking

outside, can help enhance our breathing capacity in a safe way. With our

feet grounded on Mother Earth, we are able to discharge some of this

emotional intensity. Joining a meditation group or doing yoga can help

move the breath, as long as we choose a body centered practice.

Otherwise, we are gathering yet more spiritual energy which has no

container to ground itself into. Bodywork and massage can be powerful

ways in which to move emotional residue, yet these modalities, if

effective, are not without pain.

 

Our collective resistance to pain is deeply rooted in Western culture.

Westerners value life without pain over living a full, rich, complex

life. We compromise this fullness for the escape our addictions offer

us, though ultimately, addictions are but a temporary salve for much

deeper wounds. Choosing to move through pain is to honor these wounds,

to heal them. As we move through layers of denial and fear, our bodies

become freer and we become greater vessels for spirit to penetrate.

Woodman affirms that " body work is soul work, and the imagination is the

key to connecting both. To have healing power, an image must be taken

into the body on the breath. Then it can connect with the life force,

and things can change, physically and psychologically. A man might come

into therapy and say, 'I can't cry.' Yet if I ask him to breathe in a

symbol of his grief, the tears will start. " She also stresses the

importance of doing this kind of work with a facilitator, as it can be

frightening on one's own.

 

Asking for help is surrendering our need for a controlled, safe

existence. Yet piercing our illusions of safety might be the only way in

which to heal the deeper pain that besets us. Again, Marion Woodman:

" Life is a matter of incarnation. The soul is an entity we have to live

with in our human body ... Suffering and conflict are the only way to

grow. As life moves from phase to phase, you have to suffer the death of

one and the birth of the next. "

 

(Previously published in The Maine Eagle, September 2002)

 

Bela Johnson complements her gifts of intuition and healing touch with a

background in Psychology. Her work involves helping others to open

themselves to a more gratifying and authentic sense of being.

 

Bela Johnson, Medical Intuitive

P.O. Box 1127

Holden, ME 04429

(207) 843-5414

Email: belaj

Website: http://www.belajohnson.com

 

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