Sacred movement
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Sacred movement
These days we have more data than ever before about everything that takes place in this world. Last year for example it’s estimated that we took 1.4 trillion photos worldwide[1], 306.4 billion emails were sent and received every day[2] and a mind boggling 36.81 billion tonnes of carbon were emitted globally[3]. But out of every action that human life entails, there’s one thing we do more than everything else: we move.
Across all ages, nationalities, races and physical states it’s something we all do, every day we are alive. Even sitting still or sleeping there’s a movement inside of us as our thoughts or dreams take place. As our planet turns at 1,000 miles per hour and we whizz around upon it, movement is impossible for us to avoid. Yet for something so prominent and prevalent, it is very rarely discussed in any depth.
When we grow, we learn to move before we can even talk. We master toddling round then: ‘That’s it folks! – onto getting a job and PhD’ seems to be our general approach. Typically, the way that we learn at this fragile age is by the law of cause and effect – I walk into things, I hit my head and it hurts. A natural cycle through which we avoid that which impairs our growth and our health.
But what if movement isn’t as open and shut as it seems? What if there is actually more to it than going from A to B and what if the consequences of getting it ‘wrong’ so to speak, whilst seemingly not apparent, are much bigger than we have been willing to see?
A while ago a friend of mine conducted a simple experiment in front of a small class. She put a series of chairs out in front of the group. The first one she rushed, and aggressively plonked down on the ground. The second she meekly went through the motions as if her mind were somewhere else. The third she picked up with care and gently walked to the spot and with presence placed it there. After a brief discussion with everyone in the audience it was clear – there was a huge difference between each chair that was placed, the feeling in those looking on, and the sensation which each movement created in the space.
Surely we can all relate, whether it’s an angry door slammed by a partner or a dinner prepared in a manic rush, or a cup of coffee shoved hurriedly and cracked – the way we move has a huge impact.
The philosopher Serge Benhayon has presented the simple truth: “everything is energy and everything is because of energy”.
When we move and act in ways that are disharmonious, what is the result of that? What if each action in this world is felt by us all? What if the quality of our every action adds to a pool of energy, available for us all to access? What if each action leaves an impression, a kind of invisible mark that attracts more of the same to take place? We have all walked into a room and felt that maybe there’s been an argument or some discord, without anyone telling us what’s taken place. That’s how sensitive we are to the quality of space in this world.
Serge Benhayon presents the fact that ultimately everything in life is determined by two distinct types of energy – Love (Fire) or that which is not Love (Prana). There is no grey or halfway zone. It’s either one or the other.
So, when we move every day we are either moving with a loving quality or not – and the effect of this may be much bigger than we think.
When we move a body relentlessly in a hard, rigid or aggressive way, just like the coffee cup it too may break – and certainly each organ within will show tell-tale signs and not work as well as it was designed. When we move our bodies in a rush and force them to perform task upon task, we also show others that this is ok and put out and perpetuate an energy of intensity and drive that we call ‘normal life’.
We may be willing to consider the impact of fossil fuels, chemicals or ‘urban build up’ on our environment, but when will we admit that the way we live and move pollutes our body and our world in a way that is equally huge?
Recently I’ve been unwell with virus after virus. I haven’t changed anything in my lifestyle and eat very healthily. I know well that my body isn’t misleading me but showing me there’s something not ok; not quite right that I need to see.
After some inspiration and support from Esoteric practitioners I’ve come to understand that I’ve been living most of my days in functionality, instead of with a deeper quality – ‘going through the motions’ if you like. Yes, the rubbish needs clearing out and dinner needs cooking and putting on the table, but the way in which I have been doing that has been quite flat, stressed and anxious underneath. Especially as a new parent there can be an internal voice goading you on … ‘get the corn on the boil, grab the beans, they’ve got to eat this quick so we can have a bath and get to sleep’.
When we get caught behind the bars of time and the perfunctory function of everyday life, we forget there is a way to move that is in union with the universe, with God, with Love. There’s a depth we can feel with each step we take and grace in how we proceed in any given scenario or situation. There’s a connection there we can amplify, go deeper with, instead of dulling down with how we put each foot in front of the other. There’s a yoga to life that is just as replenishing as any retreat or course can be, if we pay attention to the quality in which we live.
It might seem far-fetched or extreme to consider our every move this way. Certainly, when we move in a blunt or heartless way it can seem (like an experimenting toddler) there is no immediate ‘bad result’ or effect to make us stop and change. So why bother?
But is it possible in this case that the effect is actually not so hard to see? Not as invisible as we like to think? We have widespread illness and drug addiction, dysfunction and domestic abuse, high suicide rates and rampant corruption in our society despite the reams of intellectual studies, white paper reports and books completed throughout history.
Movement and the quality of energy we use is so simple it seems – so ubiquitous and basic – yet however humiliating and embarrassing it may be, is it possible that we’ve been living and moving in a way that’s left us seriously short changed?
If we can all feel the difference between moving with anger and without, what would our day look like if we didn’t just bring integrity to each and every move, but made sure that every step we took and every leap and bound was made with Love?
We exist in an amazing sphere of life, yet mostly we live like we are separate to it, we hold ourselves as disposable and cheap, insignificant beings who are prone to mistakes, and live in a reduced down, isolated and constrained way.
What if the essence of true self-worth is to finally understand that we are not just blood and bones or a woman/man? What if within us is something truly grand, multi-dimensional and divine (just like the stars in the sky)? And what if we moved feeling this instead of moving to ‘just get by’? What if there’s a connection to something bigger than us that we can feel in our heart, and moving without this is seriously bad for our health?
We are taught that we understand life first from ideas and thoughts that we have, before we decide to act them out. But what if we have got this back to front? What if as Serge Benhayon presents, movement comes first, before everything else? What if it’s movements and the energy we align to that determines our thoughts, the choices that we make, and what comes next? Then couldn’t movement be the key to all that takes place?
As anyone who’s tried to mentally change a habit or think themselves out of a problem will know, it doesn’t actually work at all. The only way forward is to move, go for a walk, have a shower and reconnect to something deeper inside. Then things unlock and we tend to see them in a different light.
“In any moment you can change your life, your conduct and your perception of it by how you move your physical body.”
Serge Benhayon Esoteric Teachings & Revelations Volume I, ed 1, p 581
In recent times I’ve attended some classes held mostly online called ‘Sacred Movement’. Inspired and founded by Natalie Benhayon, these sessions involve a series of subtle moves almost like a dance, that might seem inconsequential on the surface but there’s an alchemy to the way you move in these classes as a group, that is super powerful to behold. The process is incredibly simple and yet over the course of a short session you can feel the built-up tension and stress leave your body and a settled feeling come instead. In place of issues, concerns and obstacles, a sense of spaciousness is there and warmth flows once again – all through repeating simple movements with presence and connection to your body.
This has inspired me to truly value how I move. It’s not a trying or forcing some sort of robot-like perfection but just letting myself flow in an uninhibited, unreserved and unapologetic way, feeling connected inside, whatever is taking place.
The more I do this, the more joy I feel, no matter the circumstance or situation I am in. The quality of each move I make feeds me back like a boomerang in a way I hadn’t understood till now. We don’t have to rob ourselves of the depth of life that’s on offer – if we just surrender to living in a way that appreciates and cherishes every move we make and its true power – to change our lives and that of others.
But there is a catch – living this way has an important side effect: it reduces the fog of busyness and removes rushing’s anaesthetic effect – it gives you room to feel and be more aware of what is truly going on. Yes, our clairsentience and awareness to what takes place in the world becomes much harder to hide from or deny. Movement it turns out was never ever about getting things done, but much more about blocking out what we feel inside.
Given the very delicate way as children we can feel the slightest whiff of disharmony or sense things we cannot see, you can start to understand how living in a world where 800,000 people committed suicide[4] and 400,000 are murdered per year[5], it could be challenging to say the least, to stay aware.
Looking back at my life I can see I have used food and music, alcohol, study, work and sport to block my feelings out, but as I reduced and stopped using them this way, the place I didn’t look was right under my nose – in every step, move and gesture that I make.
Whatever our methodology, until we are willing to see and deeply feel what is occurring around us in this world and how at odds this is with the beauty we know ourselves to be underneath, then whether it’s movement or something else, we’ll likely look to escape and knock our senses out.
But when we understand ourselves at last to be infinitely more powerful that we’ve ever been taught or brought up to believe and feel the true oneness that exists instead of the separation we are sold, we may start to gently walk ourselves back to embracing what we feel, as a super strength, instead of an inconvenience.
And every step in this path back to our heart, back to living love, truly is a sacred move to make. Like sending a stream of love letters to God with every gesture or action that we take.
This is the path I’m on now – what energy will I choose – how will I move today? I know now inside of me, it’s the quality I move in that defines everything that will come next.
"The hidden mystery about combating ill behaviours is the fact that the energy that makes them happen is in truth in your body and not your head. The way out of this predicament is introduce to the body a way of being by action and not by thoughts."
Serge Benhayon Esoteric Teachings & Revelations Volume I, ed 1, p 122
References
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Awareness, Connection, Energy, Harmony, Sacredness
