hey y'all,
i've been thinking about how at every given moment of the day, our bodies are asking us to listen. our bodies are giving us information in the form of feelings/ sensings, in the way that we're moving or not moving, how expansive and restricted we feel, what our breath is like. it's essentially always giving us insight into how we're moving in alignment to who and how we want to be in the world, or not.
i was reminded of this because of the course
Accountability Mapping by @accountabilitymapping. in it, Daria mentions that self-accountability is how we align our actions with our values. values are what we hold true about what we center in our lives and prioritize in relationship. if we're self-accountable, we are responsible for our choices, our actions, and their outcomes. many tend think about accountability based on how we're acting towards someone else, but what about towards ourselves? what about how our own behaviors, choices, outcomes impact us and our relationship to ourselves?
listening to the body is gives us the capacity to know when/ where we are in alignment to our values, or not. listening allows us to walk the walk we want to.
here’s two examples: let's say that you are someone who believes that everyone should receive care unconditionally, no questions asked. you go to a meeting in a room that feels light. you’ve eaten and have water, clothes feel comfortable, and you notice your body expanding as you relate to the people in the room. you notice the same from the folks around you as well. you sense care from you, for you, and within you, you’re in alignment.
let’s say instead you're having an important personal conversation with someone dear and they say something that suddenly puts you a little bit on edge. you feel like you’re closing up now, skeptical. you feel uneasy and doubt yourself in a way that doesn't care for your uneasiness, but pushes you further into it. that’s insight, yet you decide to ignore it in order to be present, be relating, be who you need to be in that moment.
in both the body is telling us through bodyfulness (sensing-moving-breathing-relating) when we are in and out of alignment with the care we value. sometimes what our body is speaking to isn’t about us, but about how our relationships, environment, family dynamic, organization, culture, or institution is either in or out of alignment with what we value too.
if we're not listening to the body in this way, we could easily miss that information. and right away we no longer are “walking the walk”, whether in through self-affirmations or the inclusive leadership we are trying to embody.
it's not until you walk the walk that it becomes real and true for you. your body will tell you when it ain't. & you, with that information, with listening, now have a choice: is this my concern or not? is this something I could influence or not? what is this telling me? what would feel better? acknowledging these become the seeds of change, these become the seeds of our values becoming embodied. when we're listening we get to be self-accountable for the values we want to live as verbs, we just first have to listen.
solo self-practice: take a moment to put your hand on your belly, breath deeply and gently. ask yourself what do you value? what do you prioritize in your relationships? what is a non-negotiable? allow yourself to hear the answer either in sensings, images, or thoughts. take this further by allowing yourself to recall a moment when you did not center that/ walk the walk: what does this feel like? recall a moment where you did, what did that feel like? notice these differences in your bodies communication about your self-accountability to your values.
