Cultivating Peace with What Is Guided Meditation
I talk often about embodied spirituality because I think it's so important. So much of spirituality and religion seek to separate you from your body, teach you to deny your everyday, human experiences. In 1517, the Reformation moved Christian practice away from images and rituals toward the written text. In many ways, it was liberating to allow people to encounter the Bible on their own terms, instead of mediated through the powerful church leaders, but on the other hand, it started this new emphasis on intellectual assent to a set of beliefs as the definition of what makes someone a Christian.
To be sure, belief is important. And yet, if you hold all the "right" beliefs but your life is devoid of the fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control), then what good do those beliefs do you? I find myself drawn to embodied practices and rituals that help ground me in my body and embrace my humanity, while also growing my ability to tap into transcendent experiences. The body is not an obstacle to spirituality, rather it is a home in which your spiritual experiences can dwell.