Letting God be with us in our bodies

For many of us, it can be hard to experience God in everyday movements and moments. In the busyness and unrest. In our nervous system. In the way, we move and interact with others. In our driving. Dishwashing. Diaper changing. In all of the doing…

We tend to divorce our bodies from our intellectual and spiritual knowing about who God is. It is as if we can only experience Him when our mind is clear, we are rooted in what we know to be true, and we are still enough to ponder it.

But I think God wants more for us.

Let me give you a personal example of what this can look like…

On Sunday, my children were challenging at mass. I felt my nervous system entering a hyperarousal state (panic) and then quickly a hypoarousal (collapse). All I wanted to do was hide under the pew. I couldn’t access God at all, or so I thought, and I was tempted to think, why go to Mass in the first place when this is typically how I feel?

Then I remembered God’s invitation to allow Him to be with me in my very dysregulated body.

I could hear Him say, “Yes, even in this, I am still here. I am with you.”

So I allowed my body to respond and let it be.

I leaned into my body, surrendered, and trusted that all would be well, not because I believed my children would stop behaving like a typical 1.5 and 3.5-year-old but because I knew I was not alone.

Yes, God is with me, even in this, and it can be safe to surrender my control to make these distressing feelings disappear.

When we finally reached the altar rail, my surrender allowed me to fully bring my entire Self to Jesus’s feet. I was open to receiving Him into my whole being, and there was so much consolation and peace, even though the distressing feelings in my body did not leave.

I found myself ready to tend to my children and participate in a chaotic experience of Mass with God, and that’s what the journey is about—beginning over and over and over again with God.

Beginning over and over again and inviting God into our bodies allows us to enter the chaos, trusting that we will be okay. And not just intellectually or spiritually but with our whole bodies. All our emotions, nervous system states, tears, heart fluctuations, and bodily tensions. It’s about letting Truth sink into our whole being.

So here’s my invitation to you. The next time you start to feel a shift in your emotions. If you are feeling sad, angry, confused, or anxious, perhaps, you notice something shifting in your body- invite God in. Invite God when doing those activities that seem to steal your peace.

See if you can use these challenging moments to connect with God.

This can be as simple as saying, “Yes, even in this, you are with me.”

Then see if you notice God within you. Perhaps, some tension lifting. Perhaps, a desire to cry and release the emotion. Perhaps, a softness in your face or a quiet strength or steadiness.

Because the truth is, our relationship with God, with Self, and with others can only expand and deepen if we keep inviting God into our entire being—that’s where the real healing is.