“You don’t want to love—your eternal and abnormal craving is to be loved. You aren’t positive, you’re negative. You absorb, absorb, as if you must fill yourself up with love, because you’ve got a shortage somewhere”—D. H. Lawrence
Do we have a shortage somewhere? A shortage that is creating an insatiable craving for more and more and more and more? Are we yearning for some ineffably deep connection that will finally make us whole? Are we pacing the streets of hope, umbilical cord in hand, looking for a place to plug it in? Such a condition is common to most mankind, but is particularly prevalent in those of us with a propensity to addiction.
In our using days, our cells were afire in a frenzy of unabated craving. Thousands upon thousands of starving creatures teamed within us, it seemed, with an insatiable appetite for the sweet succor of an endorphin hit. And more distressing yet, the more we fed the ravenous crowds of creatures, the more they multiplied within us—until a veritable army of desperados was set to storm the gates.
As we moved into recovery, the debris of the creature wars lay all about us. We, the stunned survivors, could only shake our heads at the severed limbs, the smashed heads, the broken bones, the screams and cries of agony. Fortunately we were now connected to a fellowship that could help us gently and slowly pick up the pieces, clean up the battlefield and start our healing journey.
And also fortunately, help is at hand to start handling our cellular cravings so we can be less easily tipped into a risky neediness. Consistent meditation and movement can initiate a cascade of healing hormones within our bodies. As we regain the capacity to care and love, that care and love given and received initiates further benign cascades. Now the creatures are being fed with foods that don’t inflame them and stress them out. The creatures feel comforted—and at least to some extent—satisfied. We can relax into our beings and live in the moment more easily…
Today, let’s consider recommitting to activities that can have a healing impact on our creatures’ appetite. Let’s look at least one activity, in particular, that we could incorporate into our daily health regimen. And by “health regimen” we are naturally referring to the whole spectrum: body, mind and spirit…
Here’s one possible activity to consider:
Stand with your heels together, feet angled out at 45 degrees, knees slightly bent. Hold the hands at groin level just off the body, palms facing up, in a cup-like position. Inhale as you slowly raise your palms to upper chest level, exhale as you lower your hands back to your starting position.
Further enhance the movement of breath and energy by placing your attention initially at the base of your spine, then running it up to the top of your head on the inhale. On the exhale, run your attention down the front of your body to just below your navel. Do 10 or more repetitions.
I enjoy the feeling of tranquility that comes from calming down my creatures.
