Best Foot Forward...and Don't Forget the Chocolate

Wednesday, March 15, 2006 ~ Santa Fe, New Mexico

I'm sitting in my chiropractor's waiting room...waiting for my chiropractor. For nearly a week, I've been experiencing an odd assortment of aches down my right leg, the most ubiquitous being a hamstring-tugging, growing-pain-like discomfort behind my right knee.

During my visit two days ago, Peter, my chiropractor, pinpointed the source of the pain to my lower back, one of those weak links in my physical system that erupts every now and again.

Being forced to wait for Peter (in a chair that's not chiropractically correct and heightens the discomfort in my leg) triggers connections I had not previously made.

If you're familiar with the traditional chakra (energy center) system, you'll know that the first chakra, related to identity, survival and security, is located in the lower back area, at the base of the spine. The thing about hanging out in the void, as I've been doing in recent weeks, is that it definitely attacks the certainties that keep us secure in our sense of who we (think we) are and puts us on Survival Alert.

My lower back has kicked up a fuss during other periods of radical transformation. But it's never before expressed through my right leg. In some schools of alternative healing, the right side of the body relates to the divine masculine energies of being out in the world in one's power and purpose.

At a time when I sense that I'm being pushed out into the broader world with my work, it's no wonder my right leg is in crisis. It's expressing perfectly the fears that parts of me still hold around taking these next steps.

And then I think of hamstrings. All my life mine have been tight and now, in a peculiarly eloquent way, my anxiety is attempting to hamstring my progress.

How perfect is that!

Our bodies carry much wisdom, expressing most divinely where we hold emotional and energetic blocks. They offer us clear cues regarding where and how we carry our wounding. They tell us, in magical metaphor, what's really going on.

Today, mine tells me that I still carry residual fear of the path my heart longs to take. The answer is to neither abandon the path nor ignore the fear. Rather, it's to honor and take care of myself. Not only my body but the scared parts of me that rarely need anything more than love and the reassurance that, despite the upheaval of these times, they are safe.

When I explain my New Earth Initiations to people who have never experienced one, I often liken them to chiropractic adjustments. Like the chiropractor's hands, the sound vibrations of my voice shift you back into the closest alignment with your divine nature that you can handle in that moment. And like with a chiropractic treatment, once you're back in alignment, it's up to you to live your life and choices in ways that hold the restored resonance and alignment in place.

We do that from a place of self-love and self-respect, which are the cornerstones of all higher-vibration life choices.

Eventually, the chiropractor will crack my spine back into an alignment that will free my back and leg from pain. But unless I treat myself gently and with love as I continue to move forward, that alignment will not hold.

Committing to my passion and purpose is a journey of balance that demands that all parts of me are heard, treated with love and respect, and carried forward in gratitude for the roles they have played in my life.

Ultimately, self-love and self-respect is the path. Without them, meaningful relationships are not possible. Without them, healing is not possible. Without them, peace is not possible.

Today I honor my path by working on my book. I honor my body with a visit to the chiropractor. And I honor my emotions by proceeding as gently and lovingly as I can...and eating chocolate. Dark chocolate.