When I became more skilled at tuning into my body, I did it out of intrigue. I really had no idea just how much it would reveal to me about everything. Seeing the body through the eyes of symbolic sight enabled me to see myself, in others and in the world around me. I have grounded that symbolic sight in the four elements of fire, air, earth, and water to share the journey with others. Symbols have ancient wisdom wrapped up in them. Our body is an amalgamation of symbols.

The first stage of this process for me was to reorganise the associations in my brain. Meaning I consciously stopped myself from equating an ache, pain, or occurrence in my body with an external cause. Not that the external part did not have an influence, it was just not the core of what was happening. That stage took a good bit of time, but I had Louise Hay by my side, and I started to document my bodily sensations to encourage introspection rather than projection.

What happens when you go inward?

There is a significant point of acceptance when you go inward to evaluate an illness. You are accepting that you manifested the discomfort from an imbalance within yourself. Not that there needs to be shame or blame, this is done with the knowing that the body is always on our side. It is simply sharing messages about how we can come back into alignment. Words can only get us so far. Bodily sensations are the voice of your soul speaking through you.

This means not looking externally for the cause and if it is needed to go externally (which a lot of the time it is not) we make intuitive decisions through the compass of the body. This broadens the perspective of what medicine is for us. If you tune into an ache in the knee and ask it what it needs you to do, the answer comes through as words or images. By trusting and following you can get the medicine.

This medicine comes in many forms. It could be the grounding power of the sand, the cleansing water of the ocean, or even a person on the beach that shares just the right message with you. Letting your body guide you is a surrendered state. In the masculine pattern of constantly doing this can seem illogical or daunting even. From experience I can say it is simply your soul trying to redirect you onto a path that gets you to your goal faster and in a more enjoyable way.

To walk on the path your soul is directing you to, you must accept that you do not know everything. That there are workings in the universe that you cannot fathom because if you actually did know all about them, you would go insane! Coming through these phases we arrive at seeing the body as a set of symbols and signs. Our job is to listen to them and interpret them to make shifts that are needed to thrive in life.

After practicing seeing the anatomy and physiology within me as a metaphor, I opened my eyes to the world around me and saw the connection. I saw the experiences I was having in the animals in my life. I saw myself in the different expressions of the ocean, the changing colours of the trees, the phases of the moon. Understanding the world around me came much more easily when I understood more about the world within me.

One of my favourite things to teach is seeing the body as a metaphor because it is a gift that keeps on giving. A study that will stand to you forever. It allows you to not only see the interconnectedness of life but to feel it in your bones. Supporting someone else in seeing themselves in the sunrise and the trees is an honour. To make significant shifts on how we live on this planet, I feel we need to learn this. When we see ourselves in the fire, air, earth, and water, we care for them.