Freedom Friday (Emotional Freedom Pt. 2)

THE BODY REMEMBERS
 
I felt inclined to add to last week’s Emotional Freedom topic and elaborate a little more on how emotional distress affects our physical bodies. Unfortunately, this is a subject that isn’t discussed and yet is vital for freedom to be complete.
We are not just a spirit being. We have a body and a mind. All three work together for wholeness therefore all three must be addressed.
Once again, I am not a mental health therapist or a physical therapist and I’m certainly not a scientist, but I am a Holy Spirit filled woman who has spent years encountering God, studying and teaching His Word and receiving His healing and freedom mentally, emotionally and physically.
His Word has healed me and set me free mentally by completely transforming my mind to think more like Him and to help others rise out of the muck of this world and into the realm of Truth. The Holy Spirit has healed me and set me free emotionally by helping me experience Him through the bible, worship, adoration, the sacraments, and faith filled men and women.
Being set free physically, however, has been a slightly different experience.

 A few years ago, when I was experiencing physical pain in my body, He led me to Myofascial Release Therapy. This form of therapy helped me more than any other I had tried. I worked diligently with my therapist Michelle Corson and committed to working on myself at home using the techniques she showed me. Michelle also took the time to teach me about the body’s connection to emotional trauma, distress, and the deep wounds that others inflict on us. She encouraged me to invite God into my therapy time, to allow Him to reveal what emotions might be trapped in the painful areas, and then to release it. She also explained that it wasn’t always necessary to know this information if it wasn’t revealed but to flow with the release of my body non-the-less. The healing didn’t happen overnight, but I learned how to open up to what my body was trying to tell me through pain.

I have experienced great healing and freedom in every area of my body. I have also gained a fuller understanding of how our bodies speak to us and how entwined our emotions, fears and wounds are with physical pain. It was on Michelle’s table that the revelation of “the body remembers” came to me. As this wisdom entered my mind, I immediately knew that God had pressed the ENTER button on his computer and the download on how emotional distress affects our bodies had begun to enter my brain. A few days later I wrote it all in a poem. I hope this helps you connect the dots for you.
 
The Body Remembers By: Ivonne Sherman
The body remembers
The body remembers
The body remembers it all.
The body remembers
every time we were scolded by our parents.
It holds on to the disappointment.
The body remembers
the bullies at school and how insignificantly stupid they made us feel.
It holds onto it with a tight grip of protection.
The body remembers
the heartbreaks of life
and holds them as sacred.
The body remembers
The manipulation and the emotional abuse.
It guards it with every breath.
The body remembers
the physical and sexual abuse.
It chooses to bury the reality of the pain only causing it to burrow itself
into every fiber of our being that holds us together.
The body remembers
The faithless times, the murders, the lies, the isolation.
It remembers so vividly that it chokes our movement, restricting the freedom
that we were meant to move with.
The body remembers it all.
It learns to hold the memories, trapping them into enslavement.
Bound by chains, the slaves become madden and crazed.
They scream and press against the bars of their prison cells.
Reaching their hands out they beg for freedom through the expression of pain.
_____________________________
Oh, my dear body,
I hear you.
I hear the screams of the memories stored within you.
I see the chains that have enslaved you.
I choose to release you from the bondage of slavery
and nurture you back to health.
I will remember and I will forgive,
for forgiveness is the key that unlocks the chains.
As the chains begin to drop, I will help you walk.
If you can’t walk, I will carry you and lay you on a bed of flowers.
There I will kneel by your side and seek the face of God, for he will help me
nurture you back to health.
I love you, my body.
After today I will help you remember the good moments, and as I wipe the tears
from your eyes I will help you see the beauty that surrounds us right now.
 
If Myofascial Release Therapy isn’t your thing, then at the very least… MOVE. Movement is critical. Allow your body to express what you’re feeling.
For example: if you’re angry let it out through some form of physical exertion. If you’re sad move your body to music that is uplifting and soothing. It doesn’t have to be a dance just move in the direction your body takes you or go for a walk while listening.
Finally, invite the Holy Spirit into all of it.

Resources:
Pain Free & Empowered Facebook group
Comprehensive Myofascial Self Treatment Book by Joyce Karnis, PT

What topics would you like me to cover?

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