Emotional body literacy is rare.

The ability to attend to your emotional body inner wisdom consistently and authentically takes courage, commitment, presence and ongoing practice. But the results are profound.

Showing up radically for yourself—navigating the often choppy and violent inner waters—is vulnerable territory.

The emotional body is as wild and untamed as the divine feminine.

She is your ever expanding self. She often forces you to look at her even though you’d rather not. Most people are resisting her—which means they are also missing her wisdom, intelligence and gifts.

As you courageously move closer to your emotional body, you gain access to a fuller range of human experience.

Deepening emotional body intelligence increases your capacity to feel, receive, get needs met and therefore, be more nourished.

I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone has the same basic need—deeper nourishment.

To be nourished means that you feel safe, comforted and supported. It means that you have moved beyond survival. It means that you are receiving on some level—you are not in resistance or avoidance.

Nourishment is a powerful resource, it is essentially, life.

When you are able to say yes to nourishment, it means you are also saying yes to life.

Nourishment is a tool of resiliency and inner stability and an important marker for emotional body intelligence.

Inner tracking is the first step in honoring what is arriving within.

It can open the door of loving kindness—for yourself and others. It can help you show up for yourself in a non-judgmental, compassionate way. When you can show up for yourself this way, you can start showing up for others in this way too.

Deepen your relationship with nourishment with this creative ritual:  

1) Using cray-pas, paints or pencils, create an image of your nourishment. What does nourishment feel like for you? Create an image that expresses this feeling using colors, textures and shapes. Allow yourself at least 20 minutes to create this nourishment image. Title your image.

2) Use your image to inspire a movement exploration. Let your body move in response to your nourishment image with an intention of “moving with your feelings of nourishment.” What sensations emerge for you during your dance? What awareness? Allow 5 to 10 minutes for this movement exploration. I encourage you to extend this time frame as you explore this process.

3) Harvesting. In your journal answer these questions:

I am, I want, I need, I sense, I feel, I imagine.

What deeply nourishes me? What no longer nourishes me?
Where do I feel support in my life? Where do I need more support?
What am I opening to? What am I closing to?

Please join me for a Bhakti centered grief practice. I’ll be sharing potent resources in the coming weeks to support your spiritual and emotional body awakening.   

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Author: Saraswati J.

Image: flickr/Simone Ramella

Editor: Ashleigh Hitchcock