Every week, Russell Woods, our Massage Therapist and Spiritual Martial Arts Instructor at Adawehi, records a YouTube video to help us put the heart energy we are meditating on that week into a physical expression. This a great gift in that it helps to anchor that energy in us as a body memory.

I am all too familiar how a painful body memory can haunt you for a long time. I was in a car accident that pretty much caused damage to every part of my body. I had seven specialists tell me I would never walk or work again. I did recover, and I have walked and worked for many years since the accident. However, the body memory did not heal as quickly as the physical problems.

For several years after the accident, I could not tolerate being in a car during a rainstorm since that is when the accident occurred. It was obvious that my body remembered the trauma long after my mind and emotions had come to peace with it. That experience made we aware of the power of body memories. Because I prefer positive body memories, I now make an effort to ensure that good messages get delivered to not only my mind and emotions, but to my body as well.

We so value our mental/emotional responses that we frequently forget that our physical bodies also have a voice. When we forget the importance of sending positive physical messages to our body, we end up giving it a diet of negativity. For instance, when you fail to stretch before working out, your muscles will complain. Or if you are careless and cut your finger, you will feel pain. These are negative memories that make us careful in the future when engaging in these activities.

However, positive messages can be delivered just as easily. In fact, every time you focus on a heart energy, your mind and emotions respond. But it takes physical action for your body to be imprinted. My earlier examples were about negative imprinting. But why not ensure that you have more than negative body memories? It only takes a small amount of time, to make your mind, emotions, and body offer a unified support to your heart. For example, you might stomp your feet when you are grounding strength or punch the air when you are physically imprinting the heart energy of power. A quick, intentional action can ensure that your physical body is not left out.