20. God’s Presence and Your Body
How does your body react to God’s presence? That might seem like an odd question, but I think our visceral reaction to God is a foundational aspect of the spiritual life that is often ignored. After sinning, Adam and Eve hid from God in fear, yet God tells us throughout the Scripture, “do not be afraid.”
Video Version
Audio Version
Timestamps
2:00 - Trusting in God
4:00 - What truth does your body believe?
7:45 - The Autonomic Nervous System
9:00 - Changing your reaction to God
16:00 - How to become attuned to your body
23:00 - The Practice of the Presence of God
Notes
“ Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, 397 - http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p7.htm
God says some version of “Do not be afraid” over 100 times in the Bible - https://www.reference.com/world-view/many-times-bible-say-fear-afraid-684d8fe66e524a8b
“you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8: 32 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/8
“In our brokenness, sometimes the truth that we understand with our mind and the truth that we experience with our bodies can be in contradiction.”
“The LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you? He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.’” Genesis 3: 9 - 10 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3
“The Tiger in your Inbox” | Physically Spiritual 12 - https://www.becominggift.com/post/tiger
“The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9: 10 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/proverbs/9
Steps to Healing
Pray and ask for healing.
Build a capacity to know the Truth: Physically and Spiritually.
Develop a capacity to find safety in the present.
For a summary of the different ways God heals us listen to “Lie 2” in “Three Lies About Growth” | Physically Spiritual 4 - https://www.becominggift.com/post/3-lies
The Discernment of Spirits - https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/making-good-decisions/discernment-of-spirits/
Oura Ring - https://ouraring.com/
For a summary of the science of safety and more exercises for finding safety see Rebekkah LaDyne, The Mind Body Stress Reset. - https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Body-Stress-Reset-Practices-Well-Being/dp/1684034272
The Practice of the Presence of God - https://ccel.org/ccel/lawrence/practice/practice
"'He prays very poorly who prays only when he is on his knees.' For the degree of contact with Christ during meditation is proportionate to the amount of contact we maintain with him throughout the day." Rev. Father Peter Thomas Rohrbach, O.C.D.,Conversation with Christ, p. 122 - https://www.tanbooks.com/conversation-with-christ-the-teachings-of-st-teresa-of-avila-about-personal-prayer-3861.html
Read more about Becoming Gift at https://www.becominggift.com/post/becoming-gift
Get support applying the ideas from this podcast at https://www.becominggift.com/coach
