Spirituality in the Body by Sarah Dyer
By Sarah Dyer
Hi All. Sarah Dyer here. The one who is sometimes up playing piano and singing, if you don't know me. I was part of Imago's Formation Community 2.0 way back when, circa 2014-2016, and going to share a bit of how that has helped create daily rhythms and practices in my faith journey.
During that time,e I was transitioning from orthopedic PT residency into full-time practice as a physical therapist, preparing for our wedding (8/1/2015), and then pregnancy and the birth of our son A (7/13/2016), who just hit double digits this month. Yes, if you do the math, we were quick to get a sibling for Lilly (now 14 years old), who had come into my life at 6 months old when I first met my partner, Lee, in 2012.
The formation community retreats were a safe haven for me and a much-needed slowdown during these transitional life phases. I, along with about 10 others, attended 48-hour retreats every 3 months at the beautiful Chiara retreat center in Springfield, IL. Unfortunately, that location has changed, but the opportunity to retreat in community is still available to any of you who feel drawn to go a little deeper with yourself and God. I will be forever grateful to my additional small group of 4, who created space to reflect and respond with one another following a mostly silent, inward retreat.
Below are the 8 Spiritual Practices we tapped into over the 2 years:
1) Silence and Solitude
2) Spirituality in the Body
3) Prayer
4) Scripture
5) Self-Examination
6) The Art of Discernment
7) For the Sake of Others
8) Rhythm and Rule of Life
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to share a few of the ways I experience God's wonder and presence, focusing on Spirituality in the Body. Let's go way back to, say, Kindergarten, when we each learned about the 5 senses. Quiz time- what are the 5 senses?? (Hint: Answers below)
A few questions I encourage you to engage with first:
How have we dulled our senses?
For me, this is getting stuck up in my mind and playing endless loops. It also looks like pushing my body to extremes through physical fitness (which led to a full-body shutdown about 2 years ago). In the past, alcohol. In the present, Netflix binging or scarfing down a meal because "I don't have time to enjoy it.”
How has your body protectively shut out enjoyable sensory experiences?
This is a sensitive topic and may require additional support, like counseling, but I'll ask about it. Having been in 2 car accidents and having prior experiences where I was unable to speak up about consent and intimacy, my body can have reflexive pulling away or "Don't touch me!" responses from otherwise non-harmful sensory input. I am also more sensitive to loud/busy environments and have done a lot of work and practices to regulate my nervous system when it wants to go into fight/flight or freeze mode as a protective response.
Taking your own experiences and answers into account, I am going to gently encourage a few ways to engage with these amazing bodies and vessels that our souls inhabit in this life. One of the foundational Directives at Imago is the belief that "Everything is Spiritual". While prior teachings and philosophies may separate mind and body, Jesus came to fully experience human life- body and all. So, if you're up for the challenge, tune in and reconnect with your body and senses in the next few days, weeks, or months. Spiritual practices are that, PRACTICES. It takes repetition, trying on and discarding others, to learn which rhythms bring you home to self and God.
Next week I’ll share an approach to this kind of connection, but for this week really think through the questions above and prepare yourself to fully engage in that routine. More to come!