.png)
This week one of my patients shared, “I’m feeling really unbalanced and unwell. All this stress is manifesting in my body and emotions right now. I thought I had healed from the chronic pain, but it’s back!”
Wow. So many people had expressed a similar experience to me in these difficult days.
She then said rhetorically, “But it’s because of the war. It is what it is. What can I do about it?”
It’s true.
Externally, there is a war. We are all experiencing it.
The experience is painful and at times overwhelming.
I responded, “It’s totally normal that your thoughts, emotions, and body would be spinning right now, sometimes out of control. But remember, your neshama, your inner soul, is rooted in stillness. The inner soul is joyous and it is silent compared to our busy waking human experience. The inner soul lives in place of stillness that is held by G-d, the source of life.
“But wait. I thought my soul was my kishkes. My thoughts, feelings, and gut responses to life?” she said.
I smiled and said, “You’re right.
Your kishkes are an aspect of your soul.
And you have layers within your soul.
Your being has aspects that are more emotional and physical.
And aspects that are more spiritual and intellectual.”
Your “G-dly soul,” your neshama, exists in the doorway between you and G-d.
The neshama flows into your ruach (the emotional soul) and your nefesh (the bodily soul), which is bound to your body (guf).
The layers of your soul are interpenetrating and unified, but distinct.
Our sages guide us to say each morning, “Elokai neshama shenatatah bi, tehorah hi” - the neshama (inner G-dly soul) that you’ve placed in me is pure.
What do they mean by “pure”?
“Pure” means unaffected by the turbulent experience of life. The neshama is like a blueprint of you; present, past, and future. It’s not tethered to the realities of living, but stays attached to the experience of the Divine. The neshama is beingness. It exists in the light. Like the blueprint helps the builder build a beautiful home, so too, your neshama helps you build your beautiful, soulful, meaningful life.
Your neshama constantly nourishes and informs…
Your ruach,
Your nefesh,
Your guf,
Your family,
The people around you,
Your community,
Your country,
The whole world,
Your neshama chose to come into the world when you were born and meet all the experiences of your life, both easy and challenging.
And it knows exactly what you need. It’s behind your awareness, rooting for you, wanting to support you if you will listen to its delicate whisper.
It is a bridge to the ultimate source of healing.
I invite you to become aware of this dynamic.
The sages understood this. They instituted the morning prayers, so that after sleep, we connect with this resourceful inner place of truth. And then we come back, perhaps inspired and a bit more clear, to meet the world and its complexity.
We can utilize simple practices to reconnect to the light and wisdom of the neshama.
One is to just stop and direct your attention inward and slowly say “Elokai neshama sh’natatah bi, tehorah hi” and repeating it as a mantra.
“G-d, I know that the soul you gave me is connected to safe, holy, and still place of inspiration and clarity.”
Then close your eyes; Drop the desire to make anything happen.
You don’t need to try to relax.
Just receive the sensations of your breathing. As if you were calmly receiving the information from a close friend.
Remember that creation is happening at every moment.
Realize that every breath you take is from G-d.
We have an opportunity to feel grateful for that.
God is breathing you.
Giving you vitality with each inhalation.
Removing waste products with each exhalation.
G-dliness is flowing into you and through you with each breath.
Allow yourself to rest into that knowing.
There is nothing you have to do to get to that place. You are already there.
Reflect on the fact that you are held.
That you are loved by God, always, what was, is, and will be.
I invite you to listen and participate in this meditation I have prepared on how to find stillness in this challenging moment.
Andrew David Shiller, MD is a medical doctor who loves helping people grow and heal despite difficult circumstances. For more than 20 years, he has been integrating the best of conventional medicine and natural healing to help people heal chronic pain or illness, and live their highest level of well-being and purpose.
Dr. Shiller provides integrative medicine consultations for people with pain and chronic illness, and wellness coaching for those who want to live their soul’s highest purpose. He sees people in-person in Ramat Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, and via telemedicine in NY, NJ, VA, FL, and CT. You can get more information about consultations at www.drshiller.com/consult. Or peruse his blog at www.drshiller.com/blog.
留言