Good Evening, God
A few weeks ago a dear friend told me I had to listen to Feelin’ Groovy by Simon and Garfunkel. I heard the lines “Slow down, you’re going too fast. You gotta make the moment last.” And realized this was sort of a Word from You, God. Because, I was going too fast.
But, then tonight I realized WHY I should slow down. Going fast tells my body that I am “under pressure” and to my body that signifies DANGER. That took me back to the Polyvagal Theory of Dr Porges. Apparently, our body cares a lot about feeling “Safe”. In fact, only our body can really tell if it feels safe or not. Our mind can assure our body all it wants. The body does its own assessment. Dr. Porges created the term neuroception to describe HOW the body knows.
So, it turns out that feeling SAFE is the foundation for releasing the body’s energy to heal. I knew about the importance of parasympathetic nervous system for healing. I just had never thought about the importance of my body feeling safe in order to turn that on. Even less so, had I ever linked rushing / going fast / trying to do too much — with my body feeling safe.
Actually, I have never given any thought at all to my body having her own criteria for Safe. Nor had I understood how important feeling safe is for healing. Now, that I know, I have a REASON for slowing down. That is important because all my life I have needed to understand WHY in order to do something consistently .
Now, I’m real clear, God. In order to heal, I need help to slow down. I am working on Centering Prayer and Mindfulness. I both cases the idea is to sink into NOW. Letting go of regrets of the past and fears of the future. And embracing THIS MOMENT as it is. But, a bit of help from You would be very much appreciated.
Meanwhile, how good to have help from our friends!
Story teller,
A Moment with God 
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