Feeling What You Can't See

In 1905, a patient sat with both arms in one bucket of salt water and a leg in another so a machine across town could record the heart's electricity for the first time. That electricity had been there in every person who ever lived. No one had been able to see it.

Invisible has never meant unreal. It has only meant "not measured yet." And many of us have been taught to ignore what we feel because it doesn't show up on a scan.

I believe there is more to the body than we can see, woven all the way through the physical. Here's how to start paying attention to that unseen layer in your own life, with open hands and clear eyes.

Step 1: Feel it for yourself

Rub your palms together briskly for about ten seconds. Then slowly bring them apart a few inches and hold them facing each other. Close your eyes.

What do you notice? Warmth? Tingling? A sense of something between your hands? Move them slowly closer, then a little farther apart.

You don't have to name it or prove it. Just let yourself notice. Noticing is where trust in your own experience begins.

Step 2: Notice how places and people leave you

For the next week, pay attention to how you feel in your body when you walk into a room, spend time with someone, or leave a place. Jot it down in a few words:

Where I was, or who I was with.

How my body felt: lighter, heavier, tight, open, tired, calm.

Many of us already know this without saying it. One friend leaves us lighter. One office leaves our shoulders up by our ears. One walk in the woods settles us like nothing else. Writing it down turns a vague feeling into information you can use.

Step 3: Map where your body holds on

When we're hurt, a fall, an accident, a surgery, a hard season of grief, the body sometimes holds onto it. In craniosacral therapy, we talk about a distortion in the energy field that pulls the fascia, the web that wraps every muscle and organ, out of its natural shape. Over time, that held place can restrict the body and lead to pain and other symptoms.

Take a few minutes and make a simple list:

Old injuries: falls, accidents, broken bones, surgeries.

Hard seasons: losses, shocks, long stretches of stress.

Where in your body you still feel tightness, ache or numbness today.

Then look for connections. Does today's stiff neck sit near an old injury? Did a pain begin during a hard season? Bring this list to your practitioner. It can point to where the body is still holding on.

Step 4: Use the "Is it true?" filter

Being open to the unseen doesn't mean believing everything. Some of what's out there is nonsense, and some of it is expensive. Before you buy a product, a program or an idea, ask:

Who is telling me this, and what do they gain if I believe it?

What does it actually do? What would I expect to notice?

Can I see a pattern in my own body over time?

Does it help, or does it harm?

Does it line up with what I know of God and of goodness?

Open hands. Clear eyes. The unseen is exactly where we need discernment most.

Step 5: Give it time and gentleness

The body doesn't let go on command. Held places tend to release when they're met with patience, safety and gentle care. Treat yourself the way you'd treat someone you love who's been through a lot. Slow down. Breathe. Let your body set the pace.

A practice for today

Before bed tonight, do the palms practice from Step 1. As you hold your hands apart, say a quiet thank you to the God who made every part of you, the seen and the unseen.

Words to Carry

-Invisible does not mean unreal.

-I trust what I feel, and I test it with care.

-My body can let go when it feels safe.

-I am made of more than I can see.

-Open hands, clear eyes.

Next time, we look at a body that heals.

With you every step of the way,

Dr. Jocelyn

References

Goodrich, J. (2021, January 5). Forget electrodes, the first EKG machine used buckets of saline solution and telephone wire. IEEE Spectrum. https://spectrum.ieee.org/forget-electrodes-the-first-ekg-machine-used-buckets-of-saline-solution-and-telephone-wire