Stage Twelve - Community

With the consciousness that we commune with larger rhythms that are greater than ourselves, we enter Stage Twelve—the stage of healing known as Community. In Stage Twelve, we realize we are no longer passive observers. We find that healing is associated with our active participation in life. This includes our internal community, comprising the myriad aspects of the bodymind, as well as our ongoing communion with our wounds, joys, and sorrows.

The Meaning Of Community

The term “community” comes from the Latin communis, meaning “common.” The words communication, communal, communion, and community imply sharing, finding common ground, and experiencing relationship with ourselves and others. The state of community exists first in consciousness; it need not apply to a physical location, but is rather a way of being.

Our primary community is that of our bodymind. Community may also include our primary relationship with another person. We may even have a community based on shared interests with others, such as our house of worship, school, food co-op, environmental organization, condominium complex, women’s or men’s center, or professional society. The concept of community is also often associated with a “home base” of friendship, protection, and harmony.

Participation With The Natural World

What is understood and experienced as we journey through our healing process is that we are always connected to the Source. In reality, it is only our inability to perceive this connection that creates our suffering to begin with. It is the illusion that we are separate and disconnected from all that we are really connected to, especially our union with the creative force of the universe. In Community, we find the places within ourselves where we have lost our participation. To the degree that we do not participate with ourselves as a community, we are unable to participate in the world around us. We need to awaken from our sleep so our reality can once again be transformed through our participation in the world.

Sharing Our Wounds

In Stage Twelve, we come to true community when we have healed enough to share our gifts, including the wisdom and understanding gained through our healing journey. It is also a stage in which we continue the process of learning and discovering through interaction with others. We can now draw on the energy, the insights, and the love we experienced in the Ascent stage and manifest them into our daily lives.

Leadership And Consensus

The inner community of our bodymind—including every living cell—is the kind of leadership and consensus within our own bodies that is especially evident in the lives of athletes. As peak performers, they are striving for community within their bodies, for leadership and consensus so that all their body parts will work together. In this community, the intent of each part is to express its self-identity and serve its function through its unique gifts for the benefit of the whole community called the bodymind. Like athletes, we cannot successfully participate in Stage Twelve unless we have developed our sense of self and experienced the uniqueness of who we are.

Divergent Energies

Stage Twelve Exercise

Stand with your feet a comfortable distance apart with your arms at your sides. Bend forward, hands between your legs with palms toward the ground and fingertips barely touching the ground. Breathe in through your nose. Bring your arms to your upper thighs as you straighten up. Raise your arms toward your head and begin to exhale as you reach your heart center. As you move your hands up with the palms toward the ceiling, arch your back, move your head back slightly and look up. Now exhale slowly through your mouth with a vowel sound, like “Ahhh” or “Ohhh.” As your hands reach upwards, connect to the energy of the “stars.”

Bring your hands from the top of your head down over your face washing your face in the “star” energy. Bring your hands down your body toward your heart. When you reach the heart center, inhale again. As you inhale, continue moving your hands down to your feet so that you are again in a position to take a breath in. It is like letting water fall over your body; you are cleansing yourself in the waterfall of light and spirit. Exhale and repeat the exercise.

As you bring your hands toward the ground, you are honoring the Earth energy and breathing in the substance of the Earth. As you raise your body, you are moving up and breathing out to the heavens. You then wash yourself with the perfection of your love and spirit and bring it back to the Earth again. Visualize where you draw your circle of interconnectedness, responsibility, and experience. Bless your circle and all who are within it.

There’s Magic In A Healthy Spine!