Who’s got your back?

We spend so many hours pouring ourselves into our screens each day, leaning forward energetically and often physically, as we scan; read; attend webinars and meetings and connect with our loved ones. Yet, we forget to balance ourselves—to remember we have a back body. Now, more than ever, we need to lean into what’s behind us. 

Right now, as you’re reading, lean back just a little and take a breath, feeling into the space behind you. Use your imagination, if you have to, and feel there’s some support there, maybe a gigantic, soft and welcoming cushion or a giant angel (whatever tickles your fancy). If you’re lying down, feel into the form and texture that’s holding you up. By taking your focus away from what’s in front of you, from the future and the ten thousand uncertainties that lie ahead, you can take refuge in what stands behind or lies beneath you. 

The phrase, “They’ve got my back” says a lot: they’re behind me; I am safe; I have their support and respect. This means a lot—we receive comfort at our backs. The part of us that carries us, literally and metaphorically, is phenomenal, yet we pay it no heed, often ignorant of how we can make the most of this resource. 

Several years ago, at a dance training during partner work, we had to walk behind each other, taking it in turns to really feel the focused, physical presence of another at our back. It was actually enlightening as the cells across and down the whole of my back body opened, allowing the sense of another ‘in’ as they offered me their attention and regard. In that moment, a whole new aspect of my being awoke; both as sensor and receiver.

Leaning against a wall or better, a tree or a person offers a taste of the resources available at our back. To open and to yield as we lean back opens the way to trusting and connecting—fine antidotes to our fear-fuelled world—and at the very least offers some momentary respite from being ‘on’ all the time. After practising waking up our back body with something real (tree, wall, person), we can then learn to lean back into what’s not there—not in tangible terms, but energetically. 

There’s a mountain of succour to be sensed into, if we dare. 

Go on, give it a go! You’ve got your back.

(Photo by Photo by Hadis Safari on Unsplash)