Sensitivity

The other morning I was sitting by the lake. I was struck by the exquisite quiet and stillness in the air; there was no wind to detect, the stillness was profound. My skin couldn’t feel any hint of a breeze, the trees were still as could be. However, the water was gently rippling, ever so slowly toward the shore with echoes of motion reflecting back toward the middle of the lake. Water is the most sensitive element in nature. Our bodies are made primarily of water. A certain kind of biological water. Current scientific research into the nature of biological water, headed up by Gerald Pollack of the University of Washington, reveals a “fourth phase of water”. Beyond solid, liquid and gas, Pollack understands the biological water in our bodies to behave like a “gel”, more than the other three phases.

Why are we made of this kind of water? To transmit information and allow super sensitivity to the environment. We have an even more suitable substance than the lake water, the ocean, to transmit and perceive. We have to be sensitive to our environment for so many reasons, survival being the primary. When people complain of others being “too sensitive”, it may be because of a misunderstanding. Each of has a level of acute sensitivity to the environment that serves to keep us alive and well in the world. Some of us must learn consciously how to handle our sensitive instrument and contain our experiences such that we improve our quality of life. Others of us have blocked out much of this information. If I was more in touch with my body that morning, perhaps I would have felt the subtlety of the air current, as did the lake water.

Sensitivity is a gift. It can feel like a curse. Learning to work with our body’s experience, pay internal attention in new ways, can allow a greater sense of ease, self and self-efficacy and may begin to transform how we relate to our emotional and psychological life.