Let me just start off by saying, I love this shit. This is not the shit you let go. This is the shit you breathe in. Deeply. This is the shit you let resonate and surrender to. This is the shit of life. Okay, you’re right, the stuff of life sounds better. I’ll stick with that. Either way, embodiment is something I want for myself, for you and every living being. I am about it.

What is embodiment? What does it mean? Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines embodiment as “embodiment of something: a person or thing that represents or is a typical example of an idea or a quality.” So a buddhist monk could embody the teachings of buddhism. That doesn’t quite seem to encompass it for me. As I was searching for definitions from a more healing perspective I found this from Ann Saffi Biasetti.

“Embodiment can be simply defined as living life informed through the sense experience of the body.”

Rather than a more technical definition of embodiment as a noun, I will explore embodiment as a verb, a way of being. A way of living. It is about the somatic experience, the experience of being a body in this world. I listened to a podcast recently and they made the distinction that we are not a mind with a body, but rather a body with a mind. That resonated with me.

On this same podcast, We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, which I LOVE, she interviewed Dr. Hilary McBride and I have been embracing these thoughts and ideas ever since. I am no expert in this. I highly encourage you to listen to this podcast or explore some of Dr. McBride’s work. It’s incredible. This enriching conversation about embodiment left me feeling inspired, creative and eager to learn more as well as put into practice some of what I was hearing. My intention is to share some of my own thoughts and interpretations of what it means to be embodied.

As a therapist I incorporate a lot of somatic work into my practice. I believe in order to connect, to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and to process trauma and experiences, we must learn to be still and bring awareness to what is happening in our body. I utilize various strategies and approaches to support a somatic experience and to foster this connection with ourselves. I believe this to be crucial in the therapeutic process. So this isn’t all brand new to me. AND, as a therapist I spend a LOT of time in my head. In most of my life, really. Although I believe the mind to be beautiful and a place I feel very comfortable being, the experience of being in my body is so powerful and one that I value more than I ever have.

Our body is where we experience the world. It is where we experience love and joy. Where we experience trauma and pain. When I’m floating in a beautiful alpine lake, it is in my body that I get to experience the felt sensation of calm and connectedness. It is in my body that I got to experience the empowering, primal and wild journey of bringing a human into this world. Which makes me think of empowerment, of peace, of strength. If I look back on times in my life where I felt those emotions and sensations, it always comes with a bodily experience first.

As a therapist who does a lot of work around trauma, I think it is important to state that it does not always feel safe to be in our bodies. Our bodies store trauma and our lived experiences. It is where we feel illness and pain. Our bodies remember. When we experience trauma, we experience it in our body. Our mind, being the beautiful, healing, problem solving mechanism that it is, teaches us ways to escape our bodies. We dissociate. We distract. We choose to live in our minds, outside of our bodies, because it’s safer. Or at the time it was safer. Now it is only perceived as safer. I have so much compassion and love for all of us in this regard. It’s hard to be in our bodies. For real. How can we hold gratitude and appreciation for our mind’s ability to take care of us, to give us the break we need? And how do we also allow the mind to rest and create space for our bodies?

At this stage in my healing, I’m holding all parts of me in so much love, even the parts that taught me to disregard my body, my emotions and my sensations. I’m leading with love and gratitude. Thank you mind, for giving me respite from the overwhelming experience of being in my body. And I am safe now. I don’t need to distract myself anymore. I don’t need to escape my body. I want to be in my body. I need to be in my body.

Embodiment to me, means allowing myself to experience the world around me, fully. It means honoring my experiences. Making space for my emotions. Allowing whatever is happening in my body to be true. It means rejecting shame and embracing compassion. It means self love. It means sinking into my body more. Observing the beauty around me more. Being present and at peace. It means self empowerment. It means connection.

So how do I welcome embodiment? How do I create an embodied sense of being? How do I practice embodiment? And ultimately how do I fully empower myself to just be? For me, I am in my head a lot, I experience anxiousness and often feel rushed or onto the next thing. It’s important for me to create stillness, to slow down. I can do this by creating intentional moments to connect. I can meditate. I can do yoga. I can put my phone away. I can go for a hike. I can sit by a flowing river, noticing the water gracefully rolling over the rocks below, I can bring my awareness to my senses; what do I smell, hear, feel, see, taste, etc.? If I notice tension in my body, I can move my body. I can dance in my kitchen. I can allow myself to experience and engage in my toddler’s pretend play. I think there are so many small and big ways we can become embodied, or even bring our attention to the idea of becoming embodied.

Something I have realized and continue to realize is how much remaining connected to my body in any given situation fosters self love, empowerment and compassion. It allows me to skip the shame and frustration and negative self talk. It allows me to give myself permission to just be. To tie it into the work I’m doing personally in relationships, I have been slowly starting to honor my experience within my relationships. How do I feel during our interactions? What is happening in my body? Am I feeling angry or frustrated? Am I making myself physically small in their presence? Am I left feeling confused after an interaction? Am I shaming myself? I’m slowly learning my body has all the answers. My mind desperately wants to figure them all out, and It’s my body that holds my truth. If I don’t feel good, I trust that.

My supervisor recently told me I have super powers because of my experiences. If I am left feeling “icky” after an interaction, that is my body communicating to me that something wasn’t right. That my boundaries were being pushed. That I was being disrespected. That I was being taken advantage of. That I am feeling similarly that I have in the past. That my codependent and people pleasing tendencies were triggered. I am loving this new reframe. I’m slowly learning to trust myself (and my super powers) and navigate my relationships from a more embodied, empowered way.

Like I said, this is the stuff of life. I am just beginning to choose myself, to embody ME and I have so much more to say on this. So stay tuned, but for now, what does embodiment mean to you? Did I provoke additional thought or self reflection? Do you want to create embodiment for yourself? Do you feel empowered? What is keeping you from embodiment? How has your mind helped you escape your body? And what were you escaping? All things I’m constantly asking myself.

Be sweet to yourself,

Holly