Week Two: Embody
“Our sense of agency, how much we feel in control, is defined by our relationship with our bodies and its rhythms: our waking and sleeping and how we eat, sit, and walk define the contours of our days… You can be fully in charge of your own life only if you can acknowledge the reality of your body in all its visceral dimensions.”
Bessel Van der Kolk
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“The Wind, One Brilliant Day” by Antonio Machado
The wind, one brilliant day, called
to my soul with an odor of jasmine.
‘In return for the odor of my jasmine,
I’d like all the odor of your roses.’
‘I have no roses; all the flowers
in my garden are dead.’
‘Well then, I’ll take the withered petals
and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.’
the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:
‘What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?’
I think we can all identify with the plaintive cry at the end of this poem: what have I done with what has been entrusted to me?
Have I nurtured my self and my gifts? Have I been present?
The wonderful rejoinder to this lament is that presence is always available. Right here, right now, in this breath, and in this body, awareness can arise.
“You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.”
Mary Oliver
This week, we are connecting with the soft animal of our body, tuning into the sensations of being alive, of being in nature, of simply being. The more in tune we are with our body, the more we can listen to the signals it sends when we need to rest and take care of ourselves. We become more aware of our emotions, thoughts, and movements, and we live with greater presence.
So let’s get started!
Video: Embodiment
Video Highlights/Summary
For a culture that’s very obsessed with the body, we are quite disconnected from our bodily awareness! Anthropologists tell us that in the years since the Agricultural Revolution (c. 10,000 years ago), we have become less connected to the rhythms of the natural world, and our own natural cycles, as humanity’s relationship with nature became less characterized by cooperation and accommodation, and more marked by control and domination.
Connecting with the body helps us connect to our animal aliveness, something that doesn’t often get “activated” in our sedentary lifestyles today (which often leads us to seek other, less healthful forms of stimulation). Deepening our relationship with our body can also help us cultivate visceral feelings of safety and security.
Last week we learned a lot about the “fight or flight” mode of the body — this week we’re turning to “rest and digest” with soothing body- and nature-based practices.
Practices Demonstrated in the Video:
- Check in with your posture — is there extra “efforting”? Are you working with, or against, gravity?
- During moments of overwhelm, remember you are always supported by the “Two G’s” — gravity and the ground.
- “Wake up” the body through gentle tapping or touch.
- Find “islands of safety” in the body, in parts of the body not regulated by the vagus nerve (e.g., feet, hands).
- Yawning is a pleasurable experience that wakes up the body, and promotes breathing and muscle movement.
- Put little dots or stickers around the house in places you will see them throughout the day as reminders to “come home” — check in with how you are feeling (physically and emotionally) and ask yourself if there’s anything you need.
- Throughout the week, remember to “notice that.”
Comment below with any insights or reactions to the video. Do you think YOU have “Nature Deficit Disorder”?
I love the idea of leaving little dots everywhere! And it was so nice to hear you affirm that stress reduction techniques are often difficult once you’re already in full blown stress mode. When I’m in a state like that, I know I’m being irrational, but I don’t care. But if I can work on just calming myself physically, maybe the rationality will come.
What you said about anger and/or stress is something I’ve thought about often. Right after I raise my voice with my children, for example, I am left feeling low (and they’re left feeling hurt) and thinking about what I “should have done” and how could have better reacted.
I also love the idea of placing dots everywhere! i am going to use that technique with my own children and husband too! We all need to be reminded to check in and “notice that”. Thank you!!
I’m just getting to week two; I’ve been sick; maybe if I had been in tune w/ my body I would have realized how run down I was before my body shut down. I like the “notice that” and the dots to remind yourself to check in how you are feeling