There is a concept in the wellness space called embodiment. It’s the act of being in the body and acknowledging what it has to tell us. Embodiment is a type of mindfulness where the focus is on sensation and visceral experience rather than on thought and the more ephemeral stories and habits we find there. The two mind and body work together, offering the capacity through which we can better love ourselves.
The relationships to our bodies is often a complex one because rather than be taught to see the body as a source of wisdom in its own right, we are taught to see the body as a battlefield. For example, we are taught to trust others instead of ourselves by striving for often unattainable aesthetics of “health” or dismissing out emotions for the sake of “being happy.”
We are not taught (although this is changing) to hold space for the darkest parts of ourselves or how to be uncomfortable which is a prerequisite for growth and genuine healing. Instead, we have learned to disconnect from the body, displacing our attention. Instead of leaning into the present moment and what lies there, we hover around it looking towards the future or the past for answers.
All of this is to say we forget to breathe.
When we forget to breathe we are somewhere else.
The wisdom of the body lies between the inhale and the exhale where you can focus your attention on what you are experiencing. This might be surface level, hot or cold, tight or relaxed, or it might move into deeper layers where the body thirsts and craves, or deeper still where the body remembers.
When we focus our attention on the body we can hear what it has to say. Breathing into that space of presence there is less striving, less avoiding and less disconnect. You are more fully present to the tangible aspects of yourself — what you are physically wanting and needing and feeling.
Tuning into the body, allows you to sink beneath all of the external and mental noise to a place of love.
When we come back home to the body, we come back home to the HUMAN being. We come back to the Earth which holds us here in physical form. We come back to sensation and texture and breath. Things that are real. Things that are true. This is where love lies waiting for us.
