001 What’s the deal with embodiment?

Getting on the Same Page

The word embodiment is tossed around a lot these days, particularly in the worlds of spirituality and wellness. You’ve probably heard phrases like “Be in your body” “Feel into your body” or “What is your body telling/asking you?”

Which is all great...if you know what embodiment means. Unfortunately, despite all the hype, it’s really hard to find a useful explanation of embodiment and, by extension, why it’s such a big deal.

To be fair, it's a huuuuge topic and the best explanation is one that caters to the experience and awareness of the person who’s asking. It’s like spirituality as a whole. There are the TRUTHS, which can take a lifetime or more to fully comprehend, and there are intermediate truths that move us forward but ultimately fall away as we mature beyond them.

On top of that, there's a lack of truly embodied people in the West. That means there aren’t many people who can effectively teach it. And for those who are trying to learn, it’s not just a matter of starting from scratch. That’s because, for millennia, Western civilization has been downright hostile to embodiment and its implications for human consciousness. I’ll talk more about that in the coming weeks.

For now, let’s get on the same page with a beginning definition of embodiment:

The ability to experience and influence physical, emotional, and cognitive states, including the subconscious, through the perception of subtle physical sensations throughout the body.

If you’re thinking “Huh?”, you’re probably not alone. For most people, the above definition fits somewhere between unlikely and utterly meaningless. And, in a way, that’s my point.

Embodiment is aboutfeeling, which means understanding develops through feeling. You can certainly learn through conversation or reading but, in order to really know, you need to experience it. And, because so few of us have ever had the experience (or been told such an experience is possible), it can be hard to imagine what it’s actually like.

That’s ok. Each week I’ll be sharing stories, ideas, and practices that will help you understand and experience embodiment. I’ll talk about how it works, why it’s important, and the many many ways it can improve your physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being.

You’ll learn about my personal healing journey and how I’ve recovered from an impossibly long list of physical and emotional health problems, simply by tapping into the intelligence of my body (plus lots of therapy).

I’ll talk about my work: Helping others heal and develop embodiment through energy work, somatic meditation, and spiritual guidance. I will also highlight the work of others in the fields of embodiment, spirituality/meditation, mental health, and progressive physical medicine.

For now, check out some of the links below if you’d like to get to know me a little better and I’ll be back next week.

Warmly,
David

Links

Our Nature Podcast Ep. 44 “Your Body as Nature” We discuss my work as a somatic energy healer and why embodiment is essential for our relationship with the natural world

Our Nature Podcast Ep. 19 “Going All In” I share about my personal healing journey, the role nature played, and my previous life as a homesteader in rural Maine

About David A brief account of my personal healing journey and how it evolved into my work as a somatic energy healer, meditation teacher, and spiritual guide