I am thinking of the body: how for centuries the body was intimately tied to colonial and religious concepts around sin, filth, disgust, and shame made into visceral, conjoined burden, particularly the bodies of women and non white people – unrooting and alienating people from their very selves.
(I am thinking) about the journey of body reclamation; how all bodies are good bodies – incredible and worthy in any and all ability and presentation by way of its sacredness alone. How body is home to presence and being (bodymindspirit), not needing escape but full occupancy.
(I am thinking )of this pandemic. Of the griefs, changes, and challenges – personal and collective, simplistic and revolutionary. How our bodies participated in and stored the griefs and ancestral memory (racialized trauma); how our bodies also inspired us and mobilized us for self-care and community care, how our bodies, at least so far, have survived the pandemic.
How do you FEEL in your body? What has your body accomplished for you? How does it bring you Joy? How do you praise it?
The body that got you through a pandemic
Doing its best as your forever companion, keeping you vital and resilient.
Your cells and blood vessels, organs and bone, pulsating and pranic,
In enduring service of you.
Consider that the body is keeper of memory , stored somatically, as restriction or flourishing…….. How will this pandemic be remembered in your body? What ancestral memories, collective and familial, are etched and passed in bone?
Framing and mindset matter – Thoughts and memory are like seeds, in that what you water, grows. Most people fixate on the problems (ex. lose weight) rather than what is going right or well. Have you taken time to praise the body, creating and cultivating beatitudes and honor, not just derision and learned shame?
Here is my song of body praise:
I’m in gratitude for my embodiment
My body keeps me alive
a survivor
My body allows me to care and serve within my circle of family and community
My body gifts me with movement to manage and shed stress
My body is alchemist –
transmuting nourishment to function, memory to release
My body provides pleasure for that objective alone
Joy/Delight/Reverence/Rapture/Awe
My body is my companion and my belonging
My body is both telluric and celestial, grounded and infinite
My body is wholly and holy complete in this moment
What would you praise and bless in the body?
Recommended Resources:
Want to read more about body wisdom and BoPo inspiration? The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van Der Kolk, The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor, Hunger by Roxane Gay, Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein, My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem, In the Body of the World by Eve Ensler, Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber, Women that Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and The Joyous Body by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
You can also refer to past blogs of mine here, ex.:
https://ignitewell-being.com/embodiment-as-practice-of-joy-and-reconciliation/
https://ignitewell-being.com/radical-self-love-on-body-diversity/
And poems of mine:
https://ignitewell-being.com/tattoos/
https://ignitewell-being.com/reimagining-the-world-with-your-tongue/
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Written by Dr. Allison Mitch, PT (DPT), RYT, reiki master, shamanic practitioner. All written material by Allison is copyright protected and based on her own body wisdom – the reader is responsible for theirs.
For questions or collaboration, please email: wildwomaninthesuburbs@gmail.com
Image is from Pexels by 3Motional Studio specifically chosen to honor and represent POC. Thank you 3Motional Studio for the stunning picture.