being human,  embodiment,  learning

Making the World More Embodied

When is the last time you felt your feet on the floor? Your butt on the seat? The tension in your shoulders? The spaciousness of your head? The quality of your heart? Embodiment, in it’s simplest form, points to these things––a felt sensation of the body. But it’s so much more.

I have been immersed in yoga studies for over twenty years now and while I still read yoga texts, I’ve moved much more deeply into the topic of embodiment, a very real outcome of yoga if practiced this way. (Sadly though, some yoga moves us away from our bodies, even into a place of objectifying our bodies instead of owning them, feeling them. I personally am not interested in this yoga.)

Embodiment at it’s core is about inhabiting the body and about celebrating the journey of living in a body. There is a lot of research and practice on the subject and it is growing in popularity, but at it’s core, for me, embodiment is about moving from my head/thinking/ego and dropping awareness into felt experience, into the body.

I am an every day learner and the things I read, study and listen to are varied. While I’m moving more toward physical books, I still read and research often via the internet. For this reason, it occurred to me that a lot of my writing this year should be focused on the things I’m learning, (1) as a record for me and (2) as a way to share resources with you.

And so, today I’d like to share a podcast I’ve followed for many years now called Liberated Being. Brooke Thomas, the podcast founder, is a deep source of information. She also interviews a wide variety of people who are experts on the topic of embodiment. This particular episode offers what she calls ‘homeplay,’ a practical application of embodiment practice. If you’re new to the idea and practice, it’s a great place to start. Click on the image below to listen (and check out other episodes as you have time).

I’d love to know your thoughts and experience. Please leave a comment below for all of us, and as Brooke says, “thanks for making the world a more embodied place.” I know I’m sure trying to do so.

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash