The journey of coming home to your body and your direct, felt, everyday experience of it has profound consequences. I've been working with individuals doing this work for a long time and I've seen such an incredible amount of transformation in that time. Most folks move through life in a slightly dissociated state. Whether we have personal experiences of trauma, secondary trauma through the experiences of dear ones, the stress of trying to survive capitalism, the automation of modern life, loneliness, grief, fear of the unknown, or any combination of strains that life puts on us -we often learn to survive the world by sealing ourselves off emotionally and physically in different ways. Getting through our days so that we can go to work, raise kids, pay bills, and take care of the thousand other things that need to get done is exhausting and dehumanizing. We set our course on autopilot and lose track of the spark of our creative embodiment. This is why so many of us are able to maintain creative practices in our youth that get pushed aside as we move deeper and deeper into the responsibilities of adulthood.
As we devote time and energy to receiving bodywork (and other embodiment practices) we often feel ourselves coming up for air. Our spirit self, mind self, and body self are able to find one another again and find a rhythm of living harmoniously together. We find ourselves reprioritizing joy and spontaneously living in more authentic ways. We may find ourselves saying no to things that we thought we were beholden to and saying yes to things we didn't think we were allowed. It's as if, in experiencing these moments of being held and witnessed, we allow ourselves the strength and momentum to honor our own inner sense of truth. We begin to trust our internal compass as we befriend the deepest parts of ourselves. The process of re-embodiment doesn't heal all of our wounds or return us to a childlike state of innocence. Instead, it invites us to stand solidly within the self that we are and the ones we are becoming. We approach our lives with passion and curiosity. Allowing us to sink into the process of our creativity and become fully present within the moments of our lives.
You don't have to be an artist, writer, or musician to cultivate creativity. It is the fire that lights us up for living. It's what allows us to sink deeply into all of the things our lives are made of. It's the spontaneity and passion we cultivate for our loves, our work, our children, our gardens, our bodies, our activism, and our lives. It's the playful and explorational quality of being alive for living. It's being brave enough to try something that might bring us joy. It's allowing ourselves to become rewired for beautiful living. It's what keeps us connected to the ones we love and what keeps us connected to our best selves.
Most people get bodywork because they are stressed and in pain. They desire an easy fix for these maladies so that they can continue on in the same manor that they were continuing on before the pain started. The reality is that pain and stress are signals that you may need to create some new patterns and practices in your life. Maybe you're working too hard. Maybe you're not moving your body enough or in the right ways. Maybe you're letting the weight of the world hang too heavily on you. Bodywork helps you create these changes in surprising and spontaneous ways. Imagining the possibility of real change opens you up to an experience of life that is not just slightly less painful or stressful but infused with color and laughter. It is not my intention to simply help my clients get out of pain but to help them recover their dance.
