I wanted to say some things about bellies. When we consider bellies we might think of food, pregnancy, wishing we could drop that last 5 or 10 lbs, maybe if we’re really hip we might think about the gut biome and digestion, or intuition, or sensuality.
The belly, from my point of view as a bodyworker and somatically oriented practitioner, is the very center of our body; where many emotions and body wisdom are housed. When I work with clients around healing trauma and finding safety in the body the belly is an important area we work with. Teaching clients to drop into sensations in the belly can help them reorient to their bodies as a safe place and they can start to learn to really trust their inner guidance regarding what is and isn‘t nourishing for them.
We look at the belly when asking questions about the ventral vagus nerve which helps us find resonance and safety with others and within community.
We look at the belly for balance, flow, and movement in the body. For how our fascial web orients around the viscera of the belly. We look at how things are moving and how structures within the belly are relating to each other. How the belly might be resisting movement or fluidity which affects the pelvis, shoulders, spine, etc. We look at how our orientation to gravity and the power we have to take up space and effectively move and do work is facilitated by the mass of organs, blood, and fascia within the belly.
We look at the belly as a focal point of discovery and transformation when we look at the physical and emotional body of clients and I encourage my clients to work with their own bellies by asking questions and listening to the answers, by massaging, by speaking lovingly to and about their bellies. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we have been taught to feel shame toward and a compulsion to whittle away this most powerful central chamber of our most sacred bodies. Within the belly lies vast mysteries of embodiment and wholeness. Love your belly and yourself.
