Whose Body, Whose Mind

Embodiment is about authenticity. Authenticity is about embodiment. Silence. Deep listening. Observation. Feeling. A true attunement of body and mind. 

My body is an antenna, taking in everything around me and infusing my cells with information that comes in the form of feeling, intuition. When I am still, my brain can tune-in to what my body has already captured. The two behave like a neural synapse, launching fact and fiction at one another beyond the gap to the other for processing. It’s incredible to observe. Alone, my brain makes assumptions and acts on the influence of old memory, informing my present without consulting my cells for the truth. 

If you consider that your body began as two minuscule cells inside the trillions of cells that make up your mother, embodiment is extremely complex. Whose body, whose memory, is whose?  Autonomy is work. 

I was shaped by my caregivers and their authority lives inside of me still, half a century after my entrance into this world. It gives mindfulness new meaning to consider that in order to individuate, I must pay deep attention to my thoughts and actions because during the years when my nervous system was most vulnerable to outer influence, my beliefs sprouted first from other brains, and my behaviour was moulded by consequence. 

I accidentally stumbled upon embodiment through yoga. It was all at once magical, shocking, exhilarating. Decoding the body was exhausting for a brain that had been conditioned toward reaction. I needed breaks often and sometimes for years—continuing yoga but not truly embodying off my mat.

After nearly twenty-five years of practice, old patterns are atrophying, while newer ones—that are felt and interpreted from a place of inquiry over self-judgment or habit—are strengthening. I’m learning to disable reactivity through an intention toward silence, observation, curiosity. It’s easy when I am surrounded by nature or consciously creating space for movement, breath, music or touch. I prioritize these “indulgences” because the quality of relationship between my own mind and body is mirrored in all of my interactions.

Everything is better through embodiment. Especially the challenges. The body knows, and it will reveal all of its wisdom to your brain as you get better at recognizing the You that lives deep beneath your awareness, whispering the truths you have kept yourself too small to hear.