Posts

What is Embodiment?

Let’s start by talking about what brings you down: body image. Then we'll talk about what brings you up: embodiment.   Body image is the picture of our own body we have in our mind because we are self-conscious, literally, conscious of ourselves as a body. It is the way our body appears to our mind based on overt and covert lessons we have learned from society about attractiveness, desirability, and social value. Our body image is how we look to ourselves, but our perceptions might be inaccurate. Since we are visible to the gaze of others, we are and feel subject to the evaluation and judgment of others. We form an idea of how others see us, but the ideas we form may not be accurate. They are projections from our mind onto the world. Then we internalize the perceived disapproval or approval as expectations that affect our self-esteem, our personality, and our self-care choices, especially in eating. The expectations we form may be unrealistic. They may be distorted.   Bo...
Read more

What is spirituality?

  Spirituality is not religion. You can belong to a religion and not be spiritual or you can be spiritual without belonging to a religion. A religion is an organized group with common beliefs and membership requirements. Spirituality, in contrast, has to do with a connection that you feel to something immaterial outside yourself.  T he connection sometimes feels like it is ‘upward’ into the cosmos or ‘downward’ into the earth, or both. The connection is not physical but it has physical, mental, and emotional effects. The connection helps you find meaning, purpose, and joy in your life. Let’s call the something that we feel connected to a ‘higher power’. The connection to a higher power teaches you how to treat others and the earth. If you are spiritual, you perceive your connection to a higher power as an interior energy or agency for good. At its most basic, the connection is the source of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is where s...
Read more

What is embodied spirituality?

Embodied Spirituality is a way to live that gathers together your body and mind, and connects you with something greater than yourself that gives you strength and resilience in your daily life. Spirituality empowers you from the outside in and from the inside out. Your connection to the earth and nature grounds you so that you walk solidly. Many people have a daily spiritual practice like prayer, meditation, or ritual. Many people feel especially spiritual when they are walking alone in nature. Many people find their embodied spirituality in a physical discipline like yoga, tai chi, or aikido. There are a few people whose spirituality takes over the activities and events in their lives. What makes these practices spiritually embodied is awareness. If you are living in numbness or oblivion, nothing can be spiritually embodied.   Awareness is attention and focus on what is going on in your body, your world, while connecting to the power greater than yourself. You live in the moment...
Read more