Few of us have lost our minds, but most of us have long ago lost our bodies. – Ken Wilber
Most of us have punished, abused, hated, or ignored our bodies at some time, if not regularly. Not much has changed over time. Stop to consider what has happened in your life. Where there reasons you might give some thought to here?….
Were some inherited? What did the religion of your family teach you about the body? Is it something to be ashamed of or joyfully celebrated?... Is your body a blessing or a curse?... Are some part of your body acceptable but others not even mentionable?... Is the spirit high and good but the body low and bad?...
Were you physically abused?... Sexually abused?... Did it make you hate your body as the scene of the crime and want to escape it?... Did you numb your whole body or certain areas to the pain in order to survive, cope, and adjust?... Did a rape or beating make you dissociate from and leave your body?.... Did you come away with the belief that the body is a source of pain and powerlessness rather than pleasure and power?...
When you were growing up, did your family touch affectionately or have little to no physical contact?... Was masturbation disapproved of or allowed?... In you social group, were outward displays of closeness considered improper manners or expected behavior?... Were people proud of their physicality, or did they try to hide their bodies?... Did they hold themselves stiff or swing their hips?... Was sex considered natural and pleasurable or something to be despised yet endured?.... Were menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth rued as woman’s curse or considered a celebration of life?....
Were you even in a serious car accident?... Have you been mugged, raped, kidnapped, or robbed?.... Did you undergo a terrifying surgery?... Were you in a war?...Were the experiences so painful and frightening that feeling became unbearable?... Do you still flinch and avoid certain things?...
Did you even inflict hurt on someone else, even unintentionally?.... Did you ever kill a person or animal, even accidentally?... Did you ever hit someone younger, smaller, or less powerful?... Do you wish you could vacate the body that committed the damage?...
When we’re taught to hate our bodies, we’re also taught to disconnect from them. The origins of how we feel and live in our bodies are many underlying attitudes and beliefs that prevail in our families, cultures, and educational systems.
We repress the experience of our bodies to protect ourselves from threatening pleasure and pain. We also become disconnected when others take over the functions of detecting our own bodily states and estimating our strengths, weaknesses, needs or desires. How often have you continued to take a medication after it has ceased being effective only because it was prescribed for you, not because of what you felt in your body?.... You can use bodyways to help you get back in contact with your own body so that you, not someone else, knows when and how much to eat, sleep, drink, exercise, work, play and so on…..
And the more at home you are in your body, the more competent you will feel. Knowing your personal boundaries, respecting your body, and being in touch with its wisdom and power can all contribute toward freeing yourself from feeling overpowered by others….As a victim or potential victim… When we are truly embodied, living fully from within our bodies, that feeling gives us a presence that is empowering.
Discovering the Body’s Wisdom by Mirka Knaster
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