Returning To the Body: The Real Feminist Movement

Most of us are like heads walking around with bodies that happen to be attached. I often say that we don't notice our bodies unless they're hurt or sick or don't look the way we want them to. We've inherited this orientation and dismissive relationship to our bodies from our historically masculine-biased culture.

The masculine, in the bigger sense of the word, is all about achieving goals and enhancing his sense of worth and identity by proving himself in the world. He doesn't have time to be bothered by pesky body sensations or irrational emotions. And so he has, throughout history, needed to suppress his own feelings and ours - anything that might distract him and threaten his effectiveness or "in-control" sense of self.

This isn't meant to be a male-bashing rant. It's just meant to point out that we, as part of this masculine-biased culture, have adopted these values and have therefore continued to suppress and silence the less rational, potentially wilder, less predictable part of ourselves. We have unfortunately, unconsciously mostly, continued to view our bodies and emotions as problems to be fixed versus natural, necessary, and equal aspects of our humanness.

Even the counseling profession has joined in the bias. The counseling field has historically been about analyzing our emotions so that we can talk sense to them and ultimately, therefore, quiet them. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is popular for this very reason with its emphasis on controlling how we feel with our thinking.

But some of us are seeing the heavy price that this limited, sometimes stifling approach, has taken on our health and our attempts to heal emotionally. We are returning to the body for its wisdom and what it has to tell us about the suppressed emotions and old programming that's stored there.
Art by Jennie Wakefield

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​But this return to the body doesn't come without a certain degree of resistance. We have eons of habit and programming in us that says that it's safer in our heads and that the feelings that we feel are wrong.

The videos below are intended to support you on this path to reconnecting with your body - embodiment - and learning to hear what it has to say.

Embodiment is more than just a therapy technique or a new trend for personal growth enthusiasts. It's a way of life. It's a way of being. And it symbolizes a return to balance - a re-feminization of ourselves and our culture.

Embodiment As Key To Healing, Pleasure, and Lasting Happiness

  • Deep healing happens in the body.
  • Pleasure happens in the body.
  • We are ultimately happiest when we can surrender open: to ourselves and the truth of what's happening inside of us so that it can be heard and released; and to the bigger mystery, the bigger love, that's always here and available to us.

Fears About What Might Happen When We Connect With Our Bodies

  • What happens when we connect with and release old trauma? Is it safe?
  • ​When is the Female Embodied Movement™ practice appropriate?
  • You get to choose how deeply you want to go

Reconnecting With Your Body: Practical Tips For Getting Started

  • Being grounded throughout your day
  • If you self-pleasure . . .
  • Beginning your own movement practice

How To Stay Connected To Your Own Body While Taking Care Of Others

  • Starting your day
  • Grounding yourself throughout the day
  • The endless cycle of being "on" and how it's self-perpetuating
  • What horses have to teach us about being grounded and alert without being "on"​

Healing the Split Between the Physical and the Spiritual

  • Returning to the body and how it helps us remember who we really are
  • The kingdom of heaven is within you