Embodied Living
Recently, I was listening to Dr. Alison Cook on her podcast “The Best of You.” She is currently conversing on what it is to be embodied people - people who pay attention to what is happening in our bodies rather than ignoring our bodies and the messages they are trying to give us.
I’ve told you bits of my story before, but in 2021 I stepped down from my role as the children’s pastor at my church. I knew I was being invited to step away from this job I loved and enter into a season of deep rest.
What I didn’t know was that I had no idea how to rest. Like, not even a little. Was I supposed to just do nothing?
Honestly, it took me six months to settle into resting. I had been going non-stop, seven days a week, for far too long. I didn’t know how to sit down and be with my family on a Saturday. I didn’t know how to have a leisurely day at home. I didn’t know how not to feel guilty about not working.
Over those many months, I realized that part of what I was being invited to in this season of rest involved re-learning how to listen to my body. This meant I needed to slow down and pay attention instead of rushing everywhere and being so busy.
Along the way, while working in the church, I adopted a policy of ignoring my body. My instincts have proven reliable over the years, but due to various circumstances, I started to believe that I couldn’t trust myself. And eventually, I just stopped listening to what my body told me.
But when I stepped away from my job and started learning to listen to my body again, I realized it was screaming at me. My nervous system had been in flight or fight mode for a long, long time, and I didn’t even know it. My early days in ministry were a doozy. And the later years came with their own challenges. It is a mixed bag of highs and lows that make up the last 28 years of my life.
And while I wouldn’t trade those experiences because they did make me the person I am today, I also wish I would have known at 26 what I am learning now at almost 46 about being fully embodied. I wish I would have known how trauma affects the body. I wish I would have known that rest is essential. I wish I would have known that my feelings do actually matter and that they aren’t just some inconvenient part of me. I wish I would have known that crying isn’t weak. I wish I would have known that I could trust my instincts.
This summer will mark two years since I began this journey of remembering how to listen to my body - I’m still working on it. Honestly, I think it might be a work that lasts a lifetime. But I know the Spirit is with me, reminding me to slow down, pay attention, and not rush past what I’m feeling or sensing.
In the “Best of You” podcast, Dr. Cook says she begins her day by acknowledging that she has a body. This might seem super simple or even silly, but sometimes we need to start with the basics.
She says, “I have a body. I am not a walking mind. I am not a walking task machine. I am not a walking caretaker of other people. First and foremost, when my feet hit that floor, I have a body. And I say it to myself as a way of saying to God, ‘God, I have a body this morning. That body needs things from me. And the best way I can honor you right now is to check in with that body.’”
What does your body need?
Food
Rest
Sunshine
Water
Time with Jesus
Counseling
A vacation
Pain relief
A doctor
Time with a friend
God made you, and he gave you a good body, a body that sends you signals about what it needs and what it is experiencing. We worship God with these bodies. These bodies are where heaven and earth come together. These bodies are holy, sacred spaces that warrant our care and attention.
~ Melissa