Embodiment has become a buzzword in the health and wellness world. When I first noticed the trend, I was skeptical. It seemed too vague to be attainable- a ripe marketing tactic for self help gurus- how are you supposed to ask for an embodiment refund?
A few years ago, I started learning about trauma, and how trauma is stored in the body- or rather, how our typical coping mechanisms in dealing with trauma cause us to disassociate, overthink, and become disembodied, all of which can lead to inflammation, chronic stress, and even weaken our immune systems.
I realized this elusive embodiment was crucial in dealing with trauma, which by nature, rewires our brains to relive the past. In other words, trauma traps us in past stories, and embodiment grounds us in the present moment.
Is Trauma Really Stored in the Body?
Maybe you’ve heard of The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, and the concept that trauma is stored in the body. This isn’t to say that trauma creates diseases or injuries, (though it can) but trauma often expose us to prolonged periods of elevated cortisol, the stress hormone, which can damage our immune systems, and makes us more vulnerable to everything from autoimmune diseases to cancer.
Chronic stress also accelerates aging, so if you’re not interested in becoming embodied and regulating your nervous system for your health, at least do it for vanity.
When people talk about trauma being stored in the body, often what they mean is that the body remembers trauma, even when the brain does not. The body holds on to the memory of trauma, even if we think we are “over it,” or not thinking about it. This can present as an overactive amygdala- the part of our brain responsible for the fight or flight response. So, even when there is no immediate threat or danger, our bodies are tense, stressed, and defensive.
We may also learn to dissociate- and disconnect from ourselves, and the world around us. Dissociation is sneaky, and it can trick us into thinking we’re ok when what we actually are is shut off, numbed out, and in denial.
So if trauma is stored in my body, then what? Can you sweat it out in hot yoga? Can you get rid of it with a colonoscopy? The short answer is not really, but it’s complicated.
What is Trauma?
Let’s start with a basic definition of trauma. The Trauma-Informed Care Research and Implementation Center defines trauma as:
“Trauma…results from exposure to an incident or series of events that are emotionally disturbing or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and/or spiritual well-being.”
The more I learned about trauma, the more I learned about how to heal from it, and convinced if everyone could heal from trauma, we would live in a safer, kinder, and better world.
So how do you know if you “have” trauma? Can you catch it, like a virus? The definition of trauma, according to Paul Conti, a leading expert on trauma, is “events that change your brain for the worse.”
In extreme cases, or what we might call “Big T Trauma”, like in the case of childhood sexual abuse, combat veterans, or being diagnosed with a life threatening disease, this can present as PTSD, leading to flashbacks, nightmares, and irrational outbursts to seemingly trivial things that trigger old memories.
Trauma can also be more insidious and subtle, what we often call “little t trauma” and stem from having a parent who struggled with mental health, or could be the result of growing up in a home and witnessing your parents go through divorce. It can result from bullying, food scarcity, or injuries.
In other words, trauma is something that happened in the past, and gets stuck in our present.
Can’t You Just Suck it Up?
You can, but unresolved trauma can lead to health issues, toxic relationships, and regrets. It can be at the root of negative beliefs, self sabotage, and even addiction.
If life is a long hike up a mountain, and we’re all wearing backpacks and equipped with varying levels of resources and tools, each trauma is like a rock- an added weight you have to carry that slows you down- it can be a pebble in your shoe or a full on boulder in your backpack.
When you have multiple traumas, it’s like a backpack full of many rocks, and it makes hiking up a mountain, which is already a feat, very slow and arduous. From the outside, you may look like everyone else, but you are actually carrying a lot of extra weight. It’s exhausting. You get blisters. Easy stretches of the hike are much harder for you. Some people may judge you as weak, but they’re not carrying an extra 50 pounds of rocks up a mountain.
Sometimes, you want to give up. If you can rest, persist, and be resourceful, there’s a chance it can make you incredibly strong. But you will be tempted to quit often, especially when you see those with lighter backpacks skipping ahead of you in the distance.
What is Embodiment, then?
Embodiment is essentially the practice of being in your body. It sounds simple enough. I’m always in my body, you might be thinking. But the reality is so much of us live inside our heads- thinking and intellectualizing our way through life, experiences, and emotions instead of feeling them.
Western wisdom has traditionally revolved around solving our problems in our head, by changing our thoughts, or even medicating to change our brain chemistry. While our brains may separate us as a species, they are one piece of a bigger whole- another complex organ keeping us alive.
While our brains are powerful and magnificent organs, they can also be our worst enemies in an attempt to keep us safe, especially if we’ve experienced trauma, which more than half of adults have.
How I Learned to be Embodied
The first time I really took embodiment seriously is when I first started working with my therapist. It was early on in our work together, but we had gotten to all the juicy details. I really laid it out for her, unpacked my backpack, and showed her the rocks I was carrying, including the big one.
I asked her what we should do. How do I get over this? I was stressed out constantly. I realized trauma was holding me back, and it tainted my worldview. It was making my hike way harder than it had to be.
She told me, “I want you to become embodied.”
She took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, as she often does when she wants to set a good example and a gentle reminder. She described the birds she heard outside, the taste of coffee still on her tongue, the feel the cool metal of her necklace in her hands. She could smell the lavender from her hand soap. She wanted me to start noticing these things, too, and tapping into my five senses.
Embodiment is being in the present moment, and engaging your five senses. It’s pretty simple- when we pay attention to what we smell, hear, taste, feel, and see, and the sensations of your body, you become embodied, if only for a moment.
The way she said it clicked for me. I didn’t need to buy a digital course from a self-proclaimed guru to become embodied. I just needed to practice tapping into my five senses.
Embodiment, simply put, is focusing on your five senses in the present moment.
Learning to Feel is Easier Said Than Done
It sounds simple and it is, in theory.
Embodiment is a useful tool for processing emotions. When a big emotion comes up, instead of trying to analyze it to death- which is essentially what we do when we create stories around our emotions, we allow ourselves to feel it instead. We tune into the sensations of our body, and we pay attention to how the emotion presents in our bodies- how it feels.
For instance, sadness may feel heavy, a sort of sinking feeling in your chest or gut. It’s draining. Anger may feel like heat in your chest and throat, it is energizing and full of adrenaline. Love, on the other hand, feels expansive- calm but energizing. Love feels like warmth, like a gooey ball of chocolate chip cookie dough baking in the oven.
Keep It Simple
Embodiment can be as simple as putting your phone away to enjoy a walk- listening to the birds, feeling the sun on your skin, and breathing mindfully.
Embodiment can be fully immersing yourself in your cup of coffee, feeling the steam on your skin, smelling and tasting the acidity and sweetness, feeling the heat of the ceramic in your hands, and the caffeine hitting your bloodstream. It’s paying attention in the hear and now, as opposed to downing our first cup as we scroll through our phones and multitask, barely tuning in to the experience.
Embodiment is going to the gym or a yoga class, and instead of worrying what you look like, or mentally creating to-do lists, it’s paying attention to how the movements feel in your body, focusing on good form, muscle activation, and steady, focused breathing.
Embodiment, in a way, teaches us to breathe into our discomfort, and let it pass, whether it’s a hard yoga pose or difficult emotion. When we breathe, and focus on physical sensations of an emotion instead of the stories we’re telling ourselves about those emotions, the discomfort passes much more easily.
Prioritizing Embodiment Can Accelerate Healing
Embodiment practices can be turning point in healing from trauma. Talk therapy is beneficial, as it helps you see your blind spots, and learn better tools, but embodiment practices can lead to greater strides in healing, especially in treatment-resistent PTSD, or in combination with traditional psychotherapy practices.
Whether through EMDR therapy, equine therapy, Emotional Freedom Technique, yoga, massage, or mindfulness, these embodied practices offer places to become embodied, and apply what we’ve learned in psychotherapy in the present moment, in our bodies.
Here’s how to become more embodied:
Focus on Your Five Senses
The simplest way to become embodied is to tune into your five senses. Focus on your breath. Focus on what you smell, taste, hear, feel, and see. When you experience an emotion, whether it’s joy, anger, or sadness, notice what that emotion feels like in your body- pay attention to the physical sensations you experience.
Breathe
It sounds overly simplistic, but it’s at the root of embodiment. As children, most of us aren’t taught how to breathe. We do it instinctually. It keeps us alive.
But mindful breathing, breath work, meditation, and breathing exercises are all just fancy ways of breathing deeply and intentionally, which is the single fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to calm our nervous systems, and become more present and embodied.
Set or Wear Reminders
I got a bracelet that says “breathe” on it I wear almost daily. I also set my phone background to some digital art that says “Be Here Now.” You can set an alarm or notification every hour to remind you to take a deep breathe and be in the present moment.
Yoga
Yoga teaches you to be in your body, to breathe through discomfort, to accept yourself exactly where you are, and to embrace painfully slow progress.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an embodied therapy that helps us reprocess our trauma through a type of waking dream state. Early research is promising, and you can find a trained EMDR therapist and learn more about it at EMDR.org.
When I first heard about EMDR, I thought it sounded crazy, but I had life changing results and recommend it to anyone who has experienced trauma.
EFT
Emotional Freedom Technique is like EMDR light, and uses acupuncture pressure points to “tap out” limiting beliefs and “tap in” better ones. It looks and feels crazy, but it helps, and it works. I like Brad Yates videos on YouTube.
Equine Therapy
Equine Assisted Therapy is another one of those things that seems crazy, but has profound, indescribable effects on participants. Equine Therapy is used to treat PTSD, addiction, children with special needs, and more.
Play/Flow
I have a theory that people who don’t like to dance actually just don’t like worrying about how they look when they dance. There are other dance like things you can do, like surfing, skateboarding, rollerblading/ skating, swimming, or any other movement that gets you into a flow state.
Freestyle dancing to music that inspires you or flow movement is our bodies purest form of expression.
Exercise
When I joined a gym, I got a few complimentary sessions with a personal trainer. He taught me to stop thinking, to feel the movement in my body, to correct my form and get a better workout. He would have me focus on how my feet felt pressing into the ground, spreading my toes. He would ask me to notice my pelvic tilt, and feel the difference once I corrected it.
Focus on how being in your body during your workout, not making a to-do list.
Massage
Massage helped me realize just how much tension I was holding in my body. It had me connect the dots at how I hold stress in my body, and how that creates tension and knots over time.
Safe touch
Through pets, friends, or healthy romantic relationships, or even massage therapists and chiropractors, we can prioritize safe, connected touch in our lives.
Foam Roll
I started regularly foam rolling with a cork roller and trigger point ball at home so I could work attempt to untangle the knots I’ve created over the years.
Heat/Cold Therapy
Saunas, hot baths, hot showers, steam rooms, cold plunges, cold showers– they are all the rage right now. Not only do these things help us to build our tolerance to stress, they also teach us to become embodied. Especially if you refuse to bring your phone with you.
Conclusion
Feeling our feelings allows them to be what they are- the weather of our internal world. Seasons always pass.
Embodiment is not just a trend. It’s not some vague concept made up by marketing teams to sell you stuff (though they’ll still try.)
Embodiment is like a muscle, and it will get stronger the more you use it. Embodiment is truly key to healing from trauma, regulating your nervous system, living in the present, and experiencing better health, wellbeing, and peace of mind.
So, breathe deep into your belly. Keep returning to your five senses. You’ll get stronger. You’ll heal. You’ll become more embodied.
—
This post was previously published on medium.com.
***
From The Good Men Project on Medium
 |
 |
 |
 |
***
Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Register New Account
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—–
Photo credit: Li Yang/ Unsplash
