Even as embodiment professional, I find myself losing touch with my body regularly. Hardly surprising really given the world we live in – so I should probably cut myself some slack. What I do find helpful is noting certain things that indicate it’s time to log off, get my yoga mat out, or just slow down and feel for a moment. Usually the journey is from noticing I’m not noticing, to noticing discomfort, and eventually … noticing the relief in coming home.
So what are the red lights? Here are some indicators of (temporary) disembodiment:
- I notice that I’m not noticing my body (true as a definition of state disembodiment but let’s start there)
- I’m brutalising myself with overwork, treating myself as an industrial machine
- My breathing is tight and irregular
- My body aches from tension (especially back, shoulders and belly) or is exhausted. This can feel like coming back to a resentful angry child who has been left alone too long
- I’m rushing. It is possible to be embodied fast, as in martial arts, but rushing has its own feel
- I have a hot “electric” feeling in my head and face.
- I’m eating low quality food, especially when not hungry
- I’m hurting myself in subtle or less subtle ways in order to feel
- I have numbness to strong stimuli like loud music, strong tastes etc
- There’s a subtle overall feeling of contraction and limitation in the whole body, like being in a cage; loss of natural expansiveness
- I’m ungrateful
- I’m treating others as sex or success objects – means to ends, not ends in themselves
- Alcohol consumption may be an issue for others too
Thank you, AnTonya, for the idea for this post.