I live in Colorado, right at the shift between the great plains and the Rocky Mountains. The land here is so magnificent, though I have appreciated the natural beauty and expanse of this country in all its forms. So too, I appreciate the uniquely American quality of simplicity and honesty, the folksiness of the American people.
And yet . . .
This country was founded on three great atrocities: slavery, genocide, and environmental destruction. Enslaved people built our nation. The Native American nations were massacred and colonized. Both slavery and massacre paved the way for environmental destruction of every variety—our forests, our oceans, our rivers, and our plains. The destruction of the great plains’ ecosystem is purported to be the first great environmental disaster caused by humans. It is said that when the native grasslands were first plowed, as their twenty-foot root systems were ripped out, it sounded like dynamite exploding.
What does this have to do with embodiment, body-mind psychotherapy, and embodied spirituality?
Embodiment is the natural condition of all life on this planet. It is our uniquely human cerebral frontal cortices that have allowed us to interrupt the natural flow of embodiment, internally and externally, in ourselves and in the world around us. This ability to interrupt and control our own internal physiology pairs well with patriarchal domination. We have controlled our bodies to the point of causing disease. We have controlled our environment to the point of extinction of species and destruction of habitats. We control each other to the point of slavery, genocide, and oppression.
Our beautiful country, our beautiful planet, our beautiful bodies have been deeply marked by all this violence. We have marred our creative and loving spirits with ignorance and trauma. The trauma of oppressing others and the trauma of perpetrating violence on everything around us, these patterns are etched into our bodies on every level and require intentional awareness to heal.
Each moment of healing and awareness is a step toward our true natures and the possibility of living in harmony with each other and with the earth. I continually and repeatedly invite myself to contemplate, feel, release, and liberate each moment of domination in my cells, in my physiology, in my heart, and in my behavior, cognition, and speech. Thank you for joining me.
