Sometimes we ask someone, how old are you? We tend to think of how old our particular body is, and how many years since we were born. I am 56 years old or 20 years old or 80, etc.
Another perspective involves taking a longer view. Our ancestors have been around for about six million years, and the modern form of humans for about 200,000 years.* Each person that is born comes into life at a particular moment in history, and carries the benefits and wisdom developed up to that point. Our bodies carry the impacts of whatever historical and collective trauma experiences were not yet able to be fully integrated. We also carry resilience and wisdom and a healing impulse. Our bodies are an expression of nature through us as individuals.
What's it like to contemplate nature and the environment not as out there, but also as in here, and right here as my body and yours? I find it interesting to note how and when I do feel interconnected and a part of nature, and also when I don't, and to wonder about that seeming gap. In those moments, am I simply numb to the connection between me, my body, my emotions, and nature? Are you? Are we all numb, to some extent?
Numbing is not wrong. It's a protective function which is one of the symptoms of trauma. When something is too overwhelming for our nervous systems to process or was too overwhelming at some point in the recent or distant past, numbing allows a portion of the nervous system to be put aside in a sense, so that functioning can continue. Discovering how we experience numbing and disconnection from our bodies and from nature is a healing movement, and a foundational step to heal the disconnection and move toward wholeness and integration.
Integrating and deepening our connection to our bodies is easier together. You're invited to join me for a yoga class, or an embodiment session, if that resonates for you. Visit my website for details and information.
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