I am going to demystify my understanding of mindfulness, presence and embodiment for you here.

Back in 2001, I was experiencing physical symptoms that were debilitating. I saw many providers who checked me out and told me there was nothing physically wrong. I had fractured 4 teeth from grinding them and had abdominal pain, joint pain and hives everyday — to the point where I would lock myself in the bathroom in the ICU where I worked and lie on the floor until the pain subsided. I lived on Benadryl, sleeping up to 12 hours a day but never felt rested… I felt broken. I was in graduate school, had 2 young kids, and a husband who was on call 24 hours a day while I was also working full time.

My PCP really listened to my whole story. Even when I told him he was nuts when he said my stress was causing these symptoms. I remember saying “that is not possible. I am the least stressed person I know. I am the person you want in the room when there is an emergency. I am the calmest person in the room. I am not stressed.” Then he said, “what do you feel like when you are relaxed?”.

So apparently, I had never been relaxed. I mean… ever. I could not tell you what relaxed felt like in my body. As a matter of fact, my head felt completely separate from my body at all times.

My intention is to teach you all the tools that were shared with me that helped me address my symptoms. That we push our emotions down into our physical bodies, into our tissues, and to feel better we allow them to release. This embodiment practice, meaning tapping into the wisdom of our bodies, allowing the expression of emotions, takes the practice of learning a new skill. The skill is mindfulness, being present in the moment without judging ourselves or the situation.

Mindful living is possible for everyone. It is simple but not easy. It takes practice and compassion. It completely changed my life. I’m very excited to share this with anyone interested.

Embodiment practices, anything you do mindfully, in the present moment, in the flow, experiencing life as it is, helps allow trapped emotions to release from our bodies. It does not matter what you look like or what anyone else thinks about what you’re doing. It is true self-care to be intentionally present with life… all of life, without judgment. An easy way to know whether you’re being judgmental… are you using/thinking the word ‘should’? This coming week, notice how many times the word ‘should’ comes up in your words and thoughts (also easier to do once you learn the skill of mindful presence). i.e. things ‘should’ be different. Wanting things to be different than they are, is true suffering. To be human is to suffer. When we feel the emotion… anger, grief, joy (wanting things to be like this forever), it doesn’t stay trapped in our bodies. Emotions are predictable. They have a beginning, a middle and an end. If you don’t give the emotion a story, and keep retelling that story, emotions only last a few minutes. They help keep our bodies in balance. The hormones and chemicals released during every different emotion have a vital impact on our well-being… as long as we remember that there needs to be balance and to allow what we’re experiencing to be as it is and then float on by. Be grateful to yourself for noticing. Gratitude is the opposite of fear.

Mindfully Present Embodiment Practices:

— Breathwork

— Dancing

— Art

— Music

— Exercise

— Sports

— Cooking

— Gardening

— Snowshoeing

— Swimming

— Knitting

— Playing with the kids: on the swings, at the beach, coloring…

— Doing the dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting

— Fishing

— Horseback riding

No doubt you can think of a million things. Think of anything that you do ‘mindlessly’. Learning the skill takes practice. It is the opposite of what our culture teaches us. It is not resistance to what is, but an allowing of what is possible.

Mindfully present embodiment practices will be taught in blog posts. Please keep an eye out for new posts!