If you’re seeing self-development as a mental exercise, you’re missing out on the foundational, fundamental well-being that comes from understanding your body! 

There is great power in embodied self-awareness! Reclaiming & returning to the body provides exponential growth & capacity for change. 

In this episode, Laura and Sonya explore the messages our bodies send us, and why it’s vital to pay attention to them. They’ll explain why we must remember to tune into our bodies, and how tough but rewarding that learning process can be.

Join us as we discuss: 

• 24:01 Why it can be so scary to rebuild a relationship with our bodies.
• 28:10 Approaching our body’s responses from a places of curiosity and consent.
• 33:21 Learning to prioritize the body and its messages.
• 38:29 The ways our nervous systems are constantly monitoring our safety.
• 42:23 How understanding the body can help us cultivate empathy.

Resources mentioned in the show: 

• The 8 Cs of Self-Leadership https://foundationifs.org/resources/8-cs-wheel
• Dr. Dan Siegel’s Mindsight https://drdansiegel.com/mindsight/
• Trauma expert Dr. Peter Levine https://www.somaticexperiencing.com/about-peter 
• Dr. Stephen Porges on neuroception: https://chhs.fresnostate.edu/ccci/documents/07.15.16%20Neuroception%20Porges%202004.pdf
• Deb Dana, LCSW, author and speaker on Polyvagal Theory https://www.rhythmofregulation.com/about 

Learn more about Sonya & Laura: 

—> Sonya Stattmann is the host & creator of Reclaiming Ourselves™. She is a TEDx & corporate speaker, and has been working with leaders around personal development for the last 22 years. She teaches workshops & offers small group programs around emotional intelligence, transformational & embodied leadership and energy management. You can find more about her here:

Website: https://www.sonyastattmann.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonyastattmann/

—> Laura Shook-Guzman, co-host of Reclaiming Ourselves, LMFT, and Somatic Psychotherapist for entrepreneurs has been a mental health professional for 23 years. She’s the founder of three businesses; the world's first Wellness Coworking Community Soma Vida, the global community Women Who Cowork, and her own therapy practice, Conscious Ambition. You can find more about her here: 

Website: http://www.laurashookguzman.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurashookguzman/ 

What you can do next:

1. For more episodes, opportunities and information on the hosts, visit http://reclaimingourselvespodcast.com/
2. Love the podcast? Get episodes delivered to your inbox with articles related to the topics we talk about. You can sign up at http://reclaimingourselvespodcast.com/
3. Need a little weekly magic? Sign up for Worthy Love Notes & weekly affirmations here https://www.sonyastattmann.com/self-worth-affirmations-2/  

Thank you for being you. We are so honored to have you as a listener!

this is why, like when you are walking in the middle

of a beautiful, sunlight woods, like you're walking through the woods

and the sun's coming through and you hear the waterfall and like there

these moments in nature that you're just, Oh, I feel so clear right now.

I feel like I know what I'm gonna do next for work.

I feel like I'm gonna know what to do now with this thing.

Like we take these walks to clear our head

, because we're literally getting out of it.

we're trying to get out of the head and be in the body.

Like so much of how we're we are experiencing the world,

is connected to our perception, and perception is connected to our body.

Yes.

Yeah.

because I think we've just been misled because we

have this perception or this idea, or this perception that perception is

related to the mind, that everything's

related to the mind and how we think.

But the body comes first, right?

The body perceives unconsciously like our autonomics, you know, nervous system.

Right.

It's, it's like it perceives unconsciously, and then sure, we go

and make meaning and we like do all these things in our thinking brain,

but that is not where it originates.

That's not where experience is.

If you know there is something deep inside of you that is yearning to be

seen, to be known, and to have expression.

If there's something you need to reclaim and remember: maybe it's your

power or your purpose, your gifts.

This is the podcast for you.

Welcome to Reclaiming Ourselves.

I'm your host, Sonya Stattmann and I'm honored to have three amazing

co-hosts, Laura Shook-Guzman, Belinda Haan, and Emily Soccorsy, here with

me on this journey to self discovery.

Every week we're gonna help you unravel and remember what it means to reclaim

yourself, to own who you are, to recognize your innate worth and greatness.

Now this podcast is a deep dive into self-development,

healing, and empowerment.

So hold on.

Here we go.

welcome back to Reclaiming Ourselves.

And just before I dive into this week's topic, just a reminder

that you can find a lot about our amazing co-host and a lot about the

podcast@reclaimingourselvespodcast.com.

Just wanted to mention that and I'm really excited about today's podcast.

I have Laura here with me again.

I love our conversations and we're gonna talk about something that is

very, very, um, I know near and dear to her heart and When we talk about

reclaiming ourselves, one of the things that I think is really important is

that we talk about a return to the body.

Now, what does that even mean?

What does embodied mean?

What does it mean to reclaim ourselves and reclaim our bodies?

Well, that's what we're gonna break down today.

So welcome Laura

Mm.

Thank you Sonya.

Yes.

One of my favorite conversations.

we often find ourselves teaching what we're here to learn.

I feel like, um, I've been on a lifelong journey of returning to the body

to the intelligence and the wisdom.

that is about our.

Sense, my felt sense, of myself, of the world.

I think every time I have this conversation with you or just

in the world, there's like new, insights that I gleam myself about.

What is this, ongoing relationship we have with her physicality

and our energetic self?

And, um, and we're gonna talk a little bit today, I think more

about what do we even mean, right?

What do we mean by.

And Soma.

Mm-hmm.

And so let's, let's start there.

let's look at what is the body like, if we're gonna talk about a return to

the body, are reclaiming our body, Like what is the body, and at least in the

framework that we're talking about.

And I love that you mentioned Soma, because I think that's a

great word to explore as well.

So let's start with, you know, how do you define the body in this context?

Laura, let's start.

Well I love that, you know, the, Greek word for body

being soma, but being more than just.

Muscles and bones, like the somas, the, all encompassing physicality

and energetics of the human self.

So our ability to not only, um, have like our heart beating, lung breathing, like

that our body is physically operating, but that it has this, um, energetic component

in which we can feel and interact.

Through the senses with the world around us.

So, you know, when someone walks in a room, you don't have to see

them to know that they're there.

Like you can feel like, Oh, somebody just entered the space.

Or, or I have a, a sense of something that's light or heavy or around me, right?

We're, we're constantly taking in information through our senses to help

us know what is happening in and around.

And, you know, a lot of the neuroscience of, of the current day has actually

been really helpful because they've been able to map these things in our

nervous system and in our brain to understand that yeah, this sort of mind.

Site as Dan Sigo calls it is like this awareness of our mental, cognitive,

thinking and our physical understanding and senses and our meaning making

and our interpersonal relationships.

And you know, so when we say like, get back to the body, I just wanna

really name that it's not just like, get back into your physical

earth shell it, it's like, get back.

Into your most, whole sense of yourself, the way you orient and move

and take in information and connect.

And so all of these different aspects, happen when we are fully

present inside the body, inside Thes.

and what does that feel like?

Right?

Like I think this is important and we probably both have different perspectives

on this as well, and it's probably individual according to everyone.

But I think that's an important question to ask because what does

it feel like to be in our body?

Cuz you know, is it just that like we've worked out really hard and we're

like, we can, we can feel our body and our could feel our muscles move.

Right.

What does it feel like for you to be embodied?

And then I'll share what it feels like for me to be embodied, because

I think there's a lot of different perspectives on this and it helps our

listeners kind of look at for themselves.

What does it feel like when I'm back in my body?

yeah.

No, I agree.

I think, um, and I have clients ask this question all the time and

they're like, What am I looking for?

You know, what's the base point ? It's like, I don't even know

what I'm supposed to feel like.

and so it's very common that most of us will kind of live

quite a few feet outside of our.

felt sense of ourselves because we do, and we talked about this on past,

episodes, you know, we do live in a culture that very much glorifies the

mind, the, the mental cognitive thinking of taking in all the information

and making sense of it in the world.

And so we can be very reliant on, what is our mental interpretation

to be able to come back into the body and feel more present.

For me, it has certain qualities and attributes that

are there when I am embodied.

So I guess I'll start there.

Like for me, when I, come and often, you know, it's become more and more

automatic over the years as I spend time as a somatic therapist, but,

there's still times that I'm like, You know, let me come back in.

Let me just bring my energy and my attention.

So it can start with sort of a, bringing attention to the breath,

bringing attention to the edges of my physical body to own that space.

And I think this is where like A lot of the Eastern teachings, the mind

body connections around yoga and meditation, these are all practices.

The reason why they're effective is that there are practices for like

aligning that attention and awareness into this more holistic frame, you know?

So it's like, let me notice the thoughts and pull those in and notice my body

breathing and come back to that.

So we're bringing all these different elements of.

So those are very important functions for me to, to keep having

the form of meditation and yoga.

and so what that feels like as I return to my breath and to my edges is often

it's the sensations of expansion of a centeredness kind of can feel more of my.

Sense of where I am energetically as relation, you know, as it

relates to things around me.

So it's like I'm more centered and I feel this expansion and often kind of

like enough of a weight, like a, like a gravity aware of the gravity, kind

of like feeling that, um, and then feeling my dimensions, like feeling

how far my energetic body is, like how much space am I taking up in this?

But it gets very clear and centered and calm.

And these are all sort of the eight Cs that Dr.

Schwartz uses to define self energy.

I find it's really interesting because when I am feeling very embodied

back into my self and in my physical energetic body, I do have all.

Quality is a feeling really curious and calm and centered and compassionate.

And so self energy is more present when I call all of that attention back to myself.

Right.

So that's what it's like for me, but I love that you asked us

that, cause I'd love to hear Yeah.

What is it like for you and I think for listeners just to remember.

Yeah, it's not, it's not, it's like a.

Fingerprint.

You know, it's like everybody's gonna have their own unique experience.

but I think there's some qualities that are shared, but it's, yeah.

Everybody's unique experience.

Yeah, I, I think for me, it's really being

back in the present, right?

It's like even being aware that I'm in a present , like, you know,

like, because I can spend so much time in my thinking brain, right?

Which is never really in the present.

It's like I'm, I'm solving problems for the future, or I'm thinking about

the past, or I'm, I'm putting things together and nothing's wrong with that.

Right?

I love my mind, my, I have a beautiful mind.

It's, we all do.

it does great things.

I love its visioning.

I love its ability to put things together.

I love its creativity.

It's like all amazing.

and it is also amazing to be in the body and be, feel like I'm present

and I'm dealing with, what is the sensation I feel in my body now?

What is my relationship to my environment right now?

What is my relationship with people that I'm, connecting with right now?

Like there's something about.

That present moment that I think is so key, like we don't think about

how often we aren't there, right?

How often we are really not there.

We don't, we It's like we're not actually dealing that often with the present.

We're dealing with the past.

We're dealing with the future.

We're dealing with what will be so there is a very different quality when I am.

Here , like in my body in this moment, and I'm actually paying attention to the

relationship between me and the present.

Yeah.

and I do feel a lot of the things you talked about, like

I feel expansive when I'm there.

I feel grounded.

I feel like, Oh, I have a body like, Oh wait.

There it is.

Yeah.

And even when it's sore or maybe even in pain, it still feels better

to be connected to it than to not.

It's interesting, like we, I think we have so many survival mechanisms that

disconnect from our body when we feel pain, and yet I still find that when

I let myself just be with it or I'm present with it, it actually feels a lot

better than being disconnected from it.

So, you know, I think that's, that's a whole interesting piece as well.

But yeah, I feel, I feel, I definitely feel present and

expanded, more compassionate.

More resourced.

Like when I'm in my body, I'm so much more resourced.

I'm not reacting right?

Often I leave my body when I have a, my nervous system reacts or when

I'm having a, you know, a survival mechanism kind of come into play.

And when I'm present and kind of in my body, I'm able to take

in information more effectively.

I'm able to respond to things more effectively and so

yeah, it's a really powerful.

Experience?

Yeah.

It is, it's a very powerful experience and when we are disconnected from the body,

it's a very disempowering way of being.

you know, this is where like Pedro Levine has said trauma is a disorder of presence.

Trauma is one of those things that happens.

And if it doesn't move through and the body doesn't come back into the

present moment, then that past trauma.

Causes one to live outside of the body.

Fear of going into that sensation, it's like, I'm gonna relive that trauma.

And so then we're constantly in the past or anticipating a future pain.

what I try to help my clients understand is there is a cost to be paid of

living outside of the present moment

that long, the longer we spend.

Trying to hold something in the past or keep it from happening in the future.

We don't have our full vitality.

Mm-hmm.

And you know, this is that the chi, the life

force energy, something that.

Easter Medicine knows a lot about it.

It's like the reason all of those postures in yoga and the breathing,

it's all about that vitality of, of the integration, the ability for

all things to be lit up and working together instead of compartmentalized,

Yes, a hundred percent.

Uh, and there's like so many, so many things that I think, you know, I

want to kind of untangle here, right?

Because.

This is a very big topic, obviously.

I mean, I know you spent many decades of working in this area and I think

it's a very important topic because I don't think we can talk about reclaiming

ourselves if we're not including the body.

what are we reclaiming if we're not reclaiming our soma, our body, our

connection to that piece of ourselves?

and I think a lot of.

Even therapy.

Right.

I, you know, I noticed this in like, the difference between talk

therapy and say somatic therapy.

You know, oftentimes when we're reclaiming ourselves or personal

development, you know, talk therapy will often exclude the body, Right.

And the stuff that's in the body.

And, you know, I was thinking about what, you know, what we, you were just

saying just a minute ago, recognizing that not being in the present, we

lose it's, it's such a cost, right?

We lose so much of our vitality.

And I wanted to mention as well that, you know, often we're not in the

present because of our body responses.

one of the things I've really been kind of struggling with are sitting with

is that in, you know, so much of my own personal development experience,

which has been, you know, my, pretty much my whole life, a lot of personal

development realms and a lot of practices, they, they have this idea that, The

mind is all we have to change, right?

We just, if we change our beliefs, we change our, our responses.

If we change our beliefs, we transform our lives.

And yet so much of what's happening in our life is, is based

on the evolutionary processes.

Inside our body and the mind and your beliefs will not change those . Right?

Like the more I understand the nervous system and neuroscience and understanding

how we respond to things, you know, it isn't a matter of like, Ooh, if

I just believe something different, then my body will completely change.

It all live in the present moment.

That's not how it works.

And I think we have to mention that because I see, have seen so many

people in my life shame themselves for not being able to change their

beliefs or shame themselves for not living in the present moment.

And so like, this is not an easy process to get back into our bodies,

especially if we have had a lot of harm done to our bodies and many

women have, and many men as well.

And so, it's not necessarily an easy process where it's just, , You

change your beliefs or you know, you decide you wanna be present like,

it's like that's not how it works.

And I think we have to mention that cuz it's an important piece.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

I mean, and it's, it's a really good point.

And I've shared this in my story with you, you know, and other conversations

about, that's kind of how I got started in, um, somatic psychology is that,

back in the, in the day when I was in grad school, which was like the late.

nineties, early 2000, there was still a huge focus on cognitive behavioral C

B T interventions, you know, um, that was where most of our research was.

So that was like the empirically, you know, evidence based

therapies.

and I happen to be working in, uh, women's shelters and domestic

violence and, with a lot of children that were in systemic and famili.

violence in homes and in their schools.

And, you know, the stories that kept coming to me were just like, We get it.

We get it.

We understand, um, what you're telling me.

Like it makes sense and I'm trying to change my thoughts and I'm

trying to change my behavior, but my body isn't listening.

Like my body has its own agenda and it's gonna do whatever it

needs to do if it perceives danger.

So if it hears those gunshots, or even if it doesn't hear the gunshots, but it hears

something that reminds it of the gunshots and it's like these are the things that

just constantly are happening in the physical body, then how am I supposed

to use those cognitive behavioral tools?

and then that's when I really started to look for more understanding of,

yeah, like how are we supposed to be?

It seems like up Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

It seems like if we've already established that there's safety, maybe we can work

on our meaning making, but if there's literally a lack of safety in the physical

body, and then we've talked about this, you know, a bit, and you know, where

you and I as white women are still learning more and more of like, what

does that mean for the white bodies?

What does that mean for bodies of color?

Um, to be in a situation in which the systemic violence is constantly present.

Like, how am I supposed to drop into, to feeling really, you know,

safe and aware when I have all of these different stressors and life

threatening, issues in my environment.

So this is such an important point about coming back into

the present because the body.

Is telling us the story that it needs to tell us to keep us safe.

But when we slow things down and you know, like one of my clients might

be having anxiety, which they know that if left unchecked could lead

to a panic attack the body will eventually just escalate that in

order to discharge extra energy and, um, And seek safety.

So once you start noticing that escalation in the body, you could

go, Oh yeah, stop being anxious.

Like, there's nothing to be anxious about.

And, you know, use all those mind, uh, tricks.

Or what I teach them is come into the physical body in that present moment.

Bring awareness into the edges.

Feel yourself in the chair.

Feel your feet on the floor.

Fill your lungs breathing.

It's like, let's get every bit of information in the present moment,

because then the body has no other choice, but to realize that it's

actually okay, it's breathing.

In that moment, nothing bad is happening.

You're not failing that test or having that conversation or

conflict that you're anticipating.

You're not doing any of that.

You're just in the.

Yes.

you're okay and you're safe.

So coming back, and I use that invitation a lot, that phrasing has

come back to the edges because some clients feel to come in anywhere deeper

is like too hard or too confusing.

And so I will use that, like come to the edges, like where do you

feel your physical body come into contact with the environment?

And what in the environment supports the body?

Do you have a supportive chair that like gets to hold the gravity

or maybe it's the floor, or maybe you have like a really soft hoodie and

you really like that on your skin?

Right?

So we really literally can use very specific language.

It's like come back in to this moment and feel your edges.

And often people are surprised by how good that feels.

Something so simple is like coming back to my body and just feeling my edges and then

like, what does that, you know, feel like?

And they're like, Oh, I feel more relaxed.

Like I can breathe a little bit more deeper.

And it's like, well, because all of a sudden now your body is tracking

that you're here now, and that past or present isn't where its attention is.

It's just right.

Right now?

Yeah,

Yeah.

so let me ask you, Laura, cuz I feel like

this is an important question.

I know this comes up for me and it probably comes up for a lot of people,

is when we've had an adversarial relationship with our bonding, right?

We've objectified it, right?

We've, it's been objectified.

Maybe we've had abuse, you know, I was raped, which I've talked about

a few times in many different areas when we've had that experience.

Where do we start to create a relationship with our body?

Like how do we start to reclaim that, that piece of ourselves, and I know I've talked

a little bit about my experience of when I, you know, started, I took that somatic

class in college and you know, the teacher literally changed my life by letting

me feel my body for the first time.

I think.

Mm-hmm.

but like for listeners and people who are like,

Yeah, that's great, you know, , like, I don't, I don't like my body.

I don't have a good relationship.

It makes me panic.

The thought of like appreciating my body or being in my body, like

where do we start to create a better.

Relationship with our body so that we, we, we can reclaim our aliveness, right?

We can re reclaim our full vitality, reclaim our feeling, reclaim our

connection to self in that way.

you know, through a lot of my life, even with as much experience as I've had, even

with as much understanding as I have about it, even with, you know, like my first

experience being when I was quite young, I still struggle to stay in my body, to

feel my body to come back to my body.

So like, Where's kind of a good place to start?

Yeah, that's a really great question cuz I

have a lot of clients that come into my office hopeful to recover.

A connection and, and also terrified

about what would that mean for me to have a relationship with this body that

has been maybe a source of pain or a place that for a long time they learned

to live outside of for various reasons.

Or like you said, you know, just, Body shaming and feeling like my body doesn't

look the way it's supposed to look or doesn't fit into the culture, right?

So there's a lot of wound people can experience a lot of wounding

that's in the body about the body.

And so then to come back into connection with it can feel

really difficult and off putting.

However, like so much of.

Healing things can happen in small baby steps.

So it's not about full on exposure therapy type of like, okay, now you

go from a hun from zero to a hundred.

It's like recognizing that returning to your body is going to be a journey

just like you journeyed out of it.

When you have all these reasons why you checked out and you didn't like it or

you, felt shame around it, we are going to return to the body and this is where

using that to the degree that you're able,

I tell my clients like, just come in to the degree that you're able and that's it.

We don't push, we don't expect more.

We just come in to the degree that we're able, Maybe you only feel the tip of your.

and that's okay for now.

And so this very much of a normalization, a lot of compassion,

a lot of understanding that this is a journey and that there were

lots of things that happened along the way that eroded the trust.

Returning to your body is just about preparing a relationship.

And people know, like if you stand in front of this person, a person that

you've had conflict with, you know, you don't feel completely just ready

to go and embrace them and hug them.

You've gotta reestablish trust.

So I find ways in which people can learn to trust their sensations,

again, to feel the body just for a few moments, and then we come out of it.

So let's just feel your feet and like what, what's the safest part

of the body to feel, You know, for a lot of people it's feet or hands.

So it's like, okay, just feel that for a little bit and notice, and then

when your body says no, cuz if the body is holding some of that pain or

trauma, it might say, Nope, no more.

And we respect that.

We're like, Okay, the

body says no.

yes.

I think that's so important because I think, you know, in our life

we've been taught right, because of society, because of the way the

structures are that we should push.

We should.

Just get it done.

You know, high achievers, right?

Or just like, We should just accomplish it all.

We should just do it, but we should be resilient.

We should just go for it.

We should just bring it on, right?

Like it was like, so much of the thinking is there, and yet, coming back into the

body is a very gentle, very respectful.

I love that.

Like understanding that our body is protecting us.

Right.

Just that, I think just that piece, our body is not working against us

cuz so many of us believe that, Right?

Our body is never worked against us.

It is always in support of us and what it perceives, whether it perceives

threat or doesn't perceive threat, like everything it does is wise and operational

That's right.

That's

And so like, you know, having that understanding is so

important so that we, we listen to it and we're gentle with it, and so we can

guide that process, but it is not about shoving ourselves back into our body.

Right.

Like forcing ourselves, packing it in.

I, I think that like, sometimes we think that, right?

I know sometimes I do.

Where I'm like, Okay, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna get in my body today,

you

Yeah, Conquer that

And then we're, we're frustrated with ourselves when it

doesn't happen, or we're frustrated ourselves when we disconnected instead

of being curious or being kind or just saying, Yay, you know what?

Like for five minutes I was in my body, or, Oh, I can feel my hands today.

Right?

So just like this, this respectfulness, and I really love that.

You know, in a way we're asking consent of the.

Mm-hmm.

us.

Like, can we come in a little bit?

And when you say no, that's okay.

Right.

We'll, we'll honor that consent.

And so I think that's a really cool way to look at it and helpful.

Cause I feel like oftentimes we're applying our other learning

, Laura Shook-Guzman: Mm-hmm.

to, to forcing things or pushing things or.

not being gentle with our bodies and, and that's what it's reacting to, right?

All the ways we've not been gentle to our bodies.

Yes.

So many, Things that we have done to the body to make the body conform

or to meet our expectations and to just change that, you know, to being

able to be, oh, like what does my body need and can I just, Gently give

it that or, or back up, you know?

And, and so that's, that, that trust is being reestablished.

and that's probably the focus of the work when people come in and they

really want to reconnect to the body.

It's not just like, let's jump in.

You know?

It's, it's a reestablishing of that relationship and that

trust, and that takes time.

And then as you start to realize, you can trust yourself to feel the body.

Trust yourself to feel what aliveness is or what that sensation, you know, cuz

we're nervous about intense energy in the body and it's like, oh, but I just

felt that and I was okay and I took deep breaths and I like grounded it down or

I moved that energy through, you know, I'm really grateful for the, the vantage

point that it gives me and like the ways that I see my body now when I experience

discomfort or experience pain before I was as aware, I think that I would have,

you know, Physical pain and just be like, Oh, you know, I must have tweaked

something, or I must have, I don't know.

It's like, what's wrong with that?

And you just kind of think, uh, you just kinda wait for your

body to heal or get better.

But now I'm so much more attuned.

To know, so what my body feels like at its resting state, and then

I can tell when something's off.

Like recently I had the flu and so, you know, there's like the usual aches and

pains and stuff that come with the flu.

But after I was recovering, I noticed, I'm like, hmm, there's something

feeling really still stuck in my body.

and I can feel the difference.

And I feel like it has something to do with recovering and being

exhausted and and energy being kind of like stuck in the body.

But um, I need to tend to it.

And it's not about taking ibuprofen or just like numbing it out.

I was like, I need to figure out what's going on with the body.

So I just started following the sensations of like, what feels good.

Mm-hmm.

like, Oh, I wanna lay on my back, or I wanna.

Or I wanna stretch or pull my hamstrings up, you know?

And just following and following and following, like,

what is it that's happening?

What do I need?

And then I would notice like just exercise, like stretching

and being with the body.

I'd get up and I'm like, Oh, that feels better.

And then when I was finally feeling a lot more, um, recovered, I went to a

yoga class and I told the teacher, I was like, I really just need to work on

spinal twists cuz I'm like, I have so much energy still in my body from being sick.

And so after that class, my body felt like back to its self again.

And it made me realize that we really underestimate.

The power of just knowing intimately the way that our body moves energy

and what it needs, and how energy can get stuck or it can get stagnant

or it can need recovery and support.

That's not just like time passing, but like my body needed some of this

really specific poses or movements

and so I just wouldn't have known that.

A decade ago,

I would've just been like probably waiting for my, Oh, I'm still achy from

the flu, but this time I knew, I was like, my body just took a hit and it

needs some extra movement and support and postures to fully recover and,

and get back to its resting state.

Yeah.

And you know, I don't even know that a lot of people understand

the role that the body plays.

Like, so, you know, we often talk about the body in terms

of like physicalness, right?

So we talk about the body in terms of like health or in terms of how we feel

or, you know, But I don't think that a lot of people recognize that almost

all of their challenges in life are in some way connected to the body, right?

Like, I cause I was thinking about.

How a lot of people are like, Oh, well this is.

Like, Yeah.

I'd like to be connected to my body.

That's nice.

And you know, but then they'll go off and still prioritize the things

that are in their way, right?

The things that are like affecting them, you know?

Um, maybe it's like they're struggling socially or maybe they're

not able to step into, the voice they wanna have in their business.

Or maybe they struggle with sales or maybe they, um, they hate their job

and they're just challenge, you know?

So all kind of the day to day challenges that we have in the

world, I think oftentimes we never connect it to our body.

But the body that we're talking about is at the core of all of that.

Right.

And I think if we can make that connection for our listeners, I think that's a

really important piece, Oftentimes, the way we're responding to things in

the world, the way we're experiencing things in the world is about the body.

the body is determining how we're experiencing things.

Whether we're able to take in information or we're not take information.

Whether we perceive things as a threat or not is a threat.

Like so much of what we are doing is a hundred percent related to our body.

And I think the world because it's disconnected and

objectified our bodies, right?

it's left out all the truth.

Of how much our body is at play in every single moment we're living in the world.

And so, can we talk a little bit about that?

Because I think, you know, I, I can see even like in my own mind, I'm like, Oh

yeah, like, you know, Oh, when I'm sick, I can totally see how like I bring the

body in, but like, what about my everyday things that I think, oh, the body's not a

part of, It's just the thing I drag along.

It's working or it's not working.

How can we connect that so that people understand that the body is at the

heart and the core of every single thing you are dealing with in your world?

Oh, that's such a good, highlight.

And, and I think that I struggle with this, you know, with clients

in my sessions, um, because it's a very hard thing for people to get and

they.

And they keep coming, you know, keep coming back to the thinking of like,

okay, so yeah, I get everything that you're saying, but then, okay,

so how am I gonna get more clear about what I'm supposed to do next?

Right?

Because we're, we're gonna, I need, by the end of the session, like I

wanna figure out what my answer is gonna be and then keep going back.

And I'm like, Yep.

So okay, let's come back in.

You know, if we're gonna find that clarity, we need to keep coming back.

To the body and into the present moment.

Like there's so much information that you're going to

gain when you learn to source it from there,

but it's very typical for us as human beings because we're so, um, Used to

sourcing all this information from the mind that were like, Yeah, yeah,

yeah, okay, I'll get back in the body.

But yeah, I'm gonna, but I

need to figure this out, you know?

And

just keep going back to the narrative and back to the narrative and, and

I'm sometimes a broken record cuz I'm just like, But we won't know those

answers until we can stay in the body and

come back.

To being present with the south, cuz that's where you're unlocking

so much of the inner wisdom.

this is why, like when you are walking in the middle of a beautiful, sunlight

woods, like you're walking through the woods and the sun's coming through and

you hear the waterfall and like there these moments in nature that you're

just, Oh, I feel so clear right now.

I feel like I know what I'm gonna do next for work.

I feel like I'm gonna know what to do now with this thing.

Like we take these walks to clear our head

, because we're literally getting out of it.

we're trying to get out of the head and be in the body.

Like so much of how we're we are experiencing the world,

is connected to our perception, and perception is connected to our body.

Yes.

Yeah.

because I think we've just been misled because we

have this perception or this idea, or this perception that perception is

related to the mind, that everything's

related to the mind and how we think.

But the body comes first, right?

The body perceives unconsciously like our autonomics, you know, nervous system.

Right.

It's, it's like it perceives unconsciously, and then sure, we go

and make meaning and we like do all these things in our thinking brain,

but that is not where it originates.

That's not where experience is.

can you talk a little bit about that?

Like in a very simple, I mean obviously like the body and biology

and nervous system, like they're all very, very big topics, but like in a

simple way, how does our experience in the world relate the body?

Well, I mean, is exactly what you just said, that so much

of the information is coming in, in the present moment in the body, unconsciously

by the time it ends up in a thought.

That's like the summary, You know, like the whole story

started when your body started to.

Sense that something was occurring and started to take information in.

I think even prior, um, I mean, how many years ago, Steven pos as a scientist, um,

that termed neuroception, but for me, I'm like, did we not have that word before?

Like, how did we not have that word?

So neuroception is the ability to understand what the nervous system.

Perceiving.

It's the perception, and you're right, we've always had all these like cognitive

perceptions, like how we perceive the world through our thinking mind.

But neuroception is how our body in the nervous system is perceiving what is

happening, what is safe, what is not safe, You know, who's safe to engage

with or who do we need to move away from?

We're constantly needing to find orientation.

In our natural state.

and then there's also a term called interception.

So this is the ability to perceive inside of self so that we can go,

Oh, I have that fluttery in my.

Stomach.

That must mean that I'm nervous or I'm excited about something or I feel

really, distracted or I feel numb.

It's like, Oh, something's causing me to feel unsafe right now

that I'm actually checking out.

And this whole perception of what's happening inside of our body is

what I spend a lot of time teaching my clients because it's not.

A perception that we are taught in schools.

It's not a perception of language that we hear from our parents very often,

unless they're on that journey of being, you know, Well, how do you know that?

How does your body tell you this?

And one of the therapists who've taken Steven Port's work and apply it taught

other therapists how to use it in the clinical room is, um, Deb Dana.

And she uses the term that the state.

Is what creates the story.

So the state of the body, the state of your neuroception, what you're perceiving

is what creates the story that you see.

So if I am grounded, am embodied, present, and I walk into a meeting, and

I see somebody with their head down in like looking really distressed.

I'm probably not gonna personalize that in the moment cuz I'm very

already grounded within myself.

So I might just be like, Oh, let me see how I can help.

Is there's something going on, What's going on?

And, and staying really calm and being able to just aid someone.

Versus if I was in a state of overwhelm and I walk in, then I'm like, Oh

shit, I'm getting fired today.

Or like something bad is happening and then, you know, I'm all like panicked.

And so our internal state is constantly causing us to interact

with our world in different ways.

And so that's another reason why it's so important to learn the language.

Learn how to perceive inside of self, become mindful of those states of

being, because then we have choice points of to regulate and to calm

ourselves down and, and change the way that we're interacting with our

environment in a much more positive way.

Yes.

I mean, , it's like I, I know we're running like we we're kind of at

time, but I'm like, are, there's so much more I wanna like talk about.

Right.

And so, yeah, I mean I think the more that I learn about the nervous system,

the more that I realize like, wow, that's at the core of so much of our experience.

Right.

So, my nervous system is interacting with everyone else's nervous system.

And I'm, I'm kind of playing this out and like dissecting

this within my family, right?

Cuz I know my family fairly well.

You know, I can kind of see like, oh, like that's all of our nervous systems and

they're all responding and then they're perceiving things in a particular way.

And then we're reacting.

And then we're interacting and it's like, Where I could look at is all of our

problems in our family and say, or all of our challenges in our family and say,

Oh, well this person is doing this and this person's doing this, and they're just

have bad behavior and they have like a bad, you know, they're not thinking right,

and they need to change their beliefs or they're very, you know, whatever.

There's a million things.

I could look at it, but looking at it from the body.

Is very, very different and it's allowing me to have more empathy and

compassion to understand how much that's shifting, what we're able to

experience with each other, what we're able to appreciate with each other,

and that, The body is the key, right?

The thinking and the perceptions in the mind, the cognitive perceptions

as you said, and the, and the beliefs and the stuff, the, all that stuff

up there comes after the body.

And so we can keep trying to navigate all that, but the body is the one

that is creating the experience.

And so, I'm learning so much about how important.

The body is in that.

And I think a lot of people, the reason why they don't pay more attention to

their body or you know, they think that this is kind of nice, it's a nice

topic, but you know, I'll prioritize that somewhere down the road is because

they don't really understand how the body is at the heart of it all.

And so I think, you know, that's sort of just so important to keep highlighting.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for highlighting that because I think that even in

my, um, or because I am teaching it a lot, sometimes I can forget

the, the most simple statement.

It's just like how instrumental it is to not just heal from trauma

or specifically, you know, um, address a certain disconnect.

It's like it is foundational to a happy, integrated, connected

life and that we are energetic.

Beings, yet we live inside this container and all of that energy is firing and,

and giving us all sorts of information.

And if we just cut off from that, then we are missing out on so much

of the experience that we're meant to have and we're missing out on

deeper connections with each other.

Yeah, I agree.

because the nervous system is wired for love it.

It's wired for connection and it will keep us safe.

If it thinks that there is threat, it will stay in a state of alert

and threat and that protection.

But just like Dr.

Schwartz says about internal family system parts, there are no bad parts.

And I believe that about the body there, there's, there's no bad parts in the body.

It's just the body doing what it has evolved to do to keep

us safe and befriending the body, returning to its wisdom.

It has so much to show us, so many ways to guide us, and we are not stuck

just relying on that thinking brain.

We have so much information to gather.

From the body.

Yes, Yes.

Thank you so much for this great episode, Laura.

I just, I think it's so important.

Like I said, I could, I mean, I feel like we could have like five other episodes

and on extensions of this, but I think this is, was a really important topic and

an important part of reclaiming ourselves.

And, you know, I, I appreciate you for joining us, so

Mm, Thank you.

Yes.

I really enjoyed it as well.

All right, and thank you listeners for being here.

We so appreciate you and we will see you next week.

Well thanks for joining us today, and I

hope you enjoyed the show.

If you wanna learn more about this topic, head over to conscious ambition.com.

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