The Body as Gift

One of the main goals of therapeutic bodywork  is to facilitate the experience of "the body as gift." This is in contrast to our culture's view of "the body as object." An object (like a rock) does not have feelings. But Bodies have feelings. Bodies FEEL. We feel. If we don't feel, it may be that we are actually "cut off" from our body's ability to perceive and process. The body learns, the body remembers. As one of my friends is very fond of saying, "The body does not lie."

It is not healthy to view our Self as separate from our Body. This is the wonder of being human. We are embodied spiritual beings, which differentiates us from angels (spirits). In the movie, City of Angels (1998) there is an interesting conversation about how angels are puzzled and intrigued by the human experience of being embodied. Because we have bodies, we can feel what it is like to run a marathon, hug a friend, feel the sun on your face, let a snowflake melt on your tongue, taste strawberry pie, smell a rose, enjoy sexual intimacy. You have to have a body to experience these things.

So, therapeutic bodywork helps people experience their body as Gift, i.e., as Good. This translates into themselves being a gift, and good. This may be quite a revolution/revelation. Some people may have experienced terrible things in their body (trauma)--or have experienced nothing at all (neglect/deprivation). Both experiences tend to cause the body to be forgotten, or in some instances, even punished as if it had done something wrong.And then people begin to believe that they themselves are wrong/bad.

Sensitive and caring bodywork can facilitate a "coming home" to one's body--where we can truly embrace our body as our friend, our Home. The Christian faith is one of the few faith systems where the body is not left behind--but is itself restored and redeemed. Our body is the dwelling our own spirit....and of God's Spirit. When the Bible talks about our body being the temple of the Holy Spirit....this is what it means. God can and does LIVE IN US. That should blow our socks off! Our body, our Gift, our Home.

Why the Incarnation?

There are of course many important reasons that Christ came in the flesh, theologically known as The Incarnation. But from a bodywork perspective, the Incarnation holds unique importance. It is a common maxim in bodywork that "People hold their issues in their tissues." What this means in its basic sense is that we are not just creatures of our minds, but are truly embodied. Most people identify with the fact that they hold "stress" in various places in their bodies. But the fact is, we hold all of our emotions in our bodies. Sometimes we may hold anxiety in our gut, anger in our throat,grief in our heart, or confusion in our heads. The list could go on. But one of the aims of bodywork is to help people release the issues in their tissues--to release the emotions and pain that have been stored there and have been preventing them from living an abundant life.

By coming in the flesh, the Incarnation, Christ Jesus redeemed our bodies. He desires to free us from the brokenness in our bodies...and is why in the great Eucharistic Prayer, He says, "This is my Body, Broken for You."