Embodied Ecology
There is a growing field of recognition that our experience of being in a body is absolutely informed and impacted by our environment. That we are not humans having isolated experiences, but that our very somatic sense of who we are is always in conversation with the world around us.
This field, called eco-somatics, isn’t uncovering “new” knowledge, it is just finally being named by academia. The idea of our body as woven into the matrix of life is indigenous wisdom. It is what all of our ancestors knew to be true.
Our ancient ancestors never had the experience of living in isolation or even a sense of being a solitary individual. Our early ancestors lived from an embodied place of mutual exchange with the living world, embedded in community-mindedness.
Eco-somatics is the interface of where our bodies meet our surroundings and how we feel as we engage with this “Other.” How our bodies form relationship with a plant spirit. What happens when our bodies meet Earth. The exchange of information between our bodies and the elements around them: what is exchanged as they meet wind or river stone or wifi or concrete?
It is how our bodies (and energy) interact with the body (and energy) of what is in our environment. And how this informs us on all levels: how our relationship with the ecology around us, in turn makes up the very ecology of our body.
We are always taking in information and synthesizing it (highly sensitive people to a greater degree). And this information then impacts our entire being: emotional, mental, spiritual and physical.
It is helpful then, for us to track how we move through the landscape, and how the landscape moves through us.
There are endless questions we could ask ourselves as we begin to explore our relationship with the environment around us.
A few to get you started:
How is your environment at this moment informing your felt sense of being a body?
What soundscape is coming into your ears, and how does your body respond?
How bright or dim is the lighting and how does this impact how you feel?
Are there any other living beings in the space with you?
What kind of nourishment did you receive into your body today, and how is this sitting with your system?
What kind of water are you feeding your cells with, and can you notice a difference when you drink different types of water (spring water, filtered water, structured water, water from a plastic bottle, etc.)?
Is there anything you’d like shift or change about your relationship with environment in this exact moment that can support your embodied experience to feel more safe, peaceful, supported, loved, etc.?
As you begin to explore the ways in which your body and the ecology around you are constantly informing one another, you begin to ever to slowly re-embed your body into a wider sense of belonging.
