The makings of an Embodied Spirituality
To make sense of things, I looked into my lived experience by bringing together studies into trauma, neuroscience, theology and spirituality. One of the aims was to come away with an understanding about the way my experiences shape a sense of an embodied spirituality. This series of snippets from my research present some of the markings of what i uncovered.
Stretching and Yielding: A Contemplative Path to address Trauma’s Rupture
For an embodied spirituality to companion the traumatised, there is a need to be responsive to its overwhelming persistence. As Van der Kolk describes, “…trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on the mind, brain and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present.”[1] In the face of this reality, Gerald May’s conception of ’stretching and yielding’ ushers a useful way of navigating this torrid terrain. May suggests, “Stretching and yielding are transitions between these states of being, which - …permit a continual flexibility and flow instead of one frozen condition. Translated into the wholeness of our being, stretching and yielding are the way of joining in the ever-evolving rhythms of love….”[2]
The rationale for stitching together an embodied spirituality that contains these elements finds traction in this rallying cry from Marcia Stoop:
While trauma unveils both the power and the peril of embodied existence, an Incarnational faith points us toward the redemptive possibilities in all of what being flesh, bones, and blood entails. Embracing the transformative possibilities of Christianity means exploring this barren place in ourselves…Those of us who have embodied trauma come to the edge of our cognition repeatedly in the tenacity of how our bodies hold memory, harm, grief, and pain. Giving the body space to breathe and move and connect and lament saves lives. These practices are the pathways back home to ourselves…The truth that trauma tells us begins with how important body-centered practices are for spiritual life to be robust, life-giving, and transformative.[3]
[1] B. Van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score, 21.
[2] G. G. May, The Awakened Heart: Opening Yourself to the Love you Need, (New York: Harper Collins, (1993), 127.
[3] M. Shoop, “Body-Wise”, in Trauma and Transcendence, location 253, kindle.