what we practice is what we embody, what we embody is what we transmit.

what we practice is what we embody. what we embody is what we transmit.

this is one of the first teachings of embodiment I received at the hands of Jessica Patterson at Root Center for Yoga and Sacred Studies. It’s been repeated to me by generative somatics practitioners and my practitioner Vanissar Tarakali.

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if we embody is what we transmit, applying intention to our practice and to our embodiment is paramount. do we wish to continue to transmit the somatic shape (generative somatics) of white supremacy, colonization, and violence? or do we wish to practice a new way of being?

not only do we attend to the somatic shape of our individual embodiment, we can attend to the collective shape. the spaces we inhabit and learn from also hold a somatic shape that will be transmitted to us. is that a shape that we want to embody, or is that a shape that is resistant to reshaping, and tries to force us into the shapes of white supremacy and systemic oppression?

this can be a way we orient our choices as well of what spaces we occupy, where we align ourselves. in what shape is the collective space organizing itself under, what is it embodying? is that an embodiment we want to inhabit? we will necessarily be shaped by the collective shape (we see this individually with how we each hold white supremacy and patriachal conditioning in our own bodies, for instance). with that in mind, what spaces do we want to shape us and be shaped by?

we can do this also by tuning into our individual embodied response to certain spaces. i have found through years of somatic practice that i know what institutional spaces feel like in my body. i know what white supremacy feels like in my body on a sensation level (numb, flattening, deadening, static, too smooth, no friction, veneer along my chest and through my stomach). if I encounter this in space, it’s then a warning to me of, if I choose to occupy this space, it will be in opposition to my own values of moving towards embodied solidarity with Black, brown, and indigenous folks.

it begins with our own practice, first attending to what we individually embody and then attending to the collective bodies that work to shape us. what we practice together is what we embody together, what we embody together is what we transmit together. personally if i am working from a somatic shape of power-with, i want to embody spaces that embody power-with, rather than the white supremacist shaping of power-over.

these are ways we can begin to work with embodiment not just as an individual attending but a collective one.

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