I joke quite a bit that we can blame Descartes for geometry (and math!), but I feel like there’s something even larger than the trouble with math that we need to blame him for, and that’s the modern concept of mind-body dualism. He wasn’t the first to write about it, and in fact the idea goes back to the Ancient Greeks and I would argue a misunderstanding of the idea of matter and consciousness found in yoga and Vedic philosophy. What has come to us through this lineage, but especially Descartes combined with a large dose of Christianity’s story of Adam and Eve, is that the body is sinful, bad, and the mind is spiritual and pure. Thus, we should focus on the mind and not on the body, because anything physical can be polluting.
What this means is even if you didn’t grow up overtly Christian or steeped in what’s known as purity culture, there still is a societal sense that the body is bad. We see this in the American reaction to sexuality, where showing a breast on television can be seen as obscene, but a violent killing spree is just part of television.
If we are to create a theology of our body, we have to know it.
This leads us to the problem of needing to map the theology of our body without really feeling comfortable with it, our feelings, or the sensations our body gives us. If we experience body dysphoria or gender dysphoria that could also impact our relationship with our body.
Getting comfortable in our own skin as much as we can — again understanding that dysphoria is a major concern and one that I also experience — can help us to get to know our body. I use two techniques, grounding and gentle movement, to help with being in my body, an embodied being as it were, rather than my body being something separate from “me”. In short, I need to dissolve that sense of mind-body dualism that so permeates our culture.
Grounding
For grounding I rely on two different practices. The first is a guided meditation. There are many varieties to this, but one of the most common is to center yourself in a comfortable position and where your body touches a surface, such as lying on a bed, sitting in a chair, or standing on the floor, envision roots growing down from your body into the ground. Breathe in the energy provided by the sun (or moon, even if it’s cloudy, depending on time of day) and then envision that going through your body and down into the ground, creating roots as you grow. Do this for as long as you feel comfortable. I’ll often incorporate pranayama breathing exercises when I’m doing this, but that’s a more advanced practice.
The second is a body check in or scan. I’ll begin with my toes, wiggling them, and seeing how they feel. Do they hurt? Confined in shoes or socks? Then my foot, moving up my legs to my hips, back and shoulders, then down my arms, before checking in with my neck and head. You can combine this with a progressive relaxation technique if you’re lying down, where you tense the muscles and release them. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough so you know that you’ve activated those muscles.
Gentle Movement
My go to for gentle movement has been yoga and walking. I do a lot of walking on a daily basis simply because of taking care of the animals (especially the horses), as well as moving between my office cabin and the house. For yoga, I have a weekly time with a friend when I do yoga, and I try to work in poses throughout my day, though I do take time for a routine during the week. I tend to do the poses that feel good in the moment, such as a sun salutation or even just a minute of warrior pose or gentle stretching.
Gentle movement has the effect of grounding me in my body. It helps me to feel my body move and to have that moment feel good without judgment or shame.
Feeling The Body Helps To Craft A Body Theology
When we are able to feel into our body, whether through grounding, gentle moment, or some other practice, then we can begin to craft a body theology. We’ll do this through finding our spiritual story, building it up bit by bit until we have the construct which works for us.
