Month 1 Recording & Resources

Hi there,

It was so wonderful to connect with those of you who could join us live for our first webinar. If you didn’t make it, we missed you! And we understand.

Thank you so much for signing on to unlearn with us. Last night, you shared a bit about yourselves in the chat, along with your reasons for signing up for our School for Unlearning. You considered what it means to be embodied, when you feel most embodied, and what has come between you and being at home in your body.

Many of us move around the world like floating heads, pretty disconnected from the body. When we begin to reconnect with the body, we are Entering the Wilderness, leaving the domain that is mapped and controlled by the brain. In many ways, we are all habituated to leave the body. Body-based oppression and traumatic experiences disrupt embodiment. Diet culture tells us that we cannot trust our bodies and indoctrinates us into a mechanistic way of thinking about the body, food, and health. Learning to leave the body is sometimes the wisest way to navigate a world that does not respect or value all bodies.

Our experiences of embodiment shift and change over the course of our lives, from positive to negative. The point of this work isn’t to become present, or embodied, all of the time. It’s to create more opportunities for radical presence. In the book Radical Dharma, Lama Rod Owens writes, "Radical presence is being in the world, taking up space, and loving myself without apology. It’s the practice of authenticity, which is the practice of staying true to one’s self. It implies that what we say or do is in accord with our truest desires and aspirations."

We do C- work in Body Trust. We are not aiming to earn an A+. Striving, perfecting and doing it all just so comes from dominant culture (and diet culture profits off of it). In this work we get accustomed to staying with the uncertainty. We let the messy process be messy.

Our ability to access all of this depends on a variety of factors, so be gentle with yourself. Stay curious. Notice the little windows of opportunity that arise to learn. Over time, these experiences change us. This is where healing happens.

We are sending along this workbook with lots of journaling prompts and some recommended resources to support your exploration of this month’s topic. Here’s the link to the recording of the live webinar, as well as a PDF handout of the slides.

For those who want to connect outside of the group, we’ve created this google doc for you to share your contact information with one another. And you can request to join our Body Trust Network, a Facebook Group for people who’ve participated in a program, workshop, or retreat with us. Our Saturday Zoom Meetups will be other opportunities to chat with folks in the program.

We will be in touch in a couple of weeks to check in. Be sure December 9th is on your calendar. Our next topic is Divestment as a Form of Care with guest speaker Desiree Adaway!