Enlivening the Inner World through Embodiment By Adrienne Edson
One of my favorite aspects of yoga is moving the body in combination with imagination. I find
the result to be a thrilling look into the vast realms within and an opportunity to get to know
oneself with ever greater awareness and depth. In embodiment, there is a chance to feel into the
moods, shades, and qualities that are alive, to move energy, to process, express, and explore
hidden parts of self, and to bring all parts together into wholeness in the spirit of belonging. The
experience becomes a journey of the body in physical planes simultaneous with a journey of the
soul in subtle energetic planes. It is vast and infinite.
Oxford Languages defines embodiment as: “a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality or
feeling.” In other words, embodiment communicates formlessness through form. Thoughts,
sensations, emotions, all of our wonderments, longings, inquiries, hopes, dreams, aspects,
qualities, all that stirs in our soul can be expressed into the art that is movement. More than just
movement, I believe embodiment can occur through conscious stillness and through the
experience of being present in our body, being present to the place where the soul experiences
itself.
One way to practice embodiment is through asana – the yoga poses and forms, and the flow
between them. When we practice, we participate in formlessness becoming form, and engage in
form to enter into formlessness. While our innerworlds can express through embodiment, our
embodied practice can explore that which is formless within us. In doing this we participate in
being alive, in the process of the unfolding mystery that is both within and that we are part of.
To me, this is the purpose of life: to evolve in love. We can connect to it, get to know it, and
participate in it, as we move in our bodies and in our souls.
I propose a view of embodiment through three steps: opening into authenticity, exploring all
parts of self, and lovingly integrating all parts into wholeness.
First, we must arrive in authenticity. This is connection to our true nature, love, and an honest
look at the qualities alive in the heart. What heart strings are pulling, what are the stirrings and
longings alive and moving through and within us?
Might it be that the longings are to know oneself more deeply? A heart dream or desire for
union with soul, with source, with love, and to know the love that is an infinite well within? And
so in this second step of embodiment, there is an invitation to explore all parts of self, so that
they can be brought together into union, into wholeness of soul. Thus we partake in svadhyaya –
‘self study’- the fourth niyama of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
Parts of self can include archetypal aspects, shadow aspects, and hidden and long-lost parts in the
vast realm within. These aspects of self could be the parts of us, for example, that feel at times
anxious or embarrassed, envious, sad, or scared, much like the characters of Inside Out. These
could be parts of self that are perhaps considered taboo by societal voices. Parts that are more
expressive, wild, or eccentric. They could be parts that are just out of eyesight or conscious
knowing, our shadows, parts that govern our unconscious behavior until we see them with
illumined clarity.
When we uncover these previously denied or repressed aspects, we have an opportunity to learn
what those parts have to teach us for our soul’s growth. Through embodied exploration paired
with imagination, one could personify aspects of oneself and engage in conversation to
understand one’s soul more deeply.
For a personal example, there is a part of me that can’t seem to settle down. Perhaps this aspect
feels like it isn’t accepted by societal standards of traditional family and work life , and so it is
further denied, and in turn exasperated. I’ll personify this aspect as a restless adventurer. More
specifically, as a sailor setting sails for new voyages. During a yoga practice, I could through
imagination enter into vast oceanic realms within, drawn toward mystical islands. I could ask
this sailor of my heart, “Why do you sail?”. And as my body is pulled from child’s pose into
intuitive, interwoven spinal warm-ups, I could answer: “I feel a pull to explore this world so that
I can know myself more. I fear that settling down will mean I won’t understand myself as vast
and mystical as the great unknown.” Hearing myself say this, I might come to understand that I
have a need for a unique and inspiring existence.
This brings me to the third step of embodiment: lovingly bringing all parts into wholeness,
infusing them with heart, soul, aliveness, and belonging. I could welcome the restless adventurer
to an island called home, where all fears of depravity of a unique and inspiring existence are quelched by an overwhelming sense of infinite mystery within. I could continue exploring inquiries of how to navigate rootedness and adventure and the vastness within through yoga
asana of flowing sun salutation variations: moving from peaceful warrior, sweeping into side angle, peaceful warrior, into a dragonfly twist. Dancing through the air, moved by prana: breath, life-force, what fills the sails of my being and propels me on my way. The next poses would be like words in a story or paint strokes on a canvas to be revealed as they are lived out and
embodied. I could lower into a squatting toe balance like descending into the mystical
underworld island of Atlantis. I could become the boat that carries me in navasana, moving
through the currents of my unconscious realm. And at the end of my embodiment practice, I
could bring my hands together, thumb touching thumb and finger cradling as a gesture of
wholeness.
Honoring the adventurer within through embodiment and imagination, I can explore and
listen to what they have to teach me and integrate newfound wisdom into my reality.
Welcoming mystical parts of our soul like this into wholeness can bring with it a sense of belonging.
Story and Song to bolster the Embodiment Experience
By viewing all stories as a reflection of parts of our own souls and selves, all stories then can be
mirrors of rich content for our soul’s journeys. Entering into a story can resonate chords of our
own truths and help us to discover new depths and immeasurable treasures within. The practice
can get us into our hearts, connecting us to the soul-self, the mysterious unfolding within, where
one lives out the Hero’s Journey. The steps of Embodiment– of opening into authenticity,
uncovering mystical parts of self, and bringing them together– can take the form of infinite
stories. When one meets a story that kindles an awakening, it is a pull toward that which aligns
with the evolution of love depicted for us in a unique expression. Stories can paint for us the
multi-dimensional and ever-transforming canvas of our inner worlds, which through embodiment
and imagination, we explore.
Song can connect us to the deepest place of our heart and express the truth of one’s power and
longing for union with soul, source, and love. Reverberating one’s whole being with this truth
and loving intention can move energy and integrate the soul journey: wisdom and true nature
knowing into our whole being. When we sing or chant, we are in our bodies, connecting to
subtle energetic layers, planes of being within. The vocal chords become the bridge between
formlessness and form. Opening one’s voice to express sacred truth and authenticity can be an
intimate connection of heart within to the world around us, and vice versa when we process our
experience through the art of song.
The story of The Wolf Woman to Demonstrate Embodiment, Soul-Exploration, and
Belonging
The story of La Loba, the Wolf Woman, Chapter One from Women Who Run with the Wolves by
Clarissa Pinkola Estés is a beautiful story about gathering together parts of ourselves and
breathing into them the quality of aliveness. In the story, the parts of ourselves are symbolized
by bones scattered throughout the desert. The desert is our soul-psyche. The archetype who
gathers up the bones is La Loba, the Wolf Woman. She lives in each of us. She gathers the
bones and sings over them. By singing over them, the bones become enlivened, turning into a
wolf running free.
By participating in the story, one may experience the stages and purpose of embodiment:
1. First, one opens into the authentic heartspace, into the soul-psyche, through the
desert landscape.
2. Next, one uncovers all of the bones, all of the dismantled parts of self.
3. Finally, the bones are brought together, sung over, and come to life.
When we sing our soul-song, the truth of our power and our longing for union with soul, source,
and love, we reverberate what is most authentic within. It can bring to life that which has felt
dried out as bones in a desert. By entering into a story, by becoming the wolf woman and the
wolf, there is an opportunity to bring what may have been unconscious into the light and to work
through subtle energetic blockages, to heal and empower our being.
Such is a soul journey experience. It is embodiment on multiple layers that allows one to
participate in the process of love evolution. By opening into ourselves and exploring the vast
soul within, we can get to know our own souls and selves with greater awareness and depth.
Through loving integration, there can be a deep connection to love, trust, and a knowing of
wholeness and belonging.
Embodiment practices are a mystical experience! Meaning, it is felt and understood through
experiencing it firsthand in a bone-deep, heart-deep, space-between-cell-deep way. More than
intellectual understanding, it must be lived. Do you hear the call?
Book References:
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, PhD.
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love by Robert Johnson
Man and His Symbols by Carl G. Jung and Associates
Music:
New Single Mystical Islands by Adrienne Edson, releases October 2nd
Trust by Rad Bhav
Music for Mushrooms by East Forest
Opportunity to Practice:
Day to Night Flow with Rad Bhav at Swan River
A two-hour yoga session that moves from a more energetic practice into a restorative session with
live music by kirtan band Rad Bhav! The session will begin with the story of The Wolf Woman and a
sacred earth song. The theme will be woven through the embodiment practice, which will move from a
more dynamic flow into a restorative practice. In this unique and extraordinary soul-connecting
experience, there will be a chance to explore and love all parts of self in the spirit of belonging.
Sunday, September 15th,
5-7pm
Sliding Scale: $11-44