Feeling at Home In Your Body: Prentis Hemphill on Healing Through Embodiment

Jul 3, 2024

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Do you struggle to feel truly at home in your body? We’re here to tell you; that it is possible. Our episode this week is a topic we return to often because we just can’t hear it enough; how we can heal our connections to our bodies. We have author and embodiment expert, Prentis Hemphill on the show, and she and Jen explore the idea of healing through embodied practices.

Prentis shares poignant insights from their work in the Black community processing racial trauma through reconnecting to embodied cultural practices. Here’s another piece of good news–when you heal your connection to your body, you present a vision of embodied healing that radiates outward - from ourselves to our communities. That in turn can transform oppressive cultures through grounded love. The possibilities are endless when we take agency over our bodies!

Jen and Prentis discuss:

the definitions of somatic practices and embodied healing
the role of embodiment in individual healing, processing trauma, and developing resilience
the connection between individual embodied healing work and the potential for broader cultural/societal healing and transformation
the lack of short-term optimism for societal change, but how unshakable faith rooted in human connection and community will eventually turn the tide

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Thought-Provoking Quotes;

"Somatics is the study of how our experiences and traumas live in the body. It's also a story of how our bodies can be resilient." - by Prentis Hemphill

"I think, generally, the times I feel most free are when I'm with my people and feel fully accepted and loved. When we're eating or dancing or we're cracking up and falling off the couch is when my body feels the absolute freest — when I'm in a loving community." - by Prentis Hemphill

"I love embodiment. I think a lot of it fundamentally is trying to point us in the direction of relationship and authenticity, courage, and care. I think that's when we will be most embodied is when we can live those values." - by Prentis Hemphill

"I think, generally, our culture just doesn't take the space and time to grieve the things that we need to grieve. We haven't celebrated the things we need to celebrate. There's a lot of denial and that stifles our growth. It keeps us, as a society, deeply immature. And I think if we could make some space for those things, a lot would change." - by Prentis Hemphill

"There are no more words that can be said. We can keep talking, but there are not really any more words to say. There's something that has to happen. It has to take root in your belly. It has to be expressed through your actions. You have to change." - by Prentis Hemphill

"To do anything [to create change] is going to be contingent on our ability to stay in relationship with each other." - by Prentis Hemphill

Resources Mentioned in This Episode;

The Black Embodiment Initiative at The Embodiment Institute - https://bit.ly/3xhlAda

You Are Your Best Thing edited by Tarana Burke and Brené Brown - https://bit.ly/3z09C88

Holding Change by Adrienne Maree Brown - https://bit.ly/3RlD3Ig

The Politics of Trauma by Staci Haynes - https://bit.ly/4cjpFwk

What it Takes to Heal by Prentis Hemphill - https://bit.ly/4eoC6ZB

Guest’s Links:

Prentis’ Website - https://prentishemphill.com/

Prentis’ Twitter - https://twitter.com/prentishemphill

Prentis’ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/prentishemphill

Prentis’ Finding Our Way Podcast - https://linktr.ee/findingourwaypod