Occupy Your Body

Leonard Cohen once said that he supported a certain kind of “race-ism.” He wasn’t defending racism, of course. He meant that when people know who they are — their own race and culture — they are more capable of respecting other races and cultures. It made me think of Resmaa Menakem’s argument that white supremacy has roots in white people's own unrecognized histories of European violence.

But understanding who you are isn’t just about historical research. It also lives in your body. We know that trauma can travel across generations through postures, reactions, and physical habits. But your body also holds ancestral gifts: rhythms of self-soothing, gestures of love and belonging, ways of moving together through grief and celebration. This, too, is your inheritance.

The Buddha tells a story about a quail who wanders into an open field and is caught by a hawk. “You only caught me because I wandered into the field,” the quail says. So the hawk puts the quail down and tries again. This time, the quail hides behind a rock and the hawk smashes his beak on the stone. In the same way, the Buddha says, when you wander into the field of compulsive thinking, suffering carries you off. But if you keep your awareness in your body, you’re on home ground.

But then the Buddha says something remarkable: he calls the body “your ancestral homeland.” Because mindfulness of the body isn’t just stress relief. You’re returning to capacities refined over generations: the endurance to keep going, the vigilance to sense danger, the ability to soften when danger has passed. This is your rightful territory, where you can take refuge.

Back in 2011, Occupy Wall Street protested the power of financial interests over our lives. Something similar has happened to our bodies, which have been occupied by advertising, algorithms, beauty standards, political identities, and other people’s ideas about who we are.

It doesn't have to be that way. Occupy your body. Reclaim your ancestral homeland.

As always, if you’d like to be held through your process, reach out and we’ll set up a free coaching call.

Norval Morrisseau, "Ancestors Performing the Ritual of the Shaking Tent" (1961)