Embodied Activism
Navigating the intersection of
embodiment and social justice.
Image c/o Dr. Rae Johnson / Embodying Social Justice
“Oppression spares no body. The injustices we craft our lives within are both systemic and intimate, taking root in the flesh. Rather than pit the political against the body, Embodied Social Justice reveals their interpenetration, opening up mindful awareness of the life of the political within our very tissues and movements.”
Somatic Justice
In a world in which humans have become fragmented from trauma and oppression, harmony is restored through our growing capacity to feel a sense of justice in our bodies.
Cultivating a just and attuned relationship with our own bodies that centers around curiosity can enrich our sense of self, our relationships and our political systems.
In the face of ecological and social crises, Somatic Justice praxis helps us alchemize indifference, dissociation and defensiveness into fluid movement and compassionate action. From this work, we emerge actualized and liberated.
Image c/o Dr. Rae Johnson / Embodying Social Justice
A working definition of Somatic Justice…
Somatic Justice is a state of being, a psychological perspective and a social movement. It is the transmutation of bodily oppression. It is the practice of remaining connected to ourselves, each other and our environment when faced with adversity. It is the sense of interconnectedness that arrives when we feel safe, seen and heard.
Standing on the shoulders of Liberation Psychology and Dance Movement Therapy, Somatic Justice is the active practice of the frameworks we have received from Audre Lorde, Resmaa Menakem, Dr. Taiwo Afuape, Dr. Rae Johnson, Peter Levine and Sonya Renee Taylor.
“Our current understanding of how trauma impacts the body has centralized the role of the body in alchemizing what has held us in cycles of reactivity and disconnection; unable to find each other in the reach towards healing our world.”
Image c/o CHANI NICHOLAS