In an attempt to deepen my reading practice, I’ve decided to share a mini “book report” after I finish a book. This recap step will help me to (hopefully) cement some of the more impactful bits and bobs from the books I read that I wish to hold onto.

First up…Embodied Activism: Engaging the Body to Cultivate Liberation, Justice, and Authentic Connection

Where did I find this Book:

On one of my (many) travels back and forth between Alberta and BC, I found myself with some time before I was reconnecting with a friend in Calgary, AB. Roaming around local bookstores is one of my favorite ways to pass time when waiting, so I navigated to the closest option: Pages on Kensington

It’s my ethos that when exploring bookstores such as this Gem, one must let the books choose you. Rather than searching for a specific find, allow yourself to wander amongst the shelves and feel the pull towards a particular section – in my opinion, this tends to yield the best results.

On this day (06.19.24.) 2 very particular books called for my attention:

1. Fall Back in Love with Being Human – a collection of poetry and letters by activist, psychotherapist, conflict mediator, and author Kai Cheng Thom

And

2. Engaging the Body to Cultivate Liberation, Justice, and Authentic Connection – an approach to activism by route of the body written by scholar, activist, professor, and author Rae Johnson

Why This Book:

The world has been shifting in the past few years, more dramatically/drastically than I previously was attuned to.

And with this shift, I’ve felt the call towards “doing something”. Aka. doing anything to help combat the feeling of helplessness that there’s nothing I can do to change how the world is. Often, when faced with the unknown, I look towards others doing the things that inspire me and those offering ways to guide me towards who I want to become.

The word “activist” carries quite a bit of weight in my opinion. It’s also a word that – up until this point – I wouldn’t use to self-identify with. One I wished I could use, perhaps. But not one that I felt I could claim to embody.

My personal reconciliation journey, however, was orienting towards a direction that many might label quite “active” – so it felt fitting that I start to learn from some folks already walking the walk and talking the talk that I understand best…

Aka. Body Language

As a dancer, this is my first language.

The way my body talks, offers me first-line-of-defense style wisdom. Therefore, an approach to a foreign subject (ex. Activism) that felt most successful for me was one that starts with the Body.

What I Want to Hold Onto:

I dog-eared and highlighted ALOT in this book.

Here’s what I pulled out and re-wrote in my journal for some reminders:

“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution”. (Mis-Paraphrased quote by Emma Goldman).

Obviously this resonated with me. You had me at dance. Additionally, my own path towards reconciliation and activation led me to the traditional practice of the Ghost Dance, which teaches dance as revolutionary action. So for me – dance and revolution are inseparable.

Our bodies, though co-opted, hijacked, and colonized by the forces of domination and control, are crucial (and often untapped) sources of knowledge, creativity, and connection.

I find this fact both intimidating and empowering. Our bodies – as critical agents of change – are essential. And although there are many factors weighing on our bodies, the fact remains that our bodies are OURS*.

*It’s critical to call out my privilege/reality here. I am a cisgendered, Queer, Caucasian, Woman living in colonially known Canada. I currently exercise and hold total autonomy over my body. I recognize this is not currently a right nor reality for every reader who may come across this.

Our creative and generative impulses need to be enlisted in our activism, not just our crucial and destructive urges.

This idea was really helpful for me to grab onto. My perceived role of the activist is one of intensity, accountability, boldness, and big statements. Weaving into that perception that this applies to creative forces is ALSO important in rounding out this role.

If we listen, our bodies provide stories of information and insight.

This concept aligns with my own experience of coming back to my body. My path towards reconciling with my felt sense has been critical in being able to understand and interpret the journey of that experience.

Most Indigenous cultures look at the world holistically. This integrative perspective of recognizing Earth, Fire, Water, and Air as essential components of life. They see the Human body as a part of the World, whereas Western Colonial culture forces separation upon us.

As I began studying the Medicine Wheel and understanding the elemental perspective of our well-being, our connected make-up felt like undeniable knowledge throughout my body. Of course we are made of the elements. How would we NOT be?!

Disconnection and Separation are damaging. Healing this damage begins with the Body.

Lots of damage has been done. Particularly in the realm of separation since 2020. In order to start to heal, we need to start somewhere. Perhaps the Body is as good a place to start as any.

Cultivating somatic bandwidth.

*I starred this 3 times. I hadn’t come across this language before, but Johnson describes this essentially as the ability to grow your own ability to be in the presence of other people’s feelings. A large part of the overall narrative of this book is sharing the importance of being able to make (and hold) space for the emotions of yourself and of others. This is an essential skill, in my opinion, and one of incredible strength. It’s something I had been working on, and this labeling of it felt fitting (and empowering).

Dance as a powerful conduit for expressing and experiencing emotion. Dance as an extremely effective method in creating a more spacious container for all of the feels and sensations of life.

One of my favorite pieces of reading this book was the FEELING of aligned knowing. When coming across shared wisdom that I know to be true because of my own lived experience, the knowledge feels different in the body. I know dance is powerful. Seeing it reflected back to me offered an affirmation I didn’t know I needed.

The difference between reacting and responding

In every situation, there are multiple sides/perspectives to consider. In situations of intensity or strife, we have the choice to react or respond. The art of responding involves taking a moment to FEEL into what is happening, acknowledging the distance between people/perspectives, and saying, “let’s unfold together into the middle to find our connection point. Remember – we are all connected. Despite what might feel like an insurmountable difference/distance, we can work to find our connection point.

Tell me more about that perspective – it’s new to me.

An excellent response tool to keep in my back pocket for the next time I come up against something that I don’t necessarily agree with or don’t know much about.

Really good questions help people unfold.

This is absolutely true. In witnessing masters like Jess Janz – who brings strangers together over dinner with the one rule that you cannot ask question about work – I have seen firsthand the depth of connection that can be instantly sparked when presented with a RGQ (really good question). I try to practice asking RGQ’s every chance I get.

Moving towards mutuality requires imagination beyond what already is.

I wrote a note next to this in my book – “Can you adapt?” and “Are you willing to?”. The question of Can is easy – of course, I can. My capacity for adaptation is literally what got all of us here (hello, Evolution). But the next question is a bit harder to answer…am I Willing to? Change is hard. It’s uncomfortable. It requires sacrifice. Neither of which are generally things We want to embrace. Except – when I reflect on that in more depth, I think that we already swim daily in a pool of discomfort. And we have already sacrificed so much of ourselves to uphold this World we find ourselves in. So – if we are already uncomfortable and are already used to sacrifice, why not try being those things in a new direction … .True change is going to require bold imagination. The New World Order needs to be imagined into existence and then brought to life through our inspired and intuitive felt senses. This imagination of what is possible is essential to our success.

A Final Thought

This book took me almost 2 years to work through. It was one that I couldn’t just sit down and read through – I needed to feel through this one. Over that time, I have worked to integrate these teachings and practices as much as I could: tuning into my embodied wisdom to feel the way forward, cultivating somatic bandwidth to hold space for big emotions, asking really good questions, and dancing (obvs.).

More than anything, this book has given me a sense of (very practical) Hope. Hope that when we return to the wisdom that we already have everything that we need to cultivate liberation, justice, and authentic connection, we will engage Every Body towards Embodied Activism.