Holding Ourselves Together: Embodiment as a Path to Resilience
Lately, my friends and family have engaged in a simple but meaningful ritual—we ask each other, How are you holding up?In the wake of Donald Trump’s inauguration, many of us, especially those who are immigrants, Black and Brown, LGBTQ+, or low-income, have experienced a threat to our existence and humanity. Even those with privilege may feel disoriented by a political landscape threatening to dismantle government institutions and undermine economic stability.
Amidst this turbulence I have experienced, I turn to somatics and embodiment—tools that ground me in presence and intention. We’ve shared Embodiment for Liberation on our resources page, and I want to share how these practices can support leaders who wish to navigate this moment with clarity and care.
Check-In: How Are You Holding Your Body?
This past month, I’ve noticed how my body carries fear, trepidation, and confusion. My shoulders contract, arc forward, and lift as if shielding my heart. The area between the shoulders—the “connection line”—reflects a desire for closeness. When my shoulders hunch, my body signals a posture of isolation, precisely what forces of dominance and fascism exploit: division, separation, and disconnection.
But this is not how I want to lead. I’ve committed to leading heart-forward from love rather than fear. This is easier said than done, and my body reminds me when I stray from this. Through regular check-ins, I’ve learned to settle into a different stance, allowing openness to replace tension. Instead of forcing a posture change, I’ve practiced inviting my body to unwind naturally. At first, I still found my shoulders raised, but as I continued to pause and notice my body’s state, a shift gradually occurred. Over time, I felt my body settling into a more expansive and steady stance.
How to Check In with Your Body
1. Get a Baseline
Take a moment to scan your body—shoulders, neck, hands, feet, heart, and face.
Ask yourself: Does my posture feel comfortable? What areas are tense?
Identify where you physically hold stress, fear, or anger.
2. Analyze the Source
Connect your bodily sensations to emotions: Is this tension linked to fear? Overwhelm? Grief?
Offer yourself compassion and breathe into relaxation.
Rather than forcing a change, simply notice where your body naturally seeks balance or ease.
3. Set an Intention
Consider how you want to show up as a leader in this time of uncertainty.
Do you want to embody care, clarity, hope, honesty, or action?
Gently align your posture with your intention: If you want to bring action or hope, check in with your dignity line—the space from your tailbone to the top of your head. Is it naturally rising into an upright position as you breathe? Adjust and notice the difference.
4. Practice Your Intention
Consciously check in on how you hold your body and invite it to sift into a more aligned state. It’s most likely a micro-adjustment.
Notice how it feels in your body—does this posture foster more ease and confidence?
Reflect on moments when you revert to old patterns. Instead of forcing correction, pause and allow your body to remember its natural state of openness.
5. Make It a Habit
Set reminders to check in—whether through timers, after tasks, or during moments of stress.
Over time, your body will start flagging tension for you.
Remember: This is an ongoing practice. If you slip into old patterns, simply recommit and begin again.
Embodiment for Liberation
Our bodies are truth-tellers, offering wisdom that we often overlook. When we take the time to listen, we uncover emotions we didn’t realize we were holding so tightly. Initially, I found myself tightening and holding my shoulders up. Still, as I continued to pause and notice them, I felt a softening—not because I forced them down, but because my body became accustomed to the possibility of expansion. Over time, the hunched feeling became uncomfortable, and my body naturally realigned itself.
As I’ve committed to this practice, I’ve noticed physical and emotional shifts. I still feel concern, empathy, and anger over policies that endanger communities, but I give myself space to fully experience these emotions and release them when needed. Movement helps—whether it’s exercise, gardening (pulling weeds or removing invasive species in my yard), shaking off tension, or grounding exercises. These feelings no longer paralyze me. Instead, despair has given way to hope and action, allowing me to respond with greater energy, clarity, and resilience.
Reflection & Call to Action
Pause: Right now, take a moment to check in with your body. Where are you holding tension?
Reflect: What intention do you want to embody in this moment?
Invite: Rather than forcing a shift, gently allow your body to settle into a stance that feels more open and resourced.
Share: Share your experience connecting with your body and encourage others to do the same. We need individual and collective resilience, one embodied moment at a time.
As we navigate a new era of political turmoil, our bodies can be sites of both tension and transformation. By choosing embodiment, we choose to lead from a place of awareness, connection, and possibility.
“The body is a reservoir for resilience, a flexible strength to meet challenges. It holds a lot of wisdom. It is a guide and compass to meet these challenges flexibly... A source of the suffering comes from history, structure, and culture. Individuals are not responsible for that. Systems don’t change themselves. There are people intentionally making those liberatory changes.”
My practice of embodiment would not be possible without guides like these two leaders in the field of embodiment for resilience and transformation:
Nkem Ndefo, Founder & Director at Lumos Transforms + Director of Certification at The Resilience Toolkit Training Alliance
Prentis Hemphill, embodiment teacher, conflict facilitator, author of the book What it Takes to Heal
Additional Resource: National Public Radio’s Life Kit’s podcast episode, How to Improve Your Posture, provided useful tips on the shifts I needed to make.
Image Description(s):
Above the blog text, there is an image of a forest with light shining through the trees and onto the ground.