Part 3: The Spirit and Science of Change Work
Many experiences of trauma/oppression reveal where we’ve failed to belong authentically. The ways in which, as we navigate our social worlds, we come up against blocks and barriers to birthright dignity, authenticity, acceptance and belonging. That is, where we disappoint and fail to conform to the expectations of dominant cultural narratives. This rejection dampens our inner spark, disorients our desire, and erects borders and checkpoints in our interior world that prevents the wild rambling and roving that is our birthright and is necessary for wellbeing. This non-belonging is also a portal to a re/imagination of how else we might live.
Often unconscious to us, our experiences within culture shape the ways we’re oriented in the world; influencing the neurophysiology of our bodies, our emotions, perceptions, and beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world.
On this shared journey the Chainbreaker illuminates the borders and checkpoints - the chains - that limit the free expression of our own unique hearts. The Chainbreaker archetype offers a way to embody fire-based courage so that we may see clearly the impacts of dominant familial and cultural narratives and a path to liberate ourselves and the generations that will come after us.
What appears to us as evident in a field of infinite possibility is influenced by our early experiences embedded within family systems and culture.
This explores the spirit and science behind change-making and chain-breaking. And it asks the question: What can we learn from our bodies that the broader culture tries to bury?
We’ll also offer guided reflection practice on what trauma has made way for in your life.
About the author(s):
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Karine Bell makes her home with her two kids, her partner and a dog.
She’s a somatics teacher and abolitionist, dedicated to embodied trauma
alchemy. A bi-cultural black woman, she’s also a culturally reflexive anthropologist exploring the intersection of where our bodies/psyches/experiences meet our collective histories.
She believes in the healing made possible at the personal and collective level by the work we do through transforming experience in our bodies today. She combines continued study in somatics with studies in depth psychology with a focus on community, liberation, indigenous and eco-psychologies at Pacifica.