Have you ever felt a deep sense of emptiness? Almost like this intangible longing for something more? Maybe you’ve felt it and tried to fill the emptiness with more and more things. You keep your schedule busy, you work towards promotions and academic achievements. Or maybe, like our guest today, you fill the void with less socially acceptable addictions, such as alcohol and heroin.
Today I am talking to Halie Devlin, a somatic and sober coach and embodiment expert about her journey of recovery and reclaiming wholeness. In medicine, we tend to be wildly disembodied. As Halie puts it, we “glorify the cerebral”. Meaning that we put rationalization and intellect above all else. We ignore signals from our body like hunger and thirst so we can make it through long shifts.
We live almost exclusively through our minds and miss out on all the knowledge, wisdom, and joy that comes from living in our bodies. In today’s episode, we have an incredible conversation about the problems with living disembodied and how to start practicing embodiment so we can reclaim a sense of wholeness in our lives.
Use the audio player above to listen, or tune in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
WHAT RECOVERY MEANT IN HER LIFE
In the past, Halie suffered from extreme substance abuse that was so bad she needed to get clean or else fade away. She listened to her inner voice when it told her that she was meant to do great things and that’s when her healing process began. It is the same voice that has pushed me to make all significant changes in her life. She used to believe in the kind of “more” as defined by society. She was making good money in the art trading scene but was constantly exhausted and stressed from all the work that came with the job. She knew trying to be grateful was not going to fill the emptiness she felt. She stepped away from her alcohol and drug addiction that used to give her temporary comfort and started on a path to healing and recovery.
“To me, that’s so much what recovery is about—it’s like reclaiming a sense of wholeness; reclaiming a capacity for joy.”
Halie Devlin
EMBODIMENT AND WHAT HEALING LOOKS LIKE
Having been taught to put up with life’s struggles alone, her first step to healing was to admit that she needed help. She recognized that she needed support in order to overcome her problems. She tried out several wellness and healing methodologies. Believing in a Higher Power that was beyond her existence was key to her recovery.
People should learn to be in their own bodies; not just live inside their heads but actually be present. Embodiment is the capacity to listen and abide by the language of the body, and become aware of the physiological manifestations of the body’s reaction to life. This involves being able to recognize and address the cues early on, instead of having to go through extreme episodes of anxiety, stress, etc. when it’s already too late. It also means keeping in line with the values that a person believes in, as well as being attuned to our relationship with other people and their perception of our existence.
LEARNING EMBODIMENT
Disembodiment is kind of expected of professionals in the field of medical practice. Health workers must suppress natural bodily signals like thirst, hunger, exhaustion, etc. because they get in the way of the performance of duties. Medical practitioners are expected to rely more on their minds or intellect, as the primary source of valid and acceptable judgment and reasoning. Instead of questioning the erratic system, we are operating in, we tend to put the blame on ourselves for failing to achieve the irrational expectations that the system has put out for us.
The first step of embodiment is to become our bodies’ great listeners and to really pay attention to what the body is telling you or experiencing at the moment. It is not a simple task, but with constant practice, being aware of ourselves and our environment develops naturally. The important thing about practicing embodiment is actually getting started. It could be done with even the simplest exercises (somatic work), because the simpler they are, the more consistent you can be in following them through.
THE GIFTS OF HEALING
Now that she has been able to make progress on her healing journey from addiction, using recovery and somatic work, Halie acknowledges the positive changes that the process has brought forth in her life. She can discern and feel a wider range of emotions because she is more in tune with her body and spirit. With this, she has learned to let go and be more human. It entails being able to “ride the waves” where there are ups and downs but still be able to pull through and endure.
