Embody / In Body by Wendy Withrow

The idea for Embody / In Body came from my experience of parenting children about to enter their teens on the tail end of the pandemic. The tween and teen years are about growing independently, navigating relationships outside of one’s family, and learning how to engage in the social sphere. And yet these kids came of age in a time of online learning, virtual friendship, and heightened awareness of illness and germs. While we might be through the Covid pandemic, we are facing another epidemic of loneliness and anxiety.

In the world we live in it is so easy to get caught up in a world outside of our bodies. Social media feeds, video games, messaging apps, the unending news cycle, podcasts. All give us a kind of connection, but one generally outside of our bodies. In this landscape, we are often unpracticed at and even fearful of being rooted in our physical bodies.

My family regularly uses a grounding technique known as The 54321 Method. Most commonly used as a way to quell anxiety during a panic attack, it asks you to notice five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can smell, two things you can hear, and one thing you can taste.

Embody / In Body takes this idea and grows it. What if rather than using it only when acutely needed, it became a ritual, practiced daily? What if through this practice we were able to build body awareness and muscle memory? What if this awareness made it easier for us to access a sense of grounding when anxiety arises? Living in a time of fear and uncertainty, we need rituals to ground us and remind us daily to become rooted in our bodies. Embodiment is a right to which every human has access at all times. And it is through embodiment that we connect to our humanity.