As most conscious movement methods are thousands of years old, so is feminine embodiment. Women have been moving in undulating, intuitive, ceremonial ways for millennia. Still, to most of us, this modality seems new and something we are remembering collectively. At Raindrop Movement, we believe feminine embodiment is a way to reawaken and strengthen our connection with our feminine energy. We do so for 3 main reasons: to find safety in our body, to regulate our nervous system, and to redistribute our life force so it can be of service to the whole body and not just the mind. In this article we will present you with the main benefits of feminine embodiment and how you can start a personal practice.
Start a least-resistance practice
The first thing that seems important to us when it comes to feminine embodiment is that it needs to be approached from the path of least resistance. But what does it mean exactly? Very often, when we first enter this body-centered work, our mind feels unsafe and creates a whirlwind of resistance around it.
This resistance can sound like an infinite mind-chatter that goes from repeating distracting “to-do” lists to harsh and loud judgment songs such as “This is useless. This is stupid. How is this even supposed to help me?”
Truth is, this is a sign of a well-functioning nervous system that is fully devoted to its main function — to keep you safe.
Safe, to your nervous system, means familiar. So, if being in your head is what is familiar to your nervous system, your attempt to drop deeper into your body will be interpreted as unsafe and your mind will react with whatever form of resistance you practice the most — be it frustration, critique, judgment, ridicule, or restlessness.
The easiest way to work with that is to begin with simple and short practices. Feminine embodiment offers a wide range of exercises from lying on the ground in complete stillness to shaking your whole body in the wildest possible ways.
If you’re not sure where to start, join our free class every first Wednesday of the month! Pick your favorite exercise and repeat it each day for just a few minutes. As you start feeling the benefits of it, your brain will understand it is safe to come back to your body and soon, you might want even more of it!
Slow down
Does it also happen to you that no matter how hard you try to meditate, you just keep scrolling up and down your imaginary to-do list? Or that you go for a walk and find yourself listening to a podcast while at it? Or you lie down to rest and magically your phone finds itself in your hands?
Know that you are not alone. This is completely normal as it is a part of our collective conditioning. In a world that values only constant thinking, doing, and going, we have been trained to feed our nervous system with over-stimulation. And that has become our base-line, our zone of familiar, aka safe and therefor, our nervous system is stuck on this loop of constant productivity.
But the good news is — yes there is one, bear with us my friend — there is a way out!
And the first step is to slow down.
Einstein said: “You cannot solve the problem with the same level of thinking that caused it”.
Raindrop Movement’s Founder Nada Mesqui says: “You cannot heal your nervous system with the same level of doing that dysregulated it”.
Your healing requires more beingness, not more doingness.
So, if you enjoy reading, try reading something for pure pleasure — like Henry & June by Anais Nin. If you enjoy walking, walk — and leave your earphones at home. If you love dancing, dance like nobody's watching — truly, nobody is.
Create micro moments — 5 to 15 minutes — for these practices and repeat them at least once a day.
If you need some help, sign up for our FREE 3-day Feminine Body Wisdom Reset that will offer you simple ways to drop down from your busy mind and into your generous body.
Move in a nonlinear way
As opposed to some other conscious movement practices such as yoga, qi gong, or tai chi, feminine embodiment is more of a free movement, a personal exploration of your own body’s expression.
The beauty of it is that it looks different every time because you move with whatever is there for you in that specific moment. Each time, you invite different parts of you, the loudest ones but also, the forgotten ones.
The most important thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong way, only curiosity to explore and inhabit all the raw edges of your body. There is no expectation, only willingness to get more familiar with your inner world.
Feminine Embodiment also encourages you to find your own pace. You are free to move as slow or as fast as you want, knowing that there is nowhere else to be, and nothing else to do. You might be surprised to discover how much your body is able to slow down, and how good it can truly feel.
Although a guided practice can help you go deeper within yourself, the free kind of flow of feminine embodiment makes it easy to start experimenting on your own as this type of movement is woven into your feminine essence.
Follow these steps to remember it:
- Put on some soothing music (you are welcome to download our embodiment playlist here)
- Get on all fours (table-top or cat-cow position)
- Allow your body to move in any way and at any pace it wants to move
- Imagine your body is one big wave of uninterrupted flow. Move with that image
- Notice when your mind takes over and simply return to that flow in your body
- Keep moving for at least 20 minutes (set a timer if needed)
The same way we practice stiffness and tension holding, even if most of it happens unconsciously, we need to practice flow and fluidity. Now is the time. Find your flow, find your pace, find your unique way to move through life.
Regulate your nervous system
Before diving into how feminine embodiment can actually help you regulate your nervous system, let us briefly explain to you how it operates.
To speak in (hopefully) simple and plain terms, our autonomic nervous system has 3 main states:
- Sympathetic system, also known as “survivor mode” — flight or flight state
- Parasympathetic dorsal vagal state, state of overwhelm, freeze, or fawn responses
- Parasympathetic ventral vagal state — state of relaxed, connected, restorative being
We are in our sympathetic mode when we are “on-the-go”, doing things, stressed, or in some kind of real danger. For most of us, this is our “usual” programming. In that mode, our brain is continuously scanning for danger. Because we have long evolved from being chased by a lion on a daily basis, our brain keeps interpreting anything that is unfamiliar as dangerous. If we stay here for too long or we experience a sudden increase of stress, we might go into overwhelm.
So, what does it mean?
If your predominant mode of operating is on a low-to-medium level of daily stress, once you get to still, you might notice some restlessness or even anxiety rising. Not because rest is not good for you, but because it is unfamiliar to your nervous system and therefore, immediately labeled as dangerous. Because, over time, a deeper activation of your fight/flight response was created.
Now, how does free movement help you regulate that?
When we allow ourselves to play, move and dance in an unplanned, unpredictable way, without any agenda or choreography, and without knowing what is next, we are teaching our nervous system to feel safe in the unknown.
One of the (many) purposes of feminine embodiment is to consciously and intentionally train our nervous system to feel safe enough to switch off its survivor mode. Only then, our mind and body can recover and restore.
To conclude with a few poetic words by our founder Nada Mesqui:
Feminine Embodiment is the softest, gentlest way back home.
A way that respects where you are today.
A way that honors your nervous system’s intelligence.
A way that celebrates your anatomy and feminine design.
A way that prioritizes safety, kindness, and slowness.
A way of your ancient, timeless, remembering Soul.
And because we have made it our mission to guide women back to their feminine, we now offer weekly Raindrop Movement classes live on Zoom and we help those who are called to teach this modality do so with guidance and supportive community in our 6 month Feminine Embodiment teacher Program.
Join us!
