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An archive of all past Queerly Embodied emails is now available. Simply scroll down to “Archive” on my website.
As I reflect on living in a queer trans body in this moment, being queerly embodied for me means feeling fear, rage, solidarity, uncertainty, hope, and despair. I have found myself returning to the writing of Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, James Baldwin, and leaning into connection as the embodied medicine for today, tomorrow, and onward.
Leaning into connection as an embodied, liberated practice “We are not experiencing the end of the world, but we are experiencing the end of some provocative and desperately enduring lies we have told ourselves. With the end of lies comes the awakening of truth. And so we are living in a period when we are confronting truth — truth about ourselves and our relationship to death and dying, to systems and institutions of violence, to transhistorical trauma, to the health of our planet, to capitalism, and, ultimately, to the fact that we can no longer continue living like we have in the past.” - Lama Rod Owens As we awaken and embody these truths, connection is embodied, liberated medicine. Not only for election day tomorrow in the United States, but as medicine for the ongoing witnessing of genocides in Palestine, Sudan and the Congo, for the ongoing witnessing of erosion of queer and trans rights for folx in the United States, and for the ongoing witnessing of the climate crisis. Here are some tangible ways lean into embodied connection: 1. Our struggles are intertwined The struggle for trans rights is not separate from the struggle for Palestinian liberation. The struggle for climate protections is not separate from the struggle for land back and reparations for indigenous folx. The struggle for reproductive rights and freedoms is not separate from the struggle for non-carceral care and direct aid. When we lean into our own struggles for liberation, it’s important to recognize how are struggles are intricately intertwined. When we feel into the connection between our liberatory struggles, we feel into possibility, community, and the power of collective action. “The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.” - Maya Angelou
Breathwork prompt: Feel into points of connection that feel accessible in your body: Feet on the earth, spine supported, palms on a sturdy surface, the image of a rooted tree. As you take a deep breath, imagine breathing into the collective energy of folx across the globe fighting for liberation. Feel that energy in your body. Notice the shifts. Move from this space in any way that feels intuitive in your body. 2. Re-imagining safety When so many folx across the globe are facing oppression, connecting to our own constellations of power and privilege. Capitalism and white supremacy have taught us that our embodied safety and freedoms are individual struggles that often come at the expense of someone else’s. When we view embodied safety as a lack of discomfort, we inherently exclude connection to the needs of safety who hold less power and privilege than we do. What embodied futures can we re-imagine when we recognize that true safety cannot come from individual, hierarchical silos? What embodied futures are possible when we realize our safety in our community is connected to the safety of the most oppressed communities? “What is a vision of safety that is creative, rather than destructive? That encourages rather than strangles life? That grows out of a politic not of control and policing but rather freedom, care, and solidarity? Who do we need to become to bring that world into being?” - Kai Cheng Thom
Prompt: How can I shift my relationship to embodied safety in a way that includes the collective? How is my relationship to safety influenced by hierarchies and control? 3. Community building and direct aid To be truly embodied to the collective means leaning into community and direct aid, both today and beyond the election. As you feel into fear and uncertainty, find your communities. Find the folx in your area who are working for collective change. Reach out to those in your community who are struggling, and lean into direct aid to those who need support. Identify who is already doing work toward liberation, and figure out how you can use your voice to amplify their work. These are embodied practices that not only help you tap into agency, they foster and build embodied community and collective care, which is powerful medicine.
Prompt: What community care and direct aid can I contribute to in this moment in time? How does my body feel after leaning into direct sources of community action? 4. Rest as resistance Reimagine rest not as disconnection, but as a sacred practice so you can re-enter the ongoing struggle for liberation. When rest is reimagined as a collective embodied effort, we have space to rest because others will continue the fight. And when those folx need support, we have rested and are ready to re-engage. Taking care of our bodies and our spirits is an act of resistance in a world that tells us our bodies are machines, that our bodies are in danger, that our bodies should be policed, that our bodies are wrong. “It can be overwhelming to experience and witness all of the injustices going on right now. So many of them have long cords and tangled histories. The thing is, they are ALL connected. If your corner of rest and work involves pulling at one of the cords, you’re helping to unravel the whole F-ing chain.” - Octavia F. Raheem
Prompt: How does my relationship to rest change when I view it as an act of resistance and liberation? What does true, embodied, connected rest (not disconnection) mean for me? 5. Connection to ancestors Who are the queer and trans ancestors you can connect to in this moment? Who are your family’s ancestors who you can connect to? Connecting to those who came before us, who paved the way for our own liberation, is an embodied practice and medicine for right now. How can you feel them? How can you experience them on a somatic level? How can you build your connection to ancestors into your life as a daily practice?
Tomorrow, and ongoing, check in with your communities. Reach out to your friends. Drink water, nourish your body, and rest when you are tired. Take deep breaths. Use your embodied privileges to amplify and provide direct aid to those who have less. Listen to your ancestors. I will be preparing for my own sabbatical, in which I lean into rest as a sacred practice of resistance. I will be returning to my professional clinical work in March 2025. Until then, I leave you with these words from Kai Cheng Thom: “We know that we can convince other communities to come alongside us, because what we offer them is better – a better vision of safety than the one that they have been tricked into believing. The politicians will tell them to vote for laws that protect children by harming other children, and we will tell them to join us in ensuring a future for all children and all families. The warmongers will tell them to solve problems with guns and bombs, and we will show them how to solve problems with words and food and medicine. The capitalists will tell them to survive by hoarding and fighting one another, and we will perfect the art of survival by giving gifts to one another. We will show them that queer and trans communities that blossom with abundance, generosity, kindness, and skill. Because queer people don’t create safety from violence. We create safety from love. We always have and always will.”
In solidarity,
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