Somatic Abolitionism

One of my deepest hopes for Pilgrim Endurance is that it would help to form people to respond well to what’s happening in their world, that we would be able to show up better and better, right where we are. When Christie and I talk about helping people to embody their spirituality, it’s a response to an over-emphasis on the intellect or on agreeing to a certain set of beliefs.

We believe in walking with people, being companions, through the midst of what’s happening in their bodies as they experience their daily life.

I hope to continue to find ways to support you to build up your ability to be centered and grounded so that you can show up in better and better ways in your world. 

I see all around us how we don’t do that well. I think we see it in churches, in politics, and in humanity’s relationship with the earth. There are so many examples of ways individuals can’t cope with some life stress that get turned into family rules, cultural beliefs, and national laws.

I want Pilgrim Endurance to contribute to helping people to self-regulate well so that we can cope with the stresses that are inevitable in life.

One of the most pressing stresses of our time and country is racial stress. (Take a deep breath. I know that just the mention of it can raise the blood pressure!) And this will be relevant for approaching any of the hard work we do.

I want to introduce a term I just learned. Somatic Abolitionism. Since Christie is the counselor, she probably has much more richness to offer on it, but I’d like to get the ball rolling. I may need some correction as we dig into it, but that’s okay. All I know comes from Resmaa Menakem.

For myself, I need to start with the basics, so here it is. Sometimes we react to situations in ways we wish we wouldn’t, and sometimes we build those reactions into habits and structures. We have a somatic (body, feelings, etc.) experience in those situations, and for most of us, it drives that interaction. That process is a natural consequence of what we’ve been through on top of choices we’ve made along the way.

When we react in a way we wish we wouldn’t, that can turn into a certain tyranny.

This tyranny of our immediate reactions we wish weren’t the case grows our experience of feeling out of control. When that happens, we try to regain it in myriad ways. It’s a certain kind of slavery. Somatic Abolitionism (in my small understanding) is the work we do to end that slavery to our immediate reactions.

I think this is one of the most foundational works we can do on our spiritual journey. This seemingly-small work responds to the challenges each of us have inherited from the traumas passed on from our ancestors and what each of us have experienced since we were born. There’s so much more to unpack here, but my goal with this was to introduce the term and share a little bit about why it might matter. For now, read more here, learn more here, and register for a course here. 

Look forward to future notes on specific methods and practices to notice your reactions and to interrupt that cycle of unwanted reactions. We are not talking about joining some political movement. This is about that deep, inner work that I think drew you to Pilgrim Endurance. It’s body scans, breathing practices, sounding, rocking. Yes, I do expect that Somatic Abolitionism is going to help you navigate racial stress better, and that is one of many fruits that may come from this. I’m excited to dialogue with any of you about this and look forward to learning more. Here’s to companioning one another on this journey!