Dr Karin Lindgaard
Embodiment has multiple meanings
The overall aim of this website is to explore and to disambiguate different meanings of embodiment, from the perspective of therapy and from the perspective of philosophy. I’m deeply interested in how these perspectives differ and how they can inform and influence each other.
Why I love embodiment
I honestly believe that paying more attention to the body and to our own embodiment has enormous transformative potential, both individually and collectively. Our relationship to the body influences not only how we feel in our own skin and in our own experience, but also how we relate to one another and to our environments.
I’ve developed a multi-dimensional view of embodiment by delving into the philosophy of embodied cognition, but also by investigating a style of thinking that this embodied perspective implies. This style of thinking brings a different way relating physical theories (biology, complexity, neuroscience) with experience (feeling, consciousness, interactions). Overall, in previous work, I’ve tried to develop a process perspective to bridge the traditional impasse between objective (scientific) and subjective (personal or feeling-based) perspectives. I see this as one of the most promising areas for new theories, not just about embodiment but about nature and our place in it.
As much as I love philosophy, I find an equally important anchor in therapeutic bodywork. Being a trained biodynamic craniosacral therapist means that I have actually seen and facilitated bodies to shift and change, simply by being noticed and listened to. I’ve come to understand first-hand that improving the ability to notice the body has much deeper effects on a person than we might usually believe. Assisting someone to develop inner awareness, better interoceptive skills, as part of therapy, helps to bring them out of past experience and into the present. This can bring relief, resilience, connection and a new openness to life.
And like many therapists, I’ve been through it all myself, encouraging my own body release patterns of trauma and come to life over many years, with the assistance of numerous therapeutic modalities, and through much trial and error. The experience of slowly waking up to my own trauma has been arduous and painful, but this dance through life, with my own history in my own body is full of wonder and intrigue. The more I learn, the less I know, but the more I feel, the more I understand.
Exploring embodiment and feeling
One purpose of this website is to help those interested in the details of theories about biology, metaphysics, feeling and the self to find my book.
Another purpose is to explore some interesting and unusual aspects of embodiment. For example, one area I aim to explore further is how physical aspects of the whole body, such as fascia and its nerves, relate to feelings and the sense of self. I’m curious about how much these are influenced by our conscious, and perhaps unconscious, observing of the inner body.
Co-regulation of the nervous system in therapeutic situations is fascinating, but I’d also like to write about some of the less discussed phenomena in bodywork, such as the experience of awe and interconnectedness in the therapeutic space.
Finally, I’ll try to bring some concepts from my book to articles on this site, such as how understanding the utter uniqueness of individual experience can help us to be more flexible and compassionate in our interactions with others. Now, more than ever, we need an understanding of human nature that can help us to find meaning in life, to cope with difference and uncertainty, and to value kindness as we also develop responsibility for our own actions and reactions.