The body is a direct access point into reclaiming our labour and identity within a society that often perceives labour as extractive and exploitative. In the current *neocolonial context, where our deepest desires and commodified, it is essential to cultivate a counterbalance that allows us to maintain our sanity and disrupt the harmful societal norms amidst the relentless pressures of perpetual profit.
By re-prioritising our attention towards sensation, breath, and movement in an economy of distraction is a way to disrupt the capitalist conditionings often required to uphold the societal norms. This practice of embodiment creates a stronger sense of self – autonomy and sovereignty; countering the ways capitalism dictates the way we move in the world. It also reconnects us to land-based ways of knowing, which have been marginalised under colonial rule, but offer invaluable insight into collective healing.
Embodied awareness challenges the hyper-productivity that is a core character of capitalist societies. By slowing down, and listening to the body’s rhythms, we resist the demand for constant output and efficiency. This reclaims our most valuable currency, time and presence. Deepening these two aspects – time and presence – truly asks of us to tap into the more cyclical, attuned, and connected ways of listening and being. A way of moving in the world that is more rooted in care, than in control.
Disembodiment is a result from these frameworks; it is a useful tool for capitalism, it keeps us functioning in ways that uphold imperialism.
Colonial-capitalist frameworks have historically sought to sever people from their bodies – through labour exploitation, cultural erasure, medicalisation, and the mechanisation of movement. In this paradigm, the body is treated as an instrument of output, rather than a site of deep wisdom where we can actually access knowledge and agency. Disembodiment is a result from these frameworks; it is a useful tool for capitalism, it keeps us functioning in ways that uphold imperialism.
By cultivating embodied awareness; connection to ourselves, our communities, and the land is an inevitable affect. This reclamation paves the way for collective healing in the face of systemic oppression.
Reclaiming our bodies is a way to redirect, reorient, and reorganise our internal map – to prioritise the bodily experience as a source of knowledge and power. This active resistance involves embracing our bodies as sites of agency, inviting us to engage with the world in a manner that is rooted in care and connection, rather than domination and control.
*Neocolonialism refers to the continued economic, political, and cultural domination of former colonial powers over developing countries, often through indirect means such as globalization, trade policies, and international financial institutions. This form of domination perpetuates inequalities and exploitation, allowing powerful nations to maintain influence over resources.
