Embodied Ascension
by Rochelle Schieck
“ To embody the transcendent is why we are here. ”
- Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
The spiritual path is often marked by the desire to ascend out of the embodied realm. In this philosophy, our human flesh is presented as a fiction, a maya, an illusion, an assimilation, and also as a distraction from “more sacred” pursuits like striving to merge with a life beyond the one we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell in our daily experiences.
Without disagreement and with great reverence for all the teachings, teachers, and liberation that has been experienced by those who removed their attachment to the senses and sensations of the physical world, I also offer my humble yet persistent plea to invite us to take a moment to see if we have the intellectual, spiritual, and loving capacity to honor the co-occurring realities of the physical world and the spirit world. Can we see them not at odds with one another but as co-creative states of being that live in a conscious embrace? Instead of our spiritual pursuits taking us away from this world or our physical lives distracting us from spirit, perhaps honoring our spirits can be what inspires us to savor our embodiment and vice versa.
I happily invite you into the realm of Harmonious Dichotomy.
First, let’s look at the repercussions of a polarized worldview. I’ll spare you the statistics, but we live in a world that in which the human body is often abused, both by self and others. If the body were seen as sacred, as a temple for spirit, would we so so much violence against it? Take another moment to visualize the immense destruction of the natural environment; perhaps this, too, is connected to a lack of reverence for the physical world as a manifestation of the spiritual world.
In a unified worldview, the body is revered as home for the spirit. Nature is revered as the external manifestation of the world of spirit. Rather than seeing separation between the seen and unseen, they are one and humans, spirit made flesh, are not only whole in our individual bodies but also as a collective body. We are one.
This unity means rather than waging a war between body and spirit, each provides cooperative support to help the other out. Rather than fighting one to access the other, each becomes the access point, like knocking on the door of a neighbor who has a spare key to your house. A lot of struggle, projection, and compartmentalization is eliminated when you relax into the belief that your life isn’t “either or” — it is both!
If you’re reading these words, we probably share a similar luxury — the luxury of time to explore our consciousness and our relationship to reality. It’s a privilege to contemplate existence in a way that evolves past survival into thriving. Thriving lies in the realm of the neo-cortex, the potential seat of consciousness and ability to articulate our interconnected reality and imagine the spirit ascending into the body.
Yes, ascend into the body rather than descend into the body.
“ We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience. ”
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
What is it that defines us as human? Embodiment.
Human life happens when the infinite aspect of essence incarnates into a temporary, ever-changing physical form. The body makes the reflection of the soul possible like the moon reflects the light of the sun in the night sky.
Instead of viewing the body as an inconvenient obligation that needs constant tending, what would your relationship to your body be if you saw it as the generous interface that makes your spirit and soul able to incarnate and experience this world to learn and grow?
If the universe is a free will realm in which the divine cannot impose its will onto humanity, then humanity must make free will choices to embody the light of the divine. From this perspective, there are many souls whose truth is like that of a bodhisattva, a soul who has dedicated incarnation after incarnation to offer themselves to this world until all beings are free from suffering. Their human journeys are a form of embodied ascension, elevating their spiritual practice through the conscious choice to serve this physical world.
Like the wisdom of the earth is always available wherever you are, an oracle full of teachings is available to you through your body. Your body is a faithful companion from your first breath to your last, and like all good relationships thrive in a reciprocal flow of giving and receiving, the more you learn to listen to your body and honor its gifts, the more you receive access to her inner wisdom, encouragement for creativity, and reclamation of freedom. When the spiritual seeds you plant are not only in the etheric realm but also in the home of your bones, blood, and breath, your soul experiences true homecoming. Without your body, your soul cannot do its service here on earth.
This experience of embodied ascension is available if you’re willing to feel the vulnerability of truth in your body through sensation. Focusing more on sensation and less on the story of the sensation means spiritual growth is not only possible, but common. Like the yogis whose postures communed with spirit and the ancestors across time and culture who danced around ceremonial fires, your soul responds to the music of your body and becomes inspired to move.
Integration / Embodiment Encouragement
How do you move in a way that helps you remember, “To embody the transcendent is why we are here”?
As the founder of Qoya, which promotes living a lifestyle of reverence through movement, ritual, community, and pilgrimage, I have taught thousands of classes, trained hundreds of teachers, and led dozens of retreats on 6 different continents (next stop Antarctica!)
From my decades of experience exploring the entwined relationship between spirituality and embodiment, I invite you to experiment with movement as a path to embodied ascension.
Movement with Meaning: Intention Setting
Movement as Metaphor: Heart Opening
Movement as Medicine: Shadow Dancing and Shamanic Shaking
Movement as Prayer: Yoga
Through Movement, We Remember
After you’ve moved along with this video, reflect even further:
What is a time that movement in your body has helped you to feel connected with your spirit?
What is a time when your body has felt separate from your spirit? What brought them into a feeling of greater unity?
What do you feel your soul wishes to serve most in its time in your body here on earth?
How might you honor your body every day as a way to say thank you for being a home to your soul?
If you have a daily movement practice, how might you make a conscious choice to engage with your spirit through movement? A mantra? A prayer? Setting an intention before your practice or dedicating your movement to something each day?
If you don’t have a daily movement practice, but wish to find one that opens the connection between body and soul, Qoya is a great way to incorporate this into your everyday life.
Check out our library of free movement videos or free 10 Days of Qoya Love e-course on our website to get started.
Like everything in life, what you do matters less than how you do it. The same goes for movement. Whatever movement makes you feel good, do it with the intention to feel the sensations of your body more, and in doing so, experience the timeless truth that’s always living inside of you.
ABOUT THE AUTHORESS
Rochelle Schieck
Rochelle Schieck is the founder of Qoya. Qoya combines movement, ritual, community and pilgrimage for women. Since its inception in 2009, she has trained hundreds of Qoya teachers, taught thousands of Qoya movement classes, and led dozens of retreats in the most sacred places on earth with one intention in mind: to remember, and to help others do the same. Her work has been featured in outlets like New York Magazine, Oprah.com, Self Magazine, The Telegraph, and Psychology Today. To learn more you can visit www.qoya.love and read her book titled "Qoya: A Compass for Navigating an Embodied Life that is Wise, Wild and Free".