Body Mapping: A Creative Way to Listen to the Wisdom of the Body
Photo: ©Thuli Wolf
Our bodies are more than just physical vessels; they are intricately connected to our emotions, thoughts, and experiences. Increasingly, holistic wellness practices such as body mapping and embodiment are being recognized as powerful tools for healing emotional wounds, relieving tension, and fostering a deeper connection with the Self. But what are body mapping and embodiment? How are they used for emotional and physical healing, and why are more people turning to these practices for holistic well-being?
Content:
What is Body Mapping?
Body mapping means looking at the body as a map of one’s own history within an arts-based process. It is a therapeutic and research technique that involves visually mapping out the sensations, emotions, and memories stored in the body. It is often used in somatic therapy and art therapy as a way to explore the body’s connection to unresolved emotions and trauma. During body mapping, individuals create a visual representation of their body, highlighting areas where they experience tension, pain, or numbness. This process helps to identify where emotional or psychological issues may be physically stored.
The first documented use of body maps can be traced to MacCormack and Draper’s (1987) work, where they employed the artistic process as a research method in a cross-cultural study in Jamaica and the UK. This approach helped to explore cultural differences in embodiment and body awareness between those countries. Body mapping later evolved in South Africa, initially aimed at reducing the stigma around HIV/AIDS and raising awareness about the lack of affordable, accessible antiretroviral medication. Clinical psychologist Jonathan Morgan and researcher Kylie Thomas from the University of Cape Town facilitated the first sessions, with artist Jane Solomon helping to create a facilitator’s guide. Originally, the body-mapping process was designed to be therapeutic, offering a space for participants to confront difficult-to-discuss issues and to make hidden experiences visible. Initially, it also served as a way to prepare for death, allowing the women to collect memories and stories as a legacy for their children. However, as the access to effective medications improved, the focus of these workshops shifted toward the experience of living with HIV/AIDS. The process Solomon developed involved a series of arts-based, reflective group workshops held over several weeks. Participants would trace life-sized outlines of their bodies onto large cloths or paper and then use paint or other creative materials to fill their body maps, adding images or written words that were drawn or pasted onto the canvas.
Body-mapping has since been used as a research method, therapeutic intervention, and community development tool, in several educational or health related settings across the globe.
The underlying idea is that the body holds on to unprocessed emotions and trauma in subtle, and sometimes overt, ways. For example, many people feel tension in their shoulders during periods of stress or experience digestive issues when dealing with anxiety or depression. Body mapping brings these connections to light, making it easier to understand the relationship between the body, emotions, and trauma.
Body mapping isn't limited to addressing physical sensations like pain. It can also help identify places in the body where people feel numbness, heaviness, or recurring emotional sensations such as anxiety or sadness. As individuals engage with this process, they may uncover the stories, beliefs, and experiences that have been locked into their body, often unconsciously, for years.
Body maps of Morgans and Solomons workshop with women with HIV/ AIDS
2. How Does the Body Store Emotions and Trauma?
It's widely accepted in both traditional and modern wellness practices that emotions and trauma can be stored in the body. Unresolved emotional pain—whether from stress, grief, anger, or trauma—can manifest physically in various ways. You might experience this as chronic pain, muscle tension, digestive issues, or unexplained fatigue. The connection between mind and body is profound, and when emotions aren’t expressed or processed, they tend to find a home within the body.
One common example is how people under stress often hold tension in their shoulders or neck. Similarly, trauma survivors may feel a tightness in their chest or cramps in their stomach. This is the body’s way of signaling that these unresolved issues need attention. Body mapping provides a way to explore these signals and understand what emotional or psychological pain they are connected to.
“When we are incapable of listening to our psyche ur bodies will start screaming.”
3. The Importance of Embodiment
Embodiment is the practice of cultivating awareness and presence in your physical body. In a world where many of us are disconnected from our physical selves, due to a lack of physical movement, connection and interest in body sensations, embodiment helps to re-establish a mindful connection to the body’s sensations. By becoming more attuned to our body’s signals, we can access deeper levels of self-awareness and healing.
Embodiment encourages you to stay grounded and connected to your body, particularly in moments of discomfort or emotional distress. Rather than ignoring or numbing these sensations, embodiment invites you to be present with them, ultimately allowing healing. This mindful engagement creates space for emotional release and healing trauma that might be stored in the body.
The notion of embodied consciousness - an awareness of our experience through the means of our bodily sensations - is contrary to a dualistic understanding of the mind and body, where the body is seen as more of an object, merely holding space and transport for the mind, rather than being completely intertwined with it.
“We do not have bodies, we are our bodies.”
4. The Role of Creativity and Art Therapy in Body Mapping
Art therapy plays a significant role in body mapping by giving people a creative outlet for exploring their emotional and physical experiences and their relationship to the outer world. Art provides a non-verbal way of expression, which is often crucial for those who find it difficult to articulate their feelings or traumatic experiences. When combined with body mapping, art therapy offers a powerful way to engage with unresolved emotions and trauma through creativity. Guided by a certified art therapist it also allows the participants to make sense of their chosen symbols and images.
Through drawing, painting, or other creative expressions, individuals can map out areas of tension, discomfort, or emotional heaviness on their body outline. This visual representation of the body’s inner world helps deepen the connection to one's emotions, making it easier to process and release what’s been stored in the body. Creativity becomes a bridge to understanding the body’s wisdom.
“Creativity becomes a bridge to understanding the body’s wisdom.”
5. How Body Mapping and Embodiment Aid in Trauma Recovery
For those on a trauma recovery journey, body mapping and embodiment offer gentle yet profound ways to reconnect with the body. Trauma often leads to dissociation, where individuals disconnect from their physical and emotional sensations as a protective mechanism. While this may be useful in the short term, long-term disconnection from the body can prevent healing and cause numbness.
By using body mapping, trauma survivors can begin to safely explore areas of their body that hold pain or tension, understanding these sensations without being overwhelmed by them. Embodiment practices, such as mindful breathing, gentle movement, or yoga, help people stay present in their bodies while processing the emotions that arise during body mapping.
Over time, this practice helps create a sense of safety within the body, which is essential for trauma recovery. By being present with the sensations and emotions, individuals can begin to heal from trauma, experience emotional release, and develop a deeper relationship with their body.
Photo: ©Unsplash
6. Benefits of Body Mapping and Embodiment
Engaging in body mapping and embodiment offers numerous emotional, physical, and mental benefits, especially for those seeking holistic healing:
Emotional Release: Body mapping helps you to identify areas of unresolved emotions and trauma, allowing for a healthy release of pent-up feelings, assisting you in communicating your emotions.
Visual Story-Telling: The process of body-mapping allows for a deeper level of reflection on your experience and an increased ability to communicate the richness of your life story, including bodily, individual processes and societal influences.
Stress Relief: Both practices are effective for reducing stress by helping you process the emotional load that contributes to physical tension.
Trauma Healing: These techniques provide safe, gentle ways to reconnect with the body and heal trauma stored in the muscles, joints or nervous system.
Body Awareness: Practicing embodiment increases body awareness, helping you notice subtle signals your body is sending, allowing you to respond with more care and compassion.
Holistic Healing: These practices address the mind-body connection, leading to more integrated healing. They don’t just target physical symptoms or emotions in isolation but bring them together for a more complete experience of holistic well-being.
Enhanced Creativity: Incorporating art therapy into body mapping taps into the power of creativity as a healing tool, providing new insights and ways for emotional expression.
Enhanced Self-Confidence: By increasing your sense of confidence in being able to communicate your health status to others, and developing more effective ways of coping with a health issue, body mapping can empower you to reconnect with your strengths and to see yourself as a whole person, with experiences of disease or violence being only one part of your life history.
7. How to Get Started with Body Mapping and Embodiment
If you’re curious about how to begin practicing body mapping and embodiment, here are some steps to get started:
Create Your Body Map: Begin by drawing an outline of your body on paper. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and tune into your body’s sensations. As you scan your body, note any areas where you feel tension, discomfort, or emotion. Use colors or symbols to mark these places on your body map, and write down any associated emotions or memories.
Practice Embodiment: Spend time each day engaging in mindful practices like deep breathing, yoga, or simple stretches. Focus on being fully present with your body’s sensations, noticing where you feel grounded and where you may be holding tension.
Use Art as Therapy: Bring in creativity by using drawing, painting, or other artistic mediums to explore your emotions and sensations. Let your creativity flow freely, without judgment, as you express what you feel in your body.
Seek Professional Guidance: If you feel ready for deeper work, consider joining a somatic therapy or art therapy group that incorporates body mapping, or work with a holistic therapist trained in trauma recovery and embodiment practices.
8. Conclusion
Body mapping and embodiment are transformative practices that help you unlock the emotional, physical, and creative wisdom held in your body. By addressing unresolved emotions and trauma stored in the body, these practices offer a path to holistic healing, emotional release, and stress relief. Whether through creativity in art therapy or mindfulness practices, body mapping helps you connect more deeply to yourself and begin the journey of trauma recovery.
Sources:
Brett-Maclean P. Body mapping: embodying the self living with HIV/AIDS. CMAJ. 2009 March
Jager, Adèle de, Tewson, Anna, Ludlow, Bryn and Boydell, Katherine (2016). Embodied ways of storying the self: A systematic review of body-mapping. In OCAD University Open Research Repository. Mobile Experience Lab
MacCormack, Carol P. & Draper, Alizon (1987). Social and cognitive aspects of female sexuality in Jamaica. In Pat Caplan (Ed.), The cultural construction of sexuality (pp.143-165). London: Routledge.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (1962 [1945]). Phenomenology of perception (transl. by C. Smith). London:Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Morgan, Jonathan & Bambanani Women's Group (2003). Long life: Positive HIV stories. Cape Town: Double Storey Books.
Solomon, Jane (2002). "Living with X": A body mapping journey in time of HIV and AIDS. Facilitator's Guide. Psychosocial Wellbeing Series. Johannesburg: REPSSI.
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