Why is the body such a big focus for The Nile Project?

Individual and collective experiences of trauma are stored in our bodies. When our autonomy is compromised, our body encodes this experience of helplessness into our DNA and nervous system as a way to protect us from future harm. Unless we have an exceptionally strong support system to help us express these experiences, we accumulate layers of fear and frozenness within our psyche and body.

Modern psychological thought teaches that the body is a manifestation of the unconscious mind. The physical body expresses what the conscious mind cannot bear to look at directly. Through this lens, no sensation is arbitrary, but connected to a larger system of the body attempting to express it self.

Through expressive arts, yoga, mindfulness, and ritual we can learn the art of listening to the language of the body, and uncover the unmet needs that signal pain, discomfort, or numbing through the physical or emotional systems of the body.