Disembodiment, Trauma & Harm In Faith Spaces
The far reaching implications of being disconnected from our bodies
The wind is howling today in Scotland, blowing the grass and trees sideways. I’m resting firmly under my electric blanket, safely snuggled away from the bone chilling air on the other side of the window.
And, the reason I’m writing, is that I’ve just uploaded a new season of the New Rhythms podcast, which I’d love to share a little intro to below.
First, to be completely honest, I didn’t think I’d be putting more episodes together anytime soon, I simply didn’t have the headspace to think about what I might craft for a third season. And then, a conversation happened last month that sparked a snowball of thoughts — all of which you can find me rambling through in these five episodes…!
The topic? Disembodiment + spiritual trauma and harm.
In these episodes, I start with a seemingly harmless disembodied assumption that popped up in a conversation with someone last month, an assumption that was quietly lurking beneath the surface. Then, I trace how disconnection from our bodies — even when it’s lurking beneath surface — can have serious and even harmful implications in faith spaces, especially considering that we live in a time when it’s estimated that 1 in 3 Americans have experienced religious trauma, and yes, that’s only a conservative estimate.1
For me, the curiosity that was swimming through my brain and body enough that it was actually a helpful thing to sit down and write out all of these episodes was this… even if we might not even realize we’re holding disembodied assumptions, how much might this still be tangled up with trauma and harm that’s happening in faith spaces? And if it indeed can be tangled in that web (spoiler alert, it can), what does it look like to parse out these disembodied assumptions that have been handed to us? What might it look like to consider if we ever consented to having these disembodied assumptions handed to us? And what might it look like to choose if we want to continue to carry them with us?
Now, there are so many more things that could be said about disembodiment, so many more things that could be said about spiritual trauma and harm, and so many more things that could be said about embodiment. But this PhD student who has had way too many sicknesses the past few months and may or may not be working on some other fun projects is only one human. So, these episodes are just a tiny slice of a much larger conversation, of much larger curiosities. Still, I hope you’ll them beneficial to chew on, journeying with me through some questions we might not typically ask ourselves.
Listen in for more…
You can find the New Rhythms podcast on Spotify (click here), Apple Podcasts (click here), or right here on acseiple.com, through the direct links below.
Each episode is 20 minutes, enjoy!
S3E1: How Disembodiment Shapes Faith Spaces
S3E2: Disembodiment, Trauma, & Harm In Faith Spaces
S3E3: Dismantling Disembodiment In Faith Spaces
S3E4: What Holds Disembodiment Together In Faith Spaces
S3E5: Toward Embodiment
Statistic Reference: Drumsta, R., & Slade, D. M. (2023). Percentage of U.S. Adults Suffering from Religious Trauma: A Sociological Study. Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry, 5(1), 1‒28. https://doi.org/10.33929/SHERM.2023.VOL5.NO1.01
The question about whether we ever consented to disembodied assumptions really lands. So much religous harm gets wrapped in the assumption that spirit matters and body doesn't, but that split itself creates the conditions for abuse to go unchecked. The 1 in 3 statistic on religious trauma is staggering, and tracing disembodiment as one of the threads makes alot of sense.