Processing Shame In The Body

Shame is a body-felt and stored emotion, especially for us trauma survivors. It is not enough to tell our minds or repeat affirmations to try to release shame. It is not enough to try to shift shame without involving our physical bodies. In this movement meditation, I will guide you to gently and safely move with the shame that's in your body, so you can feel more confidence, self-love, and self-acceptance in a way that's truly integrated.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Orit Krug,

Board certified dance movement therapist and trauma and relationship expert.

Today I would love to guide you through a movement meditation on working through shame in the body.

It is so common for us trauma survivors to be holding a lot of shame and guilt inside of our bodies,

Despite being in talk therapy,

Despite repeating affirmations and telling ourselves that we forgive ourselves or that there's nothing to be ashamed of.

The mind may hear this,

But the body still holds on.

And so in this meditation,

I would love to support you to begin understanding how you are holding shame in your body and maybe even feeling a shift with how it feels.

To begin,

I will invite you to place your body in a position that feels comfortable for you.

You may choose to lie down or sit or stand in any way that your body says yes right now.

And if you'd like you can choose to close your eyes or lower your gaze.

And together we will take three deep breaths.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Again,

Breathing in and breathing out.

And one last time,

Breathing in and breathing out.

As you return your breath to normal,

I'd like to invite you to think or feel into shame right now.

And notice the first sensation that comes up when you think about or feel into shame or guilt.

What comes up in your body right away?

There's no right or wrong.

And whatever sensation you have felt,

Try to approach it with curiosity right now.

You may have the instinct to analyze or judge whether it's good or bad,

But let's be curious.

What does the sensation look like?

Is there a certain color,

Texture?

Is it big or small or somewhere in between?

Is there movement to this sensation?

Is it growing or shrinking or maybe moving to different parts of your body?

Take your time and imagine what the sensation of shame looks like and feels like without judging,

Without analyzing,

And without trying to change it.

Once you get a pretty solid visualization of this,

I'm going to ask you now to somehow,

Using your imagination,

Allow this shame to come into the palms of your hands.

For example,

If you've identified that your shame right now feels like a moving,

Growing,

Yellow-orange fire in your chest,

You may use your imagination to see how you can bring that fire into your hands and perhaps doing that safely.

You may imagine that you have some kind of container to put that fire in so that you can hold it in your hands without burning your skin.

You are free to use any part of your imagination here to see how you can allow this sensation to come into the palms of your hands right now.

Taking your time,

Noticing what obstacles come in the way,

And continuing to use your imagination to overcome those obstacles.

Now,

Having this shame in the palms of your hands,

Hold onto it.

And if your eyes aren't already closed,

You can close them and lower your gaze.

Imagine that there's someone or something standing across from you.

Someone or something that you're particularly afraid of them seeing your shame.

It could be your partner,

It could be your child,

It might not even be as clear as someone in your life.

You might just sense an energy or a figure standing across from you,

Placed across from you.

Who is it that you really are afraid of seeing your shame?

Or what is the energy of the being,

Of the entity that makes you feel so scared?

It could be the energy of social media,

If that's what's coming up for you.

Make sure that you really feel them in front of you.

You may notice sensations coming up in your body already,

Just thinking about them,

Just visualizing them.

You can add that to the palm of your hands right now.

So you felt butterflies in your stomach,

Maybe you get those butterflies out,

Put them in the palm of your hand,

Adding them to what's already there.

So with this person or energy in front of you and with this shame from your body in the palms of your hands,

Allow your hands now,

Without thinking about it,

Without trying to control it or change anything or solve anything,

Allow your hands to begin moving.

You may keep them closed,

You may mush the shame between your hands.

You may play with gently and slowly opening up your hands.

You can do anything that your imagination leads you to.

In fact,

I would like for you to let your imagination and your body lead with these movements.

Now,

I'm going to invite you now to see if you want to give a piece or all of your shame to the person or the energy across from you.

Right?

That person or energy that you have been most scared of seeing your shame.

You can choose to give them a little piece of what you have.

You can choose to give them all of it.

Maybe you decide to put all the shame in a box and tape it up or lock it and then give it to them.

What does your imagination want you to do?

And if you really don't want to give it,

That's okay too.

But if you can,

Even just a little bit,

I would like you to gesture and hand over or toss over a little bit of shame to this person across from you.

And see in your mind's eye how they are moving with your shame,

What they decide to do with your shame.

They might surprise you.

They might do exactly what you expected in your mind this entire time.

You might find that it's quite neutral.

It wasn't as bad and it's not really as exciting or as good as you thought it might be.

I wonder what happens when you really allow the person or the thing that you're most scared of seeing you in your shame to actually see and be with your shame.

And while you're witnessing this in your imagination,

You can choose to be still if you do choose to be still.

Stay connected with your body in some way,

Either hand on your heart or hands on your lap.

But even more so,

You can choose to move.

You kind of see it like a dance.

How do you want to be involved in this dance of your shame?

You can both dance around your shame in some way.

You can pass it back and forth.

You might throw it.

You might roll it on the ground.

You might make something else out of it together.

And for the next minute,

I'm going to leave space in silence so that you can continue to imagine and move with this dance of shame.

Whatever you're doing,

However you're moving,

I'm going to invite you now to come to some kind of closure that feels good for you.

And I'm going to invite you to come to some kind of closure that feels good for you,

That feels enough for you right now.

So decide intentionally where do you want to put this shame?

Do you want to put it in a box and store it away?

Do you want to sprinkle it like over the ground?

Do you want to leave a little bit with that person you were dancing with?

Or do you want to keep it all to yourself?

Ask your body right now what will feel like satisfying closure for now and follow through on that.

And once you've done that,

Allow yourself to come into a pose or a gentle movement that feels good for you right now.

You could find your hands on your heart or maybe you do a sway.

And we'll take a deep breath together,

Breathing in and breathing out.

Gently open your eyes,

Look around your space.

And notice how your body feels now.

Notice what might be different,

What might still be the same.

And know that if this is unfinished,

You can always come back and do it again.

Until next time,

You deserve to be seen in all of your feelings,

In all of your humanness,

And be loved and cared for through all of it.

Reviews

I loved this!

Orit, it is so lovely seeing you here on Insight Timer. Your work is so necessary. Best wishes, Joy Truscott

I have a board with sticky notes full of emotions and recently realized shame was not on there, yet it was something I had a lot of.
And tonight I stumbled on this meditation. My shame and the shame of my children was alchemized into love and we placed it in each others hearts.
Thank you so much for this beautiful meditation 💖

I loved it! This really changed my feelings of shame and was very soothing, because it made it bearable to be with the shame and work trough it. Thank you so much, Orit!

Wow, that was intens. Didn't think I even had shame until this meditation. Showed me I had a lot of shame stuck inside so this brought me relieve.
🙏Thank you! Namaste.

This was such an empowering way of working with my shame. Thank you.

Powerful visualization to process shame and work through stagnant thoughts. My visualization involved paint and cloth and a cauldron of fire. Very cool.

This helped me to gain a sense of perspective on my shame, as I realized that it's so much easier for the imagined others to accept me than it was for me to accept myself in my shame.