Body-Based Inquiry
Body-Based Inquiry is a process of meeting stressful thoughts and emotions through direct attention to the body, rather than trying to analyze or manage them from the mind.
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Instead of fixing, reframing, or overriding our thoughts, we notice what happens in the body when a thought is believed. With open-hearted curiosity, we observe sensations, emotions, impulses, and patterns. With movement, breath, and awareness, the body is given space to complete what it has been holding.
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As the body processes, the nervous system settles naturally. Mental clarity, insight, and emotional relief arise not through effort, but through presence.​
How This Work Emerged
Body-Based Inquiry grew out of my own lived experience (you can read more here). After being treated for an aggressive form of cancer, my relationship with my body, and with Inquiry, changed profoundly.
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For many years, I had a well-established practice of Inquiry rooted in The Work of Byron Katie. After cancer, something else began to unfold. Inquiry wanted to move more slowly. It wanted to be felt. It wanted to include the body as a primary source of truth.
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Sometimes this work feels like a raw, primal expression of The Work. Other times, it feels like something entirely its own. I’m not particularly interested in labeling it. What I see, again and again, is that it leads to liberation. And that’s enough.​​
Connection With the Body Through Movement
Movement, especially dancing, walking and hiking, is a powerful way to support both the nervous system and the mind.
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In this work, movement is gentle, accessible, and optional. No matter your fitness level, you’re welcome to move at your own pace, pause often, or simply sit.
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The focus is never on speed, distance, or performance. The purpose is connection, between body and mind, sensation and awareness. All that’s needed is a willingness to take the next step, however small.​
Integration That Lasts
Working with stressful thoughts only at the mental level can bring insight, but often not lasting change. If the body hasn't processed what it is holding, understanding our patterns, having big ah-ha moments of insight, don't stick, because the body continues to react.
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When stressful thoughts are met both mentally and physically, the nervous system is included in the process. This allows insights to be integrated - embodied - not just understood. Old patterns soften. The body releases what it no longer needs to hold.
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Clarity doesn’t have to be forced. Relief doesn’t have to be earned.
They emerge naturally when the body is allowed to finish what it began.
The Method
Connecting the Mind with the Body in Inquiry
Rather than working only with thoughts/the mind, we include the body in the inquiry process. We notice how beliefs show up as sensation, emotion, and tension, allowing insight to land not just intellectually, but in the nervous system where real change happens.
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We also invest time and attention in getting to know who we are when these stressful experiences loosen their grip, creating new pathways for clarity, peace, and inner wisdom that are truly embodied, and therefore lasting.
Somatic Movement / Dance
Gentle, intuitive movement helps the body release stored stress and emotion that can’t be accessed through thinking alone. There’s no choreography or performance; just simple, repetitive movement that supports regulation, processing, and a quiet, clear mind.
Meditative Practices
Meditation in this work isn’t about emptying the mind or achieving a special state. It’s about building the capacity to stay present with what’s here - sensations, thoughts, and emotions - without needing to fix or escape them.
Regulated Breathing
The breath is the most accessible tool to support safety and nervous system settling. Simple, guided breathing patterns help signal to the body that it’s safe to feel, allowing deeper processing so clarity and joy can emerge.
Community
Healing happens in relationship. Humans are not meant to live or heal in on our own. Being witnessed in a safe, grounded community reduces isolation and shame, reminding us that our experiences are human, shared, and workable, without needing to be explained or justified.
Time in Nature
Nature provides a steady, regulating presence that supports nervous system ease and perspective. Whether moving or sitting still, time outdoors helps the body settle and makes space for insight to arise naturally.
