Your Body Is Not Broken: Somatic Healing in Late Stage Capitalism
Capitalism whispers: “Your worth = your productivity.” Patriarchy whispers: “Dominate. Extract. Obey.” And your body? Your body whispers something else entirely— but it’s harder to hear in a world that profits from your disconnection. How Capitalism Shapes Us Before We’re Even Born Capitalism and socio-economic pressures shape us before we even take our first breath. For tens of thousands of years, humans lived in small, connected tribes—where the whole village raised the children. Today, most parents are left isolated, drowning in financial stress, forced to succeed in the rat race just to survive. And here’s the truth: capitalism doesn’t just shape culture “out there.” It literally wires into our nervous systems “in here.” A caretaker’s ability to regulate their own nervous system teaches a baby’s system how to regulate. But when parents are overworked, under-supported, and chronically stressed about money, survival, and productivity—this regulation becomes nearly impossible. The baby feels this. The baby absorbs this. And it shapes brain development, the immune system, emotional regulation, and even how that child will one day relate to others and to themselves. Trauma Isn’t Always “One Big Event” We often think of trauma as abuse or catastrophic events, but it can also be the invisible, repeated stresses of disconnection—the moments of neglect, emotional absence, or relational rupture that layer over time. This is complex trauma. It teaches the nervous system: The world is unsafe. My needs are too much. I must perform or please to belong. I am inherently bad, wrong, or broken. This is how systems like capitalism, patriarchy, consumerism, and colonialism live inside us. They thrive when we are sick, exhausted, disconnected, and ashamed—because then we are easier to control. The Weight of the Shadow Every expectation. Every “should.” Every silenced impulse. Every swallowed truth. Every unshed tear. They don’t just vanish. They live in the body— in fascia, in gut, in posture, in jaw. They live in the parts of us carrying internalized beliefs and survival strategies. This is why the grind feels endless. This is why shame feels like home. This is why collapse feels like rest. Not because you are broken— but because your body is adapting to survive a culture that constantly overrides its wisdom. The Wound of Disconnection Most of the crises we face today—burnout, climate collapse, polarization, violence—stem from one root wound: disconnection. From our bodies. From each other. From the Earth. And yet: you are already whole. You belong simply because you exist. We are not separate. We are interwoven—like the mycelium networks in the forest, built on mutual care, reciprocity, and support. People aren’t the problem. The systems are. And not every body has the same privilege or access to resources. Which is why creating safe-enough spaces—for rest, play, expression, truth—is not a luxury, it’s a birthright. How the System Lives in Your Soma Capitalism isn’t just an external system. It literally shapes us from the inside out: Muscles contract. Jaws clench. Stress loops repeat. Inflammation builds. Survival becomes the baseline. Collapse feels like rest. Pleasure feels unsafe. Connection feels dangerous. Toxic shame feels familiar. We disconnect from the body’s signals, the mind speeds up to “fix” it, and we end up in the disembodiment loop. This is the somatic shadow—the invisible baggage of systems we didn’t choose but still carry in our tissues. The Polycrisis in the Body The planetary polycrisis—climate collapse, war, mass burnout, rising polarization— isn’t separate from our personal crises. They live in the same nervous system. Humans are apex predators who forgot they are also mammals—wired for connection, community, and reciprocity. When our needs for safety, belonging, and dignity are unmet, survival mode takes over: me vs. you, us vs. them, dominate or be dominated. This is why we are sick. This is why the Earth is sick. Because the same extractive logic lives in our bodies. Somatic Healing: Embodied Liberation Here’s the thing: your body isn’t broken. It’s adapting. Protecting. Communicating. Somatic healing is not about fixing yourself or buying another “self-improvement” solution the system profits from. It’s about remembering. It’s about listening. It’s about slowly meeting the parts of you that learned to collapse, to hustle, to numb, to hide— and welcoming them back home with compassion. This is embodied liberation. This is shadow integration. This is how we stop blaming ourselves for what systems have written into our bodies—and reclaim self-trust, choice, agency, power. When we resource enough safety, the body knows how to complete the stress cycle. It shakes. It cries. It softens. It finds rhythm again. It remembers connection. And in remembering— we reclaim what capitalism wants us to forget: our humanity. Our aliveness. Our interdependence. Somatic Shadow Work Prompts Pause here. Notice which line landed in your body. Drop a word, image, or sensation in your journal. Here are some prompts to deepen the practice: If capitalism or patriarchy had a shape or texture inside me, what would it be? Where does my body feel pulled to contract, hustle, or hide? If my nervous system could speak right now, what would it say? What small act of softness—or rebellion—does my body long for? What conditions would help my body feel safe enough to connect to its own wisdom? What parts of me need more space, rest, play, movement, connection, or pleasure? Imagine your embodied transformation rippling out into the collective—what shifts? Coming Back Into Wholeness Your body is not a machine to optimize. It is a piece of Earth. It remembers rhythms, cycles, seasons. When we feel safe enough in our own skin, we access: Gut instincts + primal impulses. Compassion + inherent worth. The deep interconnection of all life. Somatic healing isn’t just individual—it’s collective. It’s shining light on the shadow of systems. It’s remembering what our ancestors knew: healing is communal, ecological, embodied. This is what it…
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