Embrace your jiggly bits
For one week in May of 2020, I was privileged to be able to take a virtual crash course in human dissection with Gil Hedley. Today I reviewed my notes that chronicled Gil’s dissection of Margaret* as many of us watched from all over the world. I was viscerally moved as I recapitulated the learning.
I was reminded that not only do I deeply respect Gil’s masterful skill in the integral approach to the study of human anatomy, but more importantly, I value his reverent and attentive approach to our “teacher”, Margaret. His direct and continuous affirmations of acceptance around body diversity along with his ability to encourage self love made this a uniquely sacred experience for me.
So I felt called to write about that experience and Gil’s messages today.
When we were introduced to Margaret, Gil acknowledged that in learning from her we were fulfilling her wish to educate others with her body. He shared that “nothing in life starts off better without a state of love and appreciation” and went on to express humble gratitude for the service she was providing us.
As he allowed us to peek under Margaret’s beautiful skin and taught us about subcutaneous layers and lobules and adipocytes, Gil made it clear that he was committed to love for the human body in all its forms. In his opening statements he stated that “We have problematized the human body. We spend 3/4 of our lives trying not to have bodies– instead we need to see it as a gift.” He encouraged us to nurture our relationships with our bodies with love and acceptance.
NOTHING IN YOUR LIFE CAN CHANGE THAT STARTS WITH HATRED AND SELF DISDAIN
VALUABLE CHANGE COMES THROUGH LOVE, ACCEPTANCE and APPRECIATION
When someone in the course asked if Margaret had lipidema, Gil normalized her body saying that “Margaret has a beautiful goddess body – there is no pathology.”
With tender and respectful palpation of the tissue layers under Margaret’s skin, he went on to point out the paradox behind our relationship with “fat” (lipids). Lipids play a vital role in keeping us alive and yet they have been demonized in our culture. Gil explained that every single one of our 50 trillion cells has lipids in them and that we have fat around our hearts and around our eyeballs and kidneys and in our gut. Fat is protective and deep – in fact our body is like nesting dolls; there are stacking series of fatty containments throughout it. The superficial fascia (fatty tissue directly under the skin, the stuff our culture runs screaming away from) is just the first layer of many layers.
In his poetic way, Gil described the superficial fascia as a “sensual fleece” that helps us connect as embodied beings – it’s soft and soothing to hug and nestle into. It’s necessary and comforting. Without it, babies would not have a soft cozy layer to grow in or rest on.
Walking around the table he gently and firmly reminded us that “there is no need to pathologize different body types.”
On the last day of the course he summed it all up by saying “The sooner we align with our jiggly bits, the sooner we will embrace our physical state and stop trying to not be embodied.” And then he sang us a song. So touching.
What a treasure to learn from such a wise, open hearted, creative and evolved individual. Thank you Gil.
*Not her real name