Why We Begin With the Body

The Science and Soul Behind This Movement Practice

You’ve heard the invitation by now, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

But here’s what I’ve learned after years of reading those words, underlining them, and claiming them as promises: you can’t think your way into rest.

The invitation has to move from your head to your bones. And that journey goes through the body.


The Body Knows Before the Mind

“Somatic” simply means “of the body.” Somatic approaches to healing and formation recognize something crucial: the body holds what the mind can’t always access.

Stress, exhaustion, and chronic tension get stored in our muscles, our fascia, our movement patterns. We might not consciously remember every source of our depletion, but our bodies remember. The tight shoulders remember the years of carrying too much. The clenched jaw remembers the words we swallowed. The shallow breath remembers the seasons when we couldn’t afford to feel.

This means rest must also happen in the body.

We can’t simply think ourselves into nervous system regulation. We have to move there. We have to breathe there. We have to give our bodies experiences of safety, not just ideas about safety.


Signaling Safety

There’s a term in nervous system science called neuroception. It refers to the way our bodies subconsciously scan for cues of safety or danger without our conscious awareness.

You can’t think your way into feeling safe, but you can move in ways that signal safety to your nervous system.

Slow, intentional movement tells your body that no one is chasing you. Deep, extended exhales activate the parasympathetic response, shifting you from fight-or-flight into rest-and-digest. Gentle stretching releases tension your body has been holding as protection. Being held by the floor, supported by the ground, tells your survival brain that you don’t have to hold yourself up right now.

This is why movement practice is so powerful for people who struggle to rest. You’re not just thinking about rest. You’re giving your nervous system evidence of rest.


Theology on the Mat

But this isn’t just biology dressed in spiritual language. This is deeply theological.

Scripture has always known what neuroscience is just catching up to: we are embodied creatures. We aren’t souls trapped in bodies, but integrated beings with body, mind, and spirit woven together.

When Jesus said “come to me, all you who are weary,” He wasn’t speaking to disembodied minds. He was speaking to bodies—to shoulders that carry burdens, to feet that have walked too many miles, to nervous systems stuck in survival mode.

The incarnation itself is God’s declaration that bodies matter. The physical isn’t separate from the spiritual. Heaven touches earth, and the Word becomes flesh.

So when we practice rest in our bodies, when we lie on the floor and breathe slowly and let our muscles release, we’re not doing something before the spiritual work. We’re doing the spiritual work.


What Happens When We Move This Way

In the Dreamflow movement practice, we move through simple, gentle postures while breathing Scripture. The body becomes a vehicle for receiving truth.

When we lie on our backs and open our hips, we practice vulnerability with our hearts open and nothing guarded. And in that posture, we hear: “Come to me.”

When we twist gently and wring out tension, we physically release what we’ve been carrying. And we remember: “All you who are weary and burdened...”

When we lift our hips and feel our hearts rise, we embody surrender. And we receive: “For I am gentle and humble in heart.”

When we fold forward and let gravity hold us, we practice letting go. And we hear: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The body learns what the mind struggles to believe.


What Changes

I can’t promise what will happen for you, but I can tell you what happens for many who begin to practice rest in their bodies.

The shoulders start to drop—not because they’re trying to, but because they finally feel safe enough to release. The breath deepens on its own. The constant mental chatter quiets through settling, not suppression.

And somewhere in the stillness, familiar words become new. Come to me. You hear them differently when your body is soft. I will give you rest. You believe them differently when your muscles aren’t bracing.

The theology doesn’t change, but your capacity to receive it does.


Practice With Us

The Dreamflow movement practice above is yours to use. Press play whenever you need it—morning, evening, or in the middle of a hard week. Let your body receive what your mind has been struggling to believe.

And if you’re in Chicago and want to practice in community, join us in person. We’re learning how to move from rest together.

Your first session is free, and you’re welcome to bring a friend.

Align & Abide | January 31 | 10 a.m. CST | Chicago


👉 https://www.sweatpals.com/host/iamcan...