Why So Many Women of Color Feel Disconnected From Their Bodies and How We Begin to Restore That Connection

For much of my life, I moved through my days with a quiet distance from my own body. I learned to focus on what needed to get done, what others needed from me, and what I was expected to carry, long before I learned to consider what I actually felt. It took years of living with chronic illness to understand how deep that disconnection ran.

And I know I am not alone in this.

Many Women of Color grow up absorbing messages about strength, resilience, and composure. We watch the women before us move through their lives with limited space to slow down, feel, pause, or ask for support. That inherited blueprint shapes us. It teaches our bodies to stay alert, to hold more than we can name, and to make ourselves smaller to keep moving.

Over time, the body becomes something we manage rather than inhabit.

The depth of this disconnection has a history.

It is not random. It is not personal failure.

The disconnection many Women of Color feel from our bodies is tied to cultural expectations, generational survival strategies, and systemic realities that have shaped our lives for decades, and in many cases, generations.

When your identity has been framed through endurance, your body learns to brace. When your voice has been dismissed or misunderstood, your body learns to quiet itself. When your experiences have been minimized, your body learns not to trust its own signals.

Chronic illness adds another layer. The unpredictability, the constant monitoring, the weight of uncertainty, and the stories we internalize about productivity and worth all amplify the distance between ourselves and our bodies.

In these conditions, disconnection can feel like safety.

There is another way back to ourselves

The path to reconnecting with the body does not require perfection, performance, or forcing yourself into practices that don’t resonate. It begins with small, steady moments of awareness, the kind of gentle noticing that builds trust over time.

This process often includes:

• slowing down enough to recognize your body’s cues

• acknowledging the places where you feel tension, heaviness, or numbness

• remembering that your body carries histories that are not only your own

• exploring somatic practices that help you return to the present moment

• connecting with ancestral stories that affirm you are not alone in this journey

  
  

These practices do not erase chronic illness, nor do they eliminate the challenges we face. Instead, they create space for a different kind of relationship, one that allows us to meet our bodies with truth, respect, and curiosity rather than pressure or fear.

A note on who this work is for

Connected with the Body was created with the experiences of Women of Color at its center, because our stories, challenges, and histories deserve dedicated space. At the same time, the reflections and practices offered here can support any woman living with chronic illness who is seeking a more grounded and compassionate relationship with her body.

All women are welcome in this work.

Returning to the body is a slow, steady practice.

There is nothing to rush. Nothing to earn. Nothing to prove.

Reconnection begins with choosing to notice, choosing to listen, and choosing to honor the truth of your lived experience without minimizing it.

If this resonates with you and you want to explore this work more deeply, you can join the waitlist for the Connected with the Body program. It’s where I’ll share updates as the program continues to take shape.

Join the Program Waitlist: Here