The journeying body: narratives of women who have experienced the transition from disconnection to connection with their body

Abstract

This inquiry centers on the movements of the journeying body in its transition between, across, and through experiences of disconnection and connection. Supported by a hermeneutic framework, this study explores the key constructs of disconnection, connection, and transition in the context of the lived body experiences of six women. Of particular interest are the ways in which the women choose to describe or frame their bodily journeys, the multi-layered impacts of such journeys on their identities, relationships, and selves, and the nuanced meanings that they create from the totality of their dis/embodied experiences. Shared understandings are cultivated across the collectivity of the women’s narratives, offering expansive perspectives of the shifting and evolving experiences of the journeying body. Three central understandings emerge from this inquiry: the emergence of hope, meaning, and empowerment, the fluctuating nature of the body, and the significance of listening to and within the body.