April Case Study: Forgiveness in the Body 🙏

Hey there healers 👋

For April's case study I thought I was going to be talking about a patient's neck pain...but instead, something else sparked a calling from my own life....

I had a bit of an unexpected… experiment this weekend.

I was out running errands—nothing special—and I ran into a few people I haven’t seen in a long time (perks, or drawbacks, of a small town 😅)

People who were significant in my life at one point.

People where things didn’t exactly end cleanly.

And I noticed something in real time.

One of them… I kind of wanted to dodge.
One of them was genuinely nice to see and we had a nice interaction.
And one just left me feeling… neutral.

And as I got back into my car, I had this thought:

Have I actually forgiven them?

Because if I’m being honest…

I still have the story.

I can still tell you:

• why what they did wasn’t okay
• why it hurt
• why I was justified in how I felt

And this is where it got a little uncomfortable for me…

If I’m still holding onto the story that tightly—
have I forgiven them… or have I just made peace with my version of events?

A quick tangent (stay with me)

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on something called the Gene Keys 🧬.

(If you’ve never heard of them—its essentially a system that gives you themes your life tends to revolve around… not in a “this is who you are” way, more in a “this is what you’re here to work through and evolve” kind of way.)

One of mine?

Forgiveness.

Which honestly feels like a bit of a cosmic joke some days.

Because I thought I was someone who was pretty good at this.

I do the work.
I process.
I reflect.
I don’t like holding onto things.

But yesterday made me realize something…

I’ve been trying to think forgiveness.

And emotional anatomy doesn’t work like that

In emotional anatomy, we don’t actually care that much about what your mind says you’ve done.

We care about what your body is still holding.

So instead of asking:
“Have I forgiven them?”

I asked something different:

“What does forgiveness actually feel like in my body?”

Not what it should feel like.
Not what a “healed” person would say.

Just… what’s real.

And here’s what I noticed

When I thought about them:

• My chest didn’t tighten the way it used to
• My jaw wasn’t clenching
• My stomach wasn’t dropping

There was… space.

But at the exact same time?

My mind was still running commentary like:
“Yeah but that wasn’t okay.”
“They shouldn’t have done that.”
“I still stand by how I felt.”

So now we’ve got two different things happening:

👉 The body is more neutral
👉 The mind is still building a case

And that’s where this landed for me:

Maybe forgiveness isn’t about deleting the story.
Maybe it’s about the body no longer reacting to it.

Why this matters (for you + your patients)

This is where this gets really practical.

Because how many times have you heard:

“I’ve moved on from that.”
“It doesn’t bother me anymore.”
“I’ve forgiven them.”

…and then you put your hands on them and feel:

• tension through the diaphragm
• guarding through the abdomen
• a throat that doesn’t want to move
• a nervous system that says “we are not safe here”

That’s not a mindset issue.

That’s a body that hasn’t caught up yet.

A simple experiment (try this today)

Pick someone.

Not the most charged person in your life—let’s not go full chaos on a Thursday.

Just someone where you’re like…
“yeah, that situation was a bit… something.”

Then:

1. Think of them for a moment
No story. Just bring them to mind.

2. Scan your body

• chest
• throat
• belly
• jaw
• shoulders

3. Notice what happens without fixing it
Is there tightening?
Holding?
Heat?
Nothing at all?

4. Then ask:
“If forgiveness existed here… what would it feel like?”

More space?
More breath?
Less effort?

And here’s the key:

You don’t need to force it.

We’re not jumping from resentment to enlightenment in one breath.

We’re just starting to differentiate between what the mind says… and what the body is actually doing.

The reframe I’m sitting with right now

I don’t think forgiveness is a decision.

I think it’s a physiological shift.

Something that happens when:

• the body no longer braces
• the system no longer prepares for impact
• the memory doesn’t require protection

And your mind?

It might still remember everything.

It just doesn’t have the same charge running through it.

I’m still in this inquiry myself.

But it’s changing how I look at both my own experiences…
and what I’m actually feeling for in practice.

Curious for you—

When you think of someone you’ve “forgiven”… what does your body do?

You can reply with one word if you want. I mean it.

💛Geneviève

PS. Please feel free to share your thoughts/comments below or bring it to the community. The community space is like a lab- a place where we can share these kinds of observations and get feedback on your real cases!  And if you don't quite get how the community piece works just reply to this email I'm happy to help!