What is Embodiment really and what does it really mean to be “in the body”?

Embodiment is a big word these days, getting used frequently, perhaps nearing that edge of overuse in some ways. I believe that when we understand what a word really means, in practical real life terms which means we can somehow personalize it, the potential for it to feel overused dissolves. For example, the word “sustainability”; it was so ubiquitous in the early 00s then was cast aside, and now seems back in current societal use in an integrated/mature/evolved way. I believe “embodiment”, like “sustainability”, is an important word and makes sense to be here.

Embodiment means coming into the body through the integration of our human-ness. It means living from a place of deeply centered truth. It means living and choosing from consciousness. It means surfacing the wounds, the shadows, the emotional energetic stuck-ness that drives subconscious, patterned, habituated choice. It means becoming so intimate with oneself, so connected, so accepting, so loving with oneself. It means living from the present day with presence, aliveness and vibrance.

Integration is the process of becoming embodied. Integration...embodiment... requires a commitment. It requires a practice. Take a look at the blurb below to try a ritual of practice in your day to day life.

EmBODYment Basics

1) Slow down ... pause ...

2) Notice what you notice around you - Vision

3) Notice your body through the other senses -- what do you hear, smell, taste, touch on your skin?

4) Now, can you bring your awareness to the interior of your body? Can you describe physical sensations using descriptors like zippy, dull, dense, rapid? Can you locate them spatially in your body? For example, I feel a golf ball sized dull ache about an inch below my navel and an inch inside my skin.

5) Pop into your senses for sensory/sensational present moment awareness throughout your day.

Check out my youtube channel for inspiration on some of the ways that I get into my body.

The thing that has most transformed me to feeling vibrant aliveness is the consistent engagement of a somatic practice. Somatic practice presences what is true for the nervous system / body+mind / somatic mind, and we heal when we bring presence to our embodied, somatic truth. I’ve found that even a short 2-8 minute duration can be supremely supportive and cathartic to my nervous system. The most simple practice I use is a few steps and can happen almost anywhere and anytime — you can keep reading to learn more and check out my youtube for examples of how I do it.

Felt sense is another phrase I learned in my coaching studies that I have fallen in love with and use often when facilitating coaching sessions and embodiment workshops. Felt sense is anything that we experience in our body mind / somatic mind. Making time to check in and “feel” our felt sense creates sensitivity with our body mind and is the initial step to building a relationship with it. We are all very familiar with listening to our cognitive thinking brain’s thoughts. Practicing listening to our body’s “thoughts” is a new practice for many of us. Felt sense includes physical sensations, emotions, thoughts, images, colors, textures, temperatures...anything that we can “hear” or “feel” as we slow down, take our gaze inward, scan our body and “listen.”

My favorite spontaneous sound these days is a deep growly yell that comes from deep in my throat. It always makes my throat scratchy if I do it enough times and makes a sort of sexy voice sound the next day. It feels very animal, primal, wild, like I’m really in a mode of protection and survival and power. Join me at a class sometime to hear me, or check out my youtube channel to watch and listen to some examples of my personal embodiment practice.

Consistency and choice credited to my transformative change

Let’s talk Body Mind