Hi %FIRSTNAME%,

This was my hit of wisdom this morning. And it's true. AI can generate code, draft emails, and analyze massive datasets in seconds. But there is one thing it will never possess: the wisdom of the body.

In a world obsessed with raw productivity and logical reasoning, we are missing more than half the picture.

What is missing is embodiment.

What Is Embodiment?

A google search offers this definition:

Embodiment is the physical or concrete expression of an abstract idea, quality, or concept.

In Psychology and Somatics, embodiment is a mind-body experience.

It is the active process of living life through awareness of your body and the physical sensations. The practice of embodiment is learning how your thoughts, emotions and physical sensations work together as one system.

Embodiment is as simple as noticing that your heart beats faster when you feel nervous, or that your breath feels stuck in your chest, or the fluttering in your belly with excitement, a heaviness with feelings of dread.

Fun fact:

80% of information moves from the body up to the brain. 20% from the brain to the body.

Interoception is your ability to notice sensations inwardly. And when you practice this, you begin to bring your body into the conversation. Doing so, you become more able to trust and use your intuition and to live authentically.

It is a practice. It is something many of us do not know or understand because we have been taught to use our heads, to be logical, to think, judge, or criticize our way through the decisions of life.

But what if there were another, softer, more subtle way?

Try this:

Sit tall and comfortably, on the floor or in a chair. Use any props you need to support you. Rock forward and back. Tilt your pelvis forward and back. Move your ribcage in circles. Lift and lower your shoulders. Move your head around atop your neck.

Settle into stillness.

With eyes softly closed or closed, sense your body. Do this for 5-10 breaths.

Is there any place you notice tension? Notice your hip flexors - are they working to keep you upright or can you sense ease? What about your ribcage, is it jutted forward (presentation, proud, alert) or held back (protected, hiding, fatigued)? Check in with your chest and shoulders, are they jutted forward or held back? Now notice the neck and the muscles that support your head. Are they working, or overworking?

Can you find a place of center, or a place of ease within your body while still sitting?

Explore: what does ease feel like within my body?

Now, apply it. Think of some life situations. Which ones offer a felt sense of ease? Which bring effort or tension?

What wisdom is there with this exploration of noticing effort and ease?

You have just explored embodiment.

How does this correlate to yoga? (You knew I'd have an answer!)

Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 2.46: sthira sukham asanam.
The posture (asana) should be steady (sthira) and comfortable (sukham).

Patanjali directly mentions asana for the purpose of meditation. However, the Yoga Sutras is a spiritual text. The sutra before this one (2.45) mentions surrender as the path to enlightenment, and the sutra following (2.47) instructs us to loosen or relax effort.

Because of this, I interpret the sutra to mean that not only should our physical body find and posture that is steady and comfortable, but also our prana (energy), emotions, and intellect.

And thus, developing a felt sense of an abstract concept is embodiment. And if developed, it becomes a tool that can guide us often more clearly than the mind, which can get itself wrapped up and muddled with logical reasoning overthinking. We all know that confirmation bias happens, and this is the troublesome part of logical reasoning. We decide in our minds that something is true, then we find evidence to prove it, even when the opposite might also be true. When the felt sense of the body is involved, sometimes the concept or decision become clear without thought.

One last exploration:

Sit tall. Soften or close your eyes. Think of something joyful. Notice sensations in your body. What is your felt sense of joy?

Now, think of something sorrowful. Notice sensations in your body. What is your felt sense of sorrow?

How was that? Send me a message to let me know!

This work can be truly transformational, if you allow it to be.

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Yours embodied,

Kristen