Practicing Embodiment for Nervous System Regulation
In this “go go go” world, most of us spend 99% of our time in our heads. We have so much to think about (read: worry about), plan, and understand.
Unfortunately, living in your head may mean losing your connection to your body’s wisdom.
Today, we’ll break down conscious self-embodiment and how you can use it to live with ease.
What Is Embodiment?
Embodiment is a felt experience that involves deeply feeling and tending to your internal body sensations and emotional and physical experiences. It’s the practice of consciously coming back “into” your body.
Think about a time you’ve been in a “flow” state – maybe when participating in your favorite sport or hobby. In those moments, you are fully connected and embodied.
However, many people (maybe most people) don’t have any connection to their bodies and emotions. We ignore or override our body’s needs as a by-product of living in a high-pressure society obsessed with busyness.
Becoming disembodied may also be caused by trauma, chronic stress, and any experiences that have made you feel unsafe in your body.
What Are the Benefits of Embodiment?
The number one benefit of practicing embodiment is nervous system regulation. It leads to better emotional regulation and a sense of safety in your body and the world around you.
Other benefits may be:
Feeling calm and joyful
More self-awareness
Greater confidence and energy
Feeling more at ease in life
Loving your body and feeling grateful for all it does
Being able to identify your needs and communicate them to others
Conscious embodiment is a common tool used in trauma, chronic illness, and eating disorder recovery.
Becoming More Embodied
Mindful body-awareness practices can help you move into a more embodied version of yourself.
Here are some of our favorite practices:
1. Engage Your Felt Sense
Awareness of your inner body sensations and emotions – known as your “felt sense” – helps you re-establish the connection between your mind and body.
Here’s a practice to help you notice messages from your body.
Place your hand on your heart and tune into your body.
Sigh a few times as you let go of tension in your shoulders, jaw, and belly.
Notice the feeling of your body against the floor, chair, or bed.
Close your eyes and slowly scan your body from head to toe, noticing each sensation without judgment.
What does it feel like to be in your body right now?
Whenever you notice an uncomfortable emotion or sensation, repeat: “I love you, you are safe, I am here.”
Becoming in tune with your felt sense helps you to move energy and shift sensations in your body.
2. Focus on Your Breath
When you’re stressed out and tense, you probably hold your breath or breathe rapidly into your upper chest. This saps your energy and keeps you in a stress cycle.
Fortunately, you can literally change the way your body feels by bringing your attention to your breath.
Try this breathing practice:
Tune into your natural breathing rhythm.
Notice how the air feels as it enters and leaves your body.
Place your hands over your lower ribs and move your breath into this area.
Slow your breathing down and notice how it makes you feel.
Imagine your breath moving into any areas of discomfort and transforming the sensations.
As you breathe out, feel tension and negativity leaving your body.
Our TCR monthly membership program includes regular breathing workshops and “quickie” breathwork practices to bring you back into your body.
3. Move Mindfully
What better way to connect with your body than to use it?!
Your body is designed to move effortlessly in big and bold and small and intricate ways.
Engaging in mindful, joyful movement like dancing, swimming, walking, hiking, yoga, qigong, and tai chi can make you feel more embodied and connected. Listening to music as you move can also help you stay in the moment.
However, steer clear of hardcore exercise that demands you push your body and ignore its signals.
4. Ground Yourself
Mindfully grounding yourself in the earth’s energy field helps create safety in your nervous system. It connects you to the essence of who you are; a divine, cyclical being of the earth.
We love going for barefoot walks in the park and on the beach. Gardening is another way to embrace grounding.
Final Thoughts
These simple embodiment exercises empower and ground you in your body, mind, and soul. You can practice them several times per day (or whenever you need).
With time, embodiment will become a way of life, helping you safely inhabit the spectrum of human emotions and experiences.
