This word is getting a lot of WRONG use these days. Let's clear up what embodiment is and is not.
‘Embody’ is one of those words that is getting a lot of use these days. Like most 'trendy' terms it is also getting a lot of WRONG, or at the least vague, use.
It is being frequently used as a replacement for the words ‘be’ or ‘do’ or ‘succeed’ and while there is truth to that, it isn’t the whole truth.
To embody means more then to do something or succeed at something.
To truly embody something means that you have a full-body, FELT experience of that thing/state/experience. It means that you don’t just know something as thoughts or mental understanding, but that you also feel it as it occurs within the sensations of your body.
For example, what does it mean to embody ‘personal power’? To truly embody personal power, your overall posture, quality of movement and most importantly world of inner-sensation need to be in-line with that experience.
Someone can have the outer signs of personal power but not be feeling it on the inside. If they can feel the dynamic of inner sensation that is at the core of the feeling of ‘personal power’ firsthand however, then they are embodying it.
You CANNOT develop your embodiment through thinking. You can think about embodiment and that is very different from actually getting into, experiencing and increasing your felt sense/awareness (also known as somatic awareness) of your body.
If a learning process doesn’t include aspects where you are actually PRACTICING this process – it is NOT an embodying one and it is not one that is teaching you to embody something. This doesn’t mean it is a bad or ineffective process. It could still be totally excellent and effective but it isn’t developing your ability to ‘embody’.
Again, to be learning how to embody something, you need to actually be practicing and growing your ability to experience what is happening in your body and experience the desired quality or state via that experience.
This type of learning is powerful and a whole additional arena of intelligence to that of our minds.
If you want to develop your embodied intelligence consider joining Embodied in Motion’s ‘Your Embodied Life’ Membership program. A VERY doable & affordable way of practicing getting into your body regularly. Click here for more information and for exclusive access to a free trial :).
Yours, getting embodied ;),
Ruth
