Everyday Embodiment Practices for a Somatically Grounded Year

7 simple ways to be more embodied in your daily life.

Happy (almost) New Year, everyone!

I plan to continue offering all of my work at mom·osophy for free, but if you feel called to support me with a paid subscription, I would be most grateful! In honor of the New Year, I’m going to be offering a year’s worth of my biweekly essays and all future bonuses, for 40 percent off. That’s $30, which, a Reddit thread on $30 gifts tells me, is about the cost of a tea diffuser or high-quality kitchen shears. Click here for a discounted subscription. This promotion will run through 1/4.

And for my new subscribers, welcome! This post can be read on its own, though I’d encourage you to also check out the previous essays in this series on embodiment (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V).

---

The trouble with embodiment in the modern era is that it’s very (very) far from our default mode. Modern life is constantly calling us out of our bodies, through digital technology, decreased opportunities for physical movement and labor, limited quietude, and overwhelming external stimuli. This is why it’s essential to make embodiment a daily practice, as we do with many things beneficial to our overall health, happiness, and wellbeing, whether meditation, exercise, or prayer (all of which can be embodiment practices in of themselves).

And given that tomorrow is the start of a new year, when our collective motivation for self-improvement is at its peak, I thought it would be helpful to share the practices I use to deepen my own capacity for embodiment, none of which require any extra time or commitments and can instead be worked right into our busy lives. And even better, all of these practices provide an immediate payoff. They feel good, and thus, are quite easy to stick to.

Be the Field

This is an easy way to drop into a fuller, kinesthetic experience of the world and your body, instead of relying only on the visual (and therefore representational) aspect of your experiences.

I do this in the mornings and evenings when letting the dog out into the backyard, but you can do it anywhere, even in bed, though outdoors is preferable! First scan your surroundings with your eyes and then close them, so that you can experience the way your body interacts with your environment through your other senses. What do you smell? What do you hear? What do you taste? What do you feel against your skin? Then open your eyes again and see if you can experience your surroundings through all five senses. Notice how much more alive everything (including you!) becomes.

Follow the Feeling

This is the great experiment I began many years ago that quickly changed my life and subsequently ignited my deep passion for embodiment.

Notice the moments where your bodily (heart/gut) feelings conflict with what you think you should do or what you’re being told or expected to do, and consciously choose to to transfer your loyalty to your feelings.

Note that this doesn’t mean skirting our responsibilities. If we wake up in the morning and feel tired and depleted, we still have to go to work or care for our children, but there are all sorts of choices we can make throughout the day out of fidelity to the feelings our bodies are communicating to us. Maybe we decide to cut down on our to-do list. Maybe we choose to go for a walk instead of to a fitness class. Maybe we decline social invitations. Maybe we lower our standards and expectations and offer ourselves a bit of grace.

The impacts of such choices will feel small at first, but over time you’ll strengthen your ability to discern, listen to, and trust in your internal guidance, so that when a big decision eventually rolls around, you’ll have no problem following the wisdom of your gut, even when those around you are telling you to do otherwise. I promise you’ll be surprised and even delighted by the places your gut will lead you.

Embody the Positive

Many of us tend to become more attuned with our bodies when experiencing unpleasant sensations like pain or negative emotions like anxiety, but few of us take the time to drop into our bodies when experiencing pleasant emotions like gratitude or joy. So the next time you feel such emotion, instead of pulling out your phone to capture the moment visually, see if you can capture it internally, through your body. I call this a “somatic snapshot”. Notice the sensations you’re feeling and where you’re feeling them. The idea is to become very familiar with how you feel when you experience these high-frequency emotions, so that you can begin to call these feelings into your body at will—with no eternal stimuli.

Inhabit Your Highest Self

This builds off of the previous exercise and is a great way to begin your day or to reground yourself after becoming flustered/anxious/angry/despondent. Sit down and close your eyes. See if you can recall, somatically, how it feels in your body when you experience joy or gratitude. If it’s helpful you can also think of something that brings you feelings of joy or gratitude (your family, your work, a kind comment, a particular place or moment in time), but the important part is to notice the sensations that arise in your body as a consequence of that thought. Feel into them and allow them to expand. Remind yourself that this is who you really are! When you feel like you’ve sufficiently captured this version of yourself, return to your life and notice how your energy (and therefore perspective) has shifted. Repeat this exercise anytime you find yourself getting swept away by negative thought patterns. Over time, you’ll get very proficient at instantly snuffing them out!

When You Reach for Your Phone

Do you ever notice yourself reaching for your phone during a moment of stillness, like at a red light or while waiting in line? This is a great moment to check in with your body instead. What does that pull toward your phone feel like? Where in your body is it located? What other sensations are you feeling? How is your body interacting with your environment? Scan your body from head to toe, and see what you find there.

Doing this practice helped me realize that the impulse to check my phone was actually an attempt to flee the body, which makes itself more present during still, quiet moments when our minds aren’t occupied.

When Life is Monotonous

This is a great practice for mothers (or fathers!) as the labor of caring for a family can feel quite tedious at times. And it’s quite simple! Whenever life feels monotonous, drop into your bodily experience by feeling yourself engaged in the activity. I do this while washing dishes, chopping vegetables, folding laundry, bathing my children, or any other domestic activity I’m not particularly looking forward to. You’ll be amazed by how much it enriches your experience and soothes any anxiety or exasperation.

Yoga Nidra

Often referred to “non-sleep deep rest” or “a yoga nap,” this ancient, evidenced-based restorative practice is a beautiful way to check in with your body and feel supremely relaxed while doing so! When I’m struggling with sleep deprivation or whenever my nervous system is feeling especially overtaxed, Yoga Nidra is a consistent life-saver.

There are great teachers on Youtube offering anywhere from 10-90 minute recordings. Ally Boothroyd is a personal favorite.

There are of course many other practices that can help you become more aware of your body in a given moment, including yoga, meditation, and breathwork, all of which have personally benefited me greatly, but which I now have limited time for given where I am in life. The aforementioned practices, however, are very easy to incorporate into my day, and they enable me to remain somatically (and also spiritually!) grounded no matter how hectic life gets. I notice that when I neglect them, I’m more easily triggered, reactive (v. responsive), and less self-aware thanks to a build up of unprocessed emotion.

I hope you find these helpful, and if you do or have your own practices to share, I would love to hear from you, by direct message or in the comments below.

Next up is a deep dive into the embodied experience of female biology and the wisdom it can afford us. As I will explain, more than any spiritual text, my body has taught me how to live.