How Our Body Manages Us — What We Can Do to Change
Last time, I shared the story of a client who used her “embodied self-awareness” to change her behavior in ways deeply aligned with her long-term career goals.
Now I’ll dive into what’s meant by this term, how it differs from the more familiar "conceptual self-awareness" and, most important, the ways it can help us overcome obstacles to change.
The two kinds of self-awareness are:
Conceptual self-awareness refers to “the self thinking about itself.” It can take us anywhere in time and allows us to envision ourselves in a different situation, such as realizing a long-sought dream or desire.
Embodied self-awareness refers to “the self experiencing itself.” It's defined as “present-moment, non-judgmental attention to sensation, movement and emotion.” This type takes us to into the current moment and lets us experience aliveness.
Both kinds of self-awareness influence our thoughts and actions. But the embodied kind is especially significant when we seek to change deeply ingrained behaviors and/or reach long-sought goals.
According to somatic leadership coach Amanda Blake, author of Our Body Is Our Brain, we develop this awareness by tuning into our experience right now. Can we perceive any subtle sensations in our gut, our chest, our throat or another part of our body?
Typically, it's easier to discern uncomfortable sensations -- those most often associated with negative emotions. Think of these common expressions:
“It felt like a gut punch” to describe the sting of an insult; and
“I had butterflies in my tummy” to characterize fluttery nervousness.
How Embodied Self-Awareness Makes a Difference
Without consciously realizing it, these barely discernible sensations have an outsized impact on how we behave in difficult moments. For instance, if we don't recognize our stomach is queasy during an important meeting and that the feeling is subconsciously instructing us to stay quiet when it would be wiser to speak up, we’re letting an old pattern keep us stuck.
Looking to change a limiting belief or an unproductive habit? If so, embodied self-awareness provides an opportunity to break such a pattern. When we make conscious connections between our sensations, the emotions we attach to them and the behaviors we use to cope with the temporary discomfort, we can practice making other choices.
Clients tell me that tuning into their bodies and becoming aware of the choices they’ve historically made helps them overcome self-doubt, rumination, procrastination and other unproductive attitudes and behaviors.
Neuroscience research found that greater embodied self-awareness was linked to improved social and emotional capabilities, such as:
Flourishing -- a measure of life satisfaction and well-being
Empathy – feeling others' feelings, a critical emotional intelligence skill
Connectedness – the ability to relate to others
Resilience – the capacity to bounce back from hardships
Conflict management – the ability to avoid and de-escalate conflict
Reach out if you’d like to learn about ways to increase your capacity for embodied self-awareness and the doors to transformative change it can open.