Embodiment Isn't Breathwork. It's Behaviour.
One of the words that gets used a lot in the online space is embodiment. It’s become one of those words that sounds beautiful, but I’m not convinced we all mean the same thing when we use it.
I’ve heard people describe embodiment as meditation.
Breathwork.
Grounding.
Visualisation.
Whilst I think all of those things are incredibly valuable, I don’t believe they are embodiment. I believe they’re tools that help us navigate the process of embodiment.
The embodiment itself happens somewhere else. It happens in your behaviour.
When I think about embodiment, I think about your desires, your goals, your dreams and the things you’d love to bring into physical reality.
Your body is the portal through which all of those things enter your life.
Your mind creates ideas, concepts, and possibilities. Your emotional body allows you to feel what those possibilities might be like. Then your physical body walks those ideas into reality.
It is through the movement of your body that your internal world becomes your external experience.
If you look at your life right now, your experience of life has largely been created by where you’ve placed your body. The direction you’ve walked in. The conversations you’ve had. The opportunities you’ve said yes to. The ones you’ve avoided. The behaviours you’ve repeated every single day.
That’s embodiment. We become an embodiment of the thoughts, emotions and beliefs that we repeatedly act upon.
I see this all the time when people come to me for Human Design sessions. They’re shown something beautiful about themselves. They begin to recognise their gifts, their natural way of operating, their potential. They feel deeply seen.
But what happens next determines everything………………….
Some people leave that session and immediately begin behaving differently. They decide, “This is who I am.” “This is the direction I’m taking.” They begin sharing their ideas. Creating the business. Having the conversations. Making decisions from that place, and slowly but surely building the momentum of creating in physical reality and effect of it.
They become very aware of every mental contradiction that appears, every intrusive thought, every moment of self-doubt, and they continue walking anyway. That is embodiment. (it is also the main reason why people struggle to embody the things they desire)
It is consciously choosing behaviours that are aligned with your truth, even whilst your mind is trying to convince you to return to what feels familiar.
Then there are other people. People who have access to the exactly the same insight. Who feel the exact same excitement of feeling seen. With the exact same potential.
But instead of embodying it, they stay in the identity they’ve always known. They still have the vision. And they are still very passionate about the mission. In fact the probably sit quite consumed by the potential of it.
But instead of taking one courageous step towards it, their body reaches for Instagram to check whether they’re following the right strategy.
Or they search for another course.
Another certification.
Another framework.
They spend hours creating beautiful PDFs, writing notes and refining ideas. Building websites, writing email sequences, or creating ANOTHER framework that will become their signature.
Nothing ever gets created, leaves the notebook, or gets launched.
If it does its a half ass attempt, whilst hiding in the comfort of their own home expecting the alignment fairies to show their posts to ready buyers.
Their body never walks in the direction of the life they’re trying to create. And it isn’t because they aren’t capable. It’s because they are still embodying the identity of the person who hasn’t yet started.
And I don’t mean you have to literally grab your trainers and start walking up the road, I mean your body is the portal to birth the creation, it is also the magnet that attracts everything you need to birth it, and ACTION is how you communicate with your body about what needs to be birthed.
Becoming a mother tells us everything we need to understand about conscious creation. I am the mother of four children and as soon as I found out I had created each of them I surrendered to the moment. I nurtured my body appropriately. I listened to my body and followed its urges and nudges. Walking in the direction of someone who was about to give birth to a child, and voila, four children later…..
When you’re stepping into a new identity, your nervous system goes through a recalibration. Your brain is also upgrading the map it has been using to keep you safe.
So of course there is going to be resistance. Of course there are going to be intrusive thoughts. And of course you’ll question yourself.
The old identity doesn’t quietly disappear. It fights for its survival because, to your brain, familiar feels safe. The psychological tension that shows up during this process isn’t evidence that something is wrong.
It’s evidence that something is changing.
When you receive a vision and decide to go all in on it, you’ll almost certainly hear the voice asking,
“Can I really do this?”
“Who do I think I am?”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
Embodiment isn’t waiting until those thoughts disappear. Embodiment is continuing to walk towards the vision whilst those thoughts are still present.
That’s why I don’t believe breathwork, meditation or grounding alone are embodiment. . Those practices are incredibly supportive because they help regulate your nervous system whilst you’re changing youe direction.
But the embodiment happens when your behaviour changes. When someone who knows they’re here to guide begins guiding. When someone who knows they’re here to create begins creating. When someone who knows they’re here to lead begins leading.
That’s embodiment.
And in order to embody any outcome, you’ve first got to understand the identity that’s required for that outcome.
This is where so many people get stuck. Not just entrepreneurs. All of us. We spend our lives focusing on the outcome whilst giving very little attention to the person who naturally creates that outcome.
I also want to place the emphasis on being rather than changing. Because I don’t believe we’re trying to become somebody else. I think we have access to infinite identities throughout our lifetime.
Human Design gives us a beautiful North Star to start off with. It helps us understand the energetic architecture we’ve been given, our potential and energetic edge to lean into.
It helps us stop trying to become people we were never designed to be, and to begin to live life from our inner knowing, rather than from out mind.
And once you’ve found that place, the possibilities become endless. Your life expands because your behaviours expand. You begin choosing differently. Speaking differently. Showing up differently. Responding differently.
Your body becomes the portal through which your vision enters reality.
If your body is walking towards your purpose, your purpose begins taking shape.
If your body is walking towards procrastination, hesitation, overconsumption, hiding away or endlessly preparing, those behaviours also become your reality.
Because your behaviours become your identity, and your identity becomes your experience of life.
For me, that’s what embodiment really is.
It’s the repeated decision to walk towards the life you already know you’re here to create, even whilst your old identity is quietly asking you to turn around.
Your Next Identity Is Waiting.
You already have the vision, and you already feel the pull. Now it’s time for your body to start walking in that direction.
If you’re ready to stop overthinking and start embodying the business and life you know you’re here to create, let’s spend an hour together mapping out your next chapter.
Book your one-hour 1:1 session here:
👉 https://calendly.com/leannemacdonald/onetime
Let’s turn your vision into something your body begins living, one aligned step at a time.
Tons of Love
L xx