Got the Insight? Now Let’s Embody It
A few weeks ago, I was walking with a friend who’s navigating an especially challenging season in her career.
She shared some of the insights she’s picked up over the years from working with a leadership coach, like having a positive mindset and repeating mantras focused on abundance.
I asked if she’s been able to apply what she’s learned and she said yes, until she gets stressed. In which case, all that wisdom goes out the window.
I hear some version of this all the time: “I know what I need to work on… but I don’t know how to actually do it, especially when I’m stressed.”
In leadership coaching, it might sound like:
“I know I need to be more confident in meetings, but I shrink and don’t know how to stop.”
“I know I need to set better boundaries, but when I’m overwhelmed, I freeze.”
“I know I need to speak up with senior leadership, but I lose my voice.”
In personal development, it might be:
“I have a belief that I don’t know enough even though I probably do. But I can’t shake it.”
“I’ve been going in circles on this decision for weeks and I don’t know how to actually make up my mind.”
“I keep snapping at people. I feel so badly when it happens but I don’t know how to stop.”
These aren’t problems of intelligence, willpower, or insight. These are thoughtful, capable people; people who know what needs to change. But there can be a gap between knowing and doing. Many people don’t know how to bridge this gap, especially when their nervous systems are in overdrive.
We can read the books. We can talk it out. We can have all the insight in the world. But insight alone isn’t always enough.
What really matters is: Can we apply what we know? Can we embody what’s important to us, even under stress?
If the answer is no or not always, that’s where somatic work comes in.
Somatic (or body-based) practices support transformation by working with the nervous system, emotions, muscle memory, and long-held conditioning. These patterns don’t just live in our minds, but also in our bodies and energy systems.
These are the patterns that can get in our way and hold us back. They are the reason it can be challenging to turn insight into action.
Because somatics can help us shift these underlying patterns, that’s why it can help us create more lasting change compared to strategies that focus on mindset alone.
When we can get out of our heads and into our bodies, new possibilities for change become available.
If you’re feeling that gap between how you’re showing up today and how you would like to be showing up at work or in your life, that is not a failure. It’s a signal.
And maybe the next step isn’t more thinking… or more insight… or more mindset work… Maybe it’s learning how to live what you already know.
If that’s of interest to you, here’s a simple next step.
The next time you find yourself in a familiar challenge - shrinking in a meeting, snapping at a loved one, frozen by your to-do list - pause and notice:
What’s your posture?
Where do you feel tension?
What emotion is present?
What’s your energy like?
In other words, what’s happening in your body from the inside out.
Rather than trying to fix or override these messages, can you get curious? What if these messages aren’t problems, but rather clues.
Clues about where your system might need support and healing so that you can more forward differently. When change can happen at this level, it can be far more lasting because your mind and body can be on the same page. There’s alignment.
This alignment is how you can take the insights that are important to you and actually embody them. That is my goal and my hope for us all.
If you’re curious about how a somatic approach might support your leadership, growth, or healing, you’re welcome to schedule a free consultation. I’d love to talk with you.
We’re living in a time of immense change and because of that, immense possibility.
When we have tools to show up more fully and authentically, and to make the changes we’re longing for - however big or small - it doesn’t just benefit us. It benefits everyone around us.
