Get Out of Your Head: Guide to Practising Embodiment
Written by Kirsti Formoso,
MSc. Transpersonal Psychology, BSc. Psychology
When you're stuck in your head, you're not really here. You’re missing life. You’re going through the motions on autopilot. And life becomes dull, boring and meaningless.
But life was never meant to be dull, boring and meaningless; it’s meant to be rich, vibrant and glorious.
The truth is, most people spend their days trapped in thought. But when you practice embodiment, something shifts. You come alive, the world comes alive with you, and there's a depth and meaning to life that makes it so worth living.
STUCK IN YOUR HEAD
For some reason, we seem to value head over heart or any other part of our bodies. In our modern-day societies across the world, we've become more and more cognicentric. We prioritise intellect over body awareness. And we've become disconnected from our bodies, our senses and the information coming through them.
We're kind of like heads walking around in the world. all consumed with thought. It's all happening up top, and we're not picking up any of the information our bodies are sending our way. Worse, we're actively avoiding what our bodies are trying to tell us. Constantly stuffing down and shutting off sensations and feelings.
🔶 Trapped in Thought: The Past, the Future, and Nowhere in Between
When we live primarily in our heads, our attention is rarely anchored in the present. We're often replaying the past, rehashing conversations, regrets, or old pain, or anxiously rehearsing the future, trying to predict, control, or prepare for what’s next.
Even when we’re physically here, mentally we’re somewhere else, and life is passing us by. This constant mental time-travel disconnects us from what’s happening now, from our environment, our relationships, and our own internal cues. Life starts to blur, and it feels dull. Moments pass us by without being fully experienced. And we wonder where the years went.
🔶 Life on Autopilot: No Savouring, No Feeling, No Rest
When our awareness is stuck in thoughts and mental loops, we move through life automatically. Going through the motions without really being present. We miss the richness of everyday experiences: the warmth of sunlight, the taste of food, the sound of the wind rustling the leaves.
Without tuning into the body and its senses, we lose the ability to enjoy life, to savour the moment. Savouring is a cornerstone for joy, gratitude, and well-being.
The more we disconnect from the body, the more numb, restless, and dysregulated we tend to feel.
BORED OF LIFE
So many people are bored with life. When we’re stuck in our heads, overthinking and ruminating, we become so disconnected from the richness of the present moment that life can start to feel flat, repetitive, or even meaningless.
We start to fill the void with addictions: shopping, gaming, scrolling, eating, sex, work, TV, alcohol, weed, and other drugs just to feel alive. But they just shut us off even more. Demanding ever greater stimulus to feel alive.
This lack of presence and absence of sensory engagement often leads to a subtle but persistent feeling of boredom with life. Not because life itself is boring, but because we’re not really in it. We’re skimming the surface, missing the depth and texture that come from truly inhabiting our bodies and the moment we’re in.
MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS
I've helped many clients with anxiety. Instead of getting anxious about feeling anxious and trying to avoid it, I invite my clients to get up close and cosy with these feelings. I encourage them to go into their body and the sensations and be curious about what the body is trying to convey. To give space to what is arising in the body.
Sometimes, one session is all it takes for people to get comfortable with the sensation of anxiety. Sensing into it, it dissipates as quickly as it arises. Anxiety loses all its power over them just from being in their body instead of their head.
I think many mental health problems stem from being in our heads and not in our bodies. Certainly, the ability to stay present, savour the moment, and feel gratitude has been linked with increased well-being.
And the easiest way to stay present is through the body. It's not being in your head, but living through your senses. Being embodied.
WHAT IS EMBODIMENT?
Embodiment is being in the body, fully inhabiting it, rather than living from the neck up. It’s through the body that we engage with the world: we move, act, feel, sense, respond. Our body is the instrument through which we experience life, through touch, taste, smell, sound, sight, and the more subtle sensations that shape our emotional and energetic states.
We live through this body.
Our senses and three sensory feedback systems: exteroception, proprioception, and interoception enable us to live through this body in this world.
🔶 Exteroception - is your awareness of the external world through your five senses
🔶 Proprioception - is your sense of your body’s position and movement in space, even without looking.
🔶 Interoception - is your ability to feel internal bodily sensations like heartbeat, hunger, breath, or emotion.
It is our body that gets us through this world. It’s not just a vessel, it’s a vital part of the psyche itself. It is like an interface between the non-material realm and the realm of the physical.
That’s why Tony Robbins says, “If you’re in your head, you’re dead.” When we disconnect from our body, we disconnect from life itself.
To embody something is to bring it to life, to make it real — to animate wisdom, emotion, or essence in a way that can be seen, felt, and expressed. It’s not just thinking about peace, love, or presence; it’s feeling it in your bones, breathing it through your chest, and moving from that place in the world.
When we embody, we’re allowing our true self, our spirit, our emotional truth, our deepest knowing — to be expressed through the body.
EMBODIMENT AND SOMATIC PSYCHOLOGY
Embodiment is a key concept in somatic psychology. It emphasises the importance of body awareness in the healing process. Somatic therapy uses movement practices and paying attention to sensations to access embodied experiences, promoting a deeper connection with the human body.
We store trauma in the body, and we can only release trauma through the body. No amount of cognitive effort will truly heal that which is stuck in the body. Talking doesn’t fix it; getting into the body fixes it.
By cultivating somatic awareness, we develop a greater understanding of our internal sensations and emotions, leading to a more embodied and mindful way of living.
Embodiment practices, such as yoga, tai chi, and mindful breathing, can help us connect with our body and external environment, promoting a sense of balance and harmony.
UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF SOMATIC AWARENESS
Somatic awareness is essential for maintaining balance and impulse control, as it enables us to tune into our internal sensations and respond to our needs. It keeps us connected to ourselves.
Embodiment work, such as somatic therapy, can help us reconnect with our body and develop a greater sense of self-awareness, leading to improved mental health and well-being.
By paying attention to sensory information, we can develop a greater understanding of our emotions and internal experience, leading to a more embodied and mindful way of living.
Somatic awareness is an integral part of the healing process, as it enables us to tap into our body’s wisdom and develop a greater sense of connection with ourselves and our environment.
SOMATIC THERAPY AND MENTAL HEALTH
Somatic therapy is a highly effective approach to mental health, as it addresses the interconnectedness of the body and mind.
While talk therapies tend to keep you stuck in your head, somatic therapies encourage you to be in your body. By working with the body, somatic therapy can help ius process and release traumatic experiences, leading to improved mental health and well-being.
If you've been in therapy for a while and you're feeling stuck, it could be because you're not using your body to process and heal, and you might want to explore more somatic psychology type therapists. For more information on feeling stuck in therapy, you can read my article, Too Much Therapy? This Might be a Better Approach
Embodiment practices, such as movement and mindfulness, can help us develop a greater sense of self-awareness and self-regulation, leading to improved emotional experience and resilience.
Somatic therapy can help individuals develop a greater sense of safety and connection with their body, leading to improved self-love and self-care.
By incorporating somatic awareness into therapy, individuals can develop a more holistic understanding of themselves and their experiences, leading to improved mental health and well-being.
EMBODIMENT AND TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Transpersonal Psychology is the study and application of spiritual concepts, practices, and states of being for psychological well-being. It bridges the personal and the spiritual, exploring not just who we are, but what we are, beyond the ego.
Within this framework, embodiment is a central theme.
It’s not enough to understand spiritual ideas on an intellectual level. Lasting transformation happens when we embody what we know — when insights from spiritual experiences and EHEs like mystical experiences move from the mind into the body, into our nervous system, into how we show up in the world. This is where true integration begins.
Embodiment practices help us ground spiritual wisdom in lived, felt experience.
PRACTICING EMBODIMENT
You don’t need specific practices to practice getting out of your head and into your body. Just actively choosing to place your consciousness in your body instead of your head will take you into your body.
We can try it now, just by placing our awareness in our feet. Try it for a minute. Feel the ground beneath your feet or the fabric of your socks. See what you notice when you place your attention there. Does anything else happen in the body?
You can also see if you can notice or sense your heart beating, take a moment to tune in. And if that is too difficult, just notice your breath. Where do you notice your breath? In your chest, tummy, nostrils or somewhere else?
If you’re in pain, try taking your attention and consciousness into that pain. Really feel it at the point of pain. How does it feel? Pain is not a sensation; it’s a concept formed in the brain. Perhaps you feel a dull ache, a throbbing, or stabbing, really feel into it, what is there?
You can practice embodiment through your senses, too. Drill down and focus on what you’re sensing. You can do this in two ways;
🔶 Interoception
Interoception refers to your ability to feel what's happening inside your body. This is a core skill in embodiment and somatic practices, especially in trauma healing, mindfulness, and nervous system regulation.
Think: inner body awareness — “What am I feeling inside right now?”
Hunger or fullness
Heartbeat
Breath rhythm
Muscle tension
Temperature
Nausea and “gut feelings”
Emotional sensations (e.g., tight chest when anxious, hunched shoulders)
Pain from old injuries
🔶 Exteroception
Exteroception is your ability to sense the external world through the five senses.
Think: outer sensory awareness — “What am I noticing around me?”
Sight (seeing the sun flickering through the trees)
Sound (hearing the sound of your feet on gravel)
Smell (smelling the normal smell of your home)
Taste (really tasting what pasta tastes like without sauce)
Touch (feeling the texture of a cleaning cloth)
EMBODIMENT PRACTICES
There are specific practices designed to encourage you to move down into your body and develop embodiment. And there are activities that really encourage this connection. Some of these include:
Mindful movement (e.g., yoga, tai chi, Qi Gong, dance)
Breathwork
Body-based meditation
Grounding and centring practices
Somatic inquiry (noticing sensations, impulses, and emotions)
Nature connection
Chanting or sound-based practices like humming
Massage and self-massage
Cold showers
Mindful body scan
Pottery, clay work and other hands-on creative expressions
Climbing and bouldering
These practices reconnect us to the body as a source of wisdom, regulation, and presence. They shift us out of overthinking and into a direct relationship with the moment — the place where real healing and spiritual awakening occur.
EMBODIMENT PRACTICES ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH
Being in your body is an important skill on your personal journey back to the self and enlightenment. The spiritual path is a challenging path, and embodiment helps you stay grounded and resilient in challenging times.
By developing our reflective awareness of our inner emotional experience, we are able to rely on intuition in times of doubt, confusion and spiritual crisis.
Being in our bodies also helps protect us from spiritual bypassing, which can hinder our spiritual growth and hurt us and those around us.
By prioritising embodiment practices on your spiritual journey, you will be less likely to trip over the many pitfalls on the spiritual path. Let it be a foundational aspect of your journey to awakening.
EMBODIMENT IN EVERYDAY LIFE
I love playing pickleball, and the easiest games to win are those against players stuck in their heads. Thoughts like we're going to lose, I'm not very good, we haven't got a chance against these players, or we should be beating these players, dominate their game so much they make silly mistakes.
Embodied players are not in their heads at all. They're in the state of flow. They're focused, but their body is doing all the work for them. And they're enjoying the game. They're alive, their perception is fast, their responses are quick, and they're racking up the points effortlessly.
But this in your head versus embodiment isn't limited to the pickleball court. This is life. And if you're in your head, everything is a struggle. But if you're in your body, everything gets easier, life sort of flows, and meets you halfway.
GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND INTO YOUR BODY
It's time to get out of your head and into your body. Being embodied has multiple benefits, from improving well-being levels and therapeutic outcomes on the healing journey to protecting you from spiritual bypassing on your spiritual journey.
Oh, and did I mention it will make you a better pickleball player too :)
While mindful movement practices like yoga are probably the most powerful at developing somatic awareness, there are plenty of other ways you can learn to be in your body and develop body awareness.
Remember, the more we live in our bodies, the more alive life becomes. It's like our senses wake up and we really start to experience the wonder of the world and all its magnificence.
I wonder, what does it feel like to be in your body right now? Drop in to it, say hello, and see what arises.
Explore More About Spiritual Growth
Want to expand your knowledge and understanding? Check out these articles:
How Do You Start Your Spiritual Journey? A Guide to Finding Your Path
The Best Spiritual Hobbies for Spiritual Growth and Non-dual Experiences
Taming the Inner Critic and Making it Part of Your Dream Team
