Ep 176 - What does 'being embodied' actually mean, and why it matters in leadership

“Embodiment” isn’t just yoga speak.

It’s a leadership skill. It’s a nervous system tool. It’s a practice of presence that changes the way you communicate, decide, and relate.

This episode breaks it all down—no fluff, all truth.

Listen to episode 176 of Get Jasched on Apple Podcasts + Spotify, and watch the episode in full on YouTube.

#EmbodiedLeadership #WhatIsEmbodiment #PodcastForGrowth

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Transcript

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Get Jasched.I am your host, Jess Jasch.Today we are talking about a word that I use often, is used often around the social medias depending on your algorithm, but that is the word embodied or embodiment.And what does it actually mean?And not only that, what does it mean and why does it actually even matter in leadership?So we are demystifying embodiment, we're cutting through the jargon and the buzzwords that can be around this word to explain what it actually means in practice.why it matters for leaders, how it can transform how you communicate, how you make decisions, your well-being.And in addition to that, we're going to give you a few things you can practice, you can take away with you and practice.So let's get into it.So you have probably heard the word embodiment.Is it a buzzword?Is it a word that is only used by certain kinds of people?Is it all hippy, dippy, woo-woo bullshit?I say that ironically because if you've met me, you've met me.You know, so we're going to let's define it.And part of this is important to me because I use this word inConnection with, in conjunction with, in the same sentence with the words leadership training quite often or leadership coaching quite often.So it's embodied leadership training.I have the Embodied Leaders Academy andSometimes when we see some things, we only pick up on the words we already know, and then kind of assume what it is.And we don't really go go from there.So what I have found, when teaching leaders, so business owners, managers, C suite leaders,you pick it.What I found when teaching them and coaching them in the context of leadership training or coaching, the embodiment piece, that is where a lot of it all clicks together.So if we're working on overwhelm or stress,as a leader, sometimes what is usually, um, what is usually sort of focused on is the strategies, like, all right, how do we stop being overwhelmed?All right, we delegate, which is not a bad thing.That's not bad advice at all.It's probably really good advice.And the piece missing that, that, that is often missing, not always, but often missing that I help them find is, um,How they actually tell their stress in the first place, because by the time a lot of people actually notice stress or actually say they are stressed, it is usually been showing up for a very long time prior to that.For a long time, there have been signs and signals and symptoms and all of the things, and they are already at burnout point.So embodiment helps us to really shift that outcome by identifying things sooner.And that's just in one example, right?So embodiment isn't actually just about stress.It's not just about the bad things, right?Or the negative things.But embodiment, in plain language, it is the practice of being present in your body.Not just in your head, but in your body.That is what embodiment is.It's embody, embody.It's just noticing your body.It's noticing physical sensations, emotions, or signals.So it's noticing the things you are experiencing, not just the things you are thinking, and letting that awareness be part of what informs how you show up.Because when you notice it, you have a choice that you then can choose what that action is or that next step.It makes me think of professional athletes.They are so aware of their body.professional athletes.So I'm not talking about defense members, soldiers, or other people who are kind of taught to ignore what their body is showing up as like in all the pains and niggles, but professional athletes who typically understand that if something shows up, they need to pay attention to it and they need to adjust something.Right.So they are so in their body, they're in their body in the moment.of play they're in a flow state so they're not really in their head they might like they practice this stuff right so they're in that zone where they're not going oh i have to kick the ball now they often just do itSo they are in their body.And when they notice something speaking up in their knee or their muscle, they then get it checked out, particularly in training, right?So they're like, all right, I need to get this treated so it doesn't become a problem later.That is an example of embodiment.In interoception research, awareness of internal body states is linked to better emotion regulation, which you might not think is important in a leadership context.But when you think about emotionally regulated leaders, they are better leaders.They make better decisions.They make wiser decisions.Mind-body integration studies show that leaders who practice embodied awareness report lower stress and improved decision-making.So there are studies that support this that show usin research which is that often tangible proof that a lot of people look for that show us why embodiment and this awareness of our internal body states our embodied awareness is actually better for us and makes us better leaders not just makes us feel better which should be important enough as it is but you know sometimes that's not motivation enough it also makes us better leaders soIt matters.It matters becauseAs I said, most leadership training that people expect at least, I'm not here to diss on any, like there is a place for every kind of leadership training, but most leadership training that people come to expect focuses on the cognition.They focus on the thinking.They focus on the strategies.Give us the strategies.Give us the tangibles, which, yeah, helpful.And the effective leadership happens in the moment when there's presence,There's attunement, like emotionally.There's adaptability.And you can't train that by focusing on thinking strategies, right?You can barely script for it when you're doing embodied leadership training.You can barely script for it, but you can practice it and practice the skills that help you become better in the moment because that's where effective leadership happens.It happens in the moment.It doesn't happen with the script.It happens with the practice.Embodiment and embodied leaders, but embodiment helps leaders to regulate their stress and emotions, which means they're able to communicate more congruently.Your body matches your words.You're clearer.People feel that.They trust what you're saying because they trust that what you say is true.There's a congruence there.You build trust through the grounded presence.All of these are really important for effective leadership.And again, the research supports it.Embodiment supports PERMA's engagement and relationships.So Seligman's PERMA theory, the engagement and relationships part of PERMA.Leaders are more attuned, authentic and connected when they have those, when they have all of those pieces, but those pieces really filled up and taken care of.So again, it's just, if nothing else, it is a well-being tool.It was a well-being perspective.And again, sometimes that is just not enough motivation for people.So if nothing else, please consider embodied leadership as a really significant key aspect to effective leadership.And while there are more and more examples of more embodied leadersshowing up and being displayed and modeled in really beautiful ways, it's still not the norms.You can actually get ahead on this.So as a business strategy, God, I hate talking about it this way, but as a business strategy, it could be something that sets you apart from the rest to appeal to great people who can become great team members for you, who want to work with you.It could appeal toyour clients, your stakeholders, your customer base.Again, if nothing else, but this is, it's because it's more real, it's more authentic.So if you consider it from every aspect, really consider it from every aspect.Signs of being disembodied in your leadership or being disembodied at work.We've kind of spoken about this in previous episodes in different ways, but one is being stuck in your head.So endless overthinking, questioning, overthinking, questioning, overthinking, overpreparing.um over planning ignoring body signals as i said burnout stress exhaustion those signals show up a lot fucking sooner than most of us acknowledge me included don't worry constant practice it's a constant practice so ignoring body signals uh saying yes when everything in you is saying noSometimes, depending on your industry, depending on your hierarchical structure, that is not always a possibility or an option.And just notice, even just acknowledging, yep, this is a no for me.And I said, yes, I had to say yes, or I just said it, or I didn't think I didn't consider it.But that is a sign of disembodiment, unless you acknowledge it.And communicating, again, this comes down to the congruence, communicating words of care or saying the right things while your tone or your body language communicates the opposite.It gives off, it's giving ticker box energy, right?So you wantyour energy to match what you are saying, for people to trust you, for people to feel at ease, for that to improve the workplace culture, all of this, right?So these are just some signs of how disembodiment can show up in leadership.But then what it looks like in practice, what embodied leadership looks like in practice, it could be you as a leader pausingto take a breath or to notice your breath before making a tough decision.It is so much more trust building to pause and consider what someone is saying, even if your answer is still a no or the opposite of what they want.They feel so much more trust in your response, even if they don't like it.They feel so much more trust in your response when they can tell that you really considered it from here, not just a from here.Choosing to slow down your speech and posture to shift your posture to de-escalate conflict.That's an embodied leadership practice.And not slowing down your speech.to something that is then frustrating but just really being considerate with your words rather than going in hot metal you know flaming the the flames right fueling the flames so really just choosing to consider your words your posture how you're presenting how you're adding to the to the situation how you are contributing to itAnd acknowledging emotions, this is one thing that I lead most of that training and coaching with is as a leader, we're talking about what is appropriate to share, right?Like this is within the realms of appropriateness, but acknowledging emotions instead of suppressing them or repressing them and really showing that you are acknowledging that.So it's, oh, I feel frustrated, but I'm still here.Or I feel a bit stressed, but we're good.Or I feel off today, don't even have to say why.But let's have this conversation.You know, you're acknowledging, and there's so many reasons why that's important for the interpersonal relationships between you and the people you lead, you and your peers, you and your management, like whoever, it's so, so important.But you as a leader, whether you are in the position of leader or not, you as a leader, when you demonstrate and model this behavior,it actually shows other people how to do the same without telling them how.So you don't need to be a leader.Sorry, you don't need to have the title of leader to be a leader.But when you show up in a certain way, it gives other people an example of how to show up in that way.When we are filled in a world full of fucking examples that are the worst, that are the actual worst examples of leadership,That maybe, oh God, this is a grand sweeping statement, that maybe are the worst examples of public leadership we have seen ever in our lifetimes, for sure.The worst examples of public, the worst public examples of leadership that we've ever seen.You can still show up and model your example of leadership.And I'm not saying lay down and not tell the truth.I mean telling the truth.But modeling a certain way to do that.So embodied leadership is really, really powerful in that way.How can you do this?Takes practice.It takes practice forever.It's not to be defeatist at all.But it is.It's this thing that it's not just a thing.It's something you are being.It is something you do over and over and over again.It is not just a thing you've set up.It's not just a policy or a procedure or a process.It is something you do and be.SoSome practical examples, little practices that you can do that are really simple.And we forget the simplicity sometimes.We forget the simple things.The really simple ones.A one-minute check-in.We all have a minute.A literal minute.We all have a minute.We all have 30 seconds.Sometimes it takes less.I was just in, in life and death situations.I'm positive.Trauma surgeons take a breath.They may not be paying attention to themselves, but they take a breath in positive.So one minute check-in for us who aren't trauma surgeons, a one minute check-in what's happening in my body right now.And it could be, what's my breath doing?Where am I feeling tension?What's my heart doing?What's my heartbeat, my heart rate?Am I feeling a temperature?Am I feeling cold?Am I feeling hot?Am I feeling sweaty?Am I feeling numb, cold extremities?Whatever it is, just a one-minute check-in.What's happening in my body right now?What am I feeling or noticing?A different one, and all of these can be worked together, right?But they can also work separately.A different one is the pause practice.So before responding to something, like I said, you could take a breath or notice your feet in the ground or a body part touching or connecting to something.Get her on the ground.Or sometimes if I'm presenting, and this isn't just in response to feeling dysregulated, right?Sometimes this is just to make sure that I'm staying present.This is just the practice now.Sometimes when I'm presenting, it doesn't matter really whether I put my hands in front or behind my back, but I might notice my feet on the ground or I might just squeeze my arms, squeeze my forearms, and just be likeI'm here.I'm right here.And then I am here.Sometimes when I'm recording these episodes, I'll just rest my hands on my legs.I don't even need to do anything, but it's just a grounding.Hands are on my legs.It's a pause practice.I got a comment on YouTube on one of my videos a few weeks ago.And it was on one of the clips, right?So sometimes I don't always edit the clips to be, like, just super, super quick.But in one of the clips, I paused to consider what I was going to say next.And the comment was out of, like, they didn't have the context, I guess, of the entire episode.And they made a point ofsaying does she even know what she's like what she's saying she doesn't know what she's saying yeah most of the time I know what I'm saying and the point is sometimes I will pause even in an episode and I'm not going to edit that shit out because I'm leading by example I guess but also I want you to experiencehere right so it is very rare that I ever edit anything out specifically in the middleBut sometimes you'll notice I pause, sometimes I'll pause, I will take a literal breath.And I'll consider what's about to come out of my mouth next.Sometimes something comes out and I will correct myself.Right?These are all little little embodiment practices in real time.Because they are what makes a difference.to how I show up and that's gonna and that's gonna resonate differently with different people right I oh my god I am the most aware of my speaking style no one can shock me with new information about how I speak no one can I am so aware of it and I am so at peace with itBecause I would rather show up authentically.And this is, I'm not even feeling defensive about this.It's just, it's funny because it's all done intentionally.I would rather show up authentically in how I need to show up in that moment.And I will always do my best.And I'll always try and improve.Absolutely.But I would rather show up authentically than pretend it's something different.Or pretend I'm something different.So that's all to say, that's the pause practice.So you get your one minute check in, what's happening in my body right now, pause practice, before responding, notice your feet on the ground, notice your body part, whatever is accessible, right?And then there's a boundary practice.And this is, what does my body say yes or no to?And you can see how these work differently for different scenarios, right?They won't all work for the same scenario.Sometimes they'll work all together.Sometimes it'll just be one of these.So boundary practices, what is it?Beyond what you might legally or morally or ethically be obligated to do.This is where it's important because sometimes our bodies lie.Sometimes our bodies will lie.based on a whole different things so you have to kind of work in congruence here um and still check in what does my body say yes or no to just so you can at least acknowledge itIt doesn't have to be, well, it says no, so it's an absolute no again, especially if it's breaking the law or an ethical issue or a moral issue.Really don't undervalue those.So just really check in, though.Use it as the acknowledgement at the very least.What does my body say yes to?What does it say no to?And see where you can adjust from there.Because this is going to impact your personal relationships, your home life, your personal life, as well as your work life.I'm not all about work.I just, I make it about those contexts for your purposes.But all of these things, you cannot have professional development without personal development.It's the first thing I tell in my training.It's the first slide I say in my training beyondthe welcome and the acknowledgement of country and this is what we're doing.It's you cannot have professional development without personal development.So notice that this is not going to be something that is just siloed to your work part of your life, for example.But embodied leaders, these embodiment practices, it doesn't mean you need to, it's not all just for yoga or meditation.They are tools.They're somatic tools, they're embodiment tools, as are many other things.But whatever your version of practicing that is, embodied leaders create cultures of safety, authenticity,sustainable performance so it leads to sustainable performance right um and if your question is why should i matter if it's safety a because it's probably a legal necessity especially if you're in australia there are psychological safety um there's psychological safetylegislation.Also, it's morally and ethically the right thing to do, even if it's not legally enforced.I will die on that hill.Thanks for joining me.But sustainable performance, it creates more sustainable performance.You don't go on that roller coaster of peak, peak, peak, burnout, crash, peak, peak, peak, burnout, crash, right?You mitigate that at the very least.There can be other things that might be contributing factors that we can't change, but you can mitigateThe intensity of that roller coaster.When leaders are grounded, that is mirrored by the team.That regulation or that ability to re-regulate, which is really the tool.It's not about staying in regulation, but re-regulating, like recovering.Teams mirror that.People around you mirror that.They don't even have to be your team.It could be your partner.It could be your friend.It could be whoever.It is mirrored.We mirror neurons and we lead by example.We model and people learn by us modeling.So when we as leaders are grounded, teams mirror that, which creates such a better but also more efficient, smooth workplace culture.I love giving examples, I guess.I'm watching The Bear.I'm catching up on it.I know everyone's way ahead of me, but it's a show.on Disney Plus here.But it's great.It's so good.It's so well written.It's so well acted.And it's about this restaurant, right?So it's a bunch of chefs in the kitchen, if you haven't seen it, if you haven't heard of it.It's intense.And from everything I hear about being a cook or a chef, I understand that from everything I hear, those environments are intense, right?the example I'm getting to is in this show, everyone is dysregulated for their own different reasons.It's not a judgment, it's just the fact.Everyone is in their own version of dysregulation.And at this point where I'm at, no one's really leading that too much because everyone's in their own shit.So everyone's mirroring and clashing off each other in their own shit.SoI'm sure this is going to happen.I have faith.Who knows?It's a great show.But if one person starts to kind of become aware of their shit and practice regulation, remember the goal is not perfect regulation.We're allowed to be dysregulated, but then it's how do we respond to that?They practice healthy responding and embodied responding.That means one less clashing off someone else's shit and one more example of that modeling and how that can happen.And I'm not saying that we're going to change the culture of chefing, of chefs, you know, like that's not my, I don't know.I have no experience in that workplace environment.But if one person, it can be slightly less toxic in the way that it's demonstrated in the show, right?So when leaders are grounded or clear or a bit clearer or working on it, teams mirror that.no matter the chaos that might be happening around them.Because disembodied leaders unintentionally spread stress, mistrust.They're inconsistent.They're inconsistent as shit.And it's hard.It's not easy for them either, but it's so hard for all of us.It's hard for everyone around them.So there is a ripple effect.God, a few years ago, I was really talking about the ripple effect.There is a ripple effect that comes from this work.And it's so, so important for not just how you feel, but for how people feel around you.And that is important because that then contributes to what then happens.So here is your closing prompt to reflect on.When was the last time your body gave you a signal that you ignored?Maybe you have to really sit with this and think about it.And what would shift if you listened more often?Caveat here, obviously, if there is something deeper going on, potentially trauma, please work with a trained mental health professional in this journey.But where you can, where it feels safe and accessible to, consider when was the last time your body gave you a signal that you ignored?What would shift if you listened more often?Acknowledged more often.Even if not listened, acknowledged more often.You can journal or practice this this week.Notice one embodied cue a day.Just aim for one a day before you act on it.So whatever you find, please share a moment that comes up for you where you've noticed your body guiding you.You could share it with a colleague who it would be useful for them to be aware of.Whatever that is for you, share it.If you share it as a post or as a story, tag me in it so we can talk about this more and support each other more and give each other more examples because we don't even need to be our own direct work colleagues.in order to be peers in this experience as well so i hope this is helpful i will see you next week