Embodied Presence: Reconnecting with Our Body’s Natural Intelligence to Transform Our Life
Moving from Autopilot into Deeper Presence
Do you ever feel like you are ticking all the boxes, meeting expectations, and doing all the “right” things—yet underneath it all, there’s a quiet sense that you’re not fully IN your life?
You might notice it in small ways - perhaps you are:
Struggling to make decisions or feeling like your choices are driven by obligation, rather by your desires
Yearning for change but feeling unsure about what you truly want to move toward
Feeling stuck in your head, caught up in overthinking
Going through the motions without feeling truly present
For so many of us, this sense of disconnection from ourselves is a natural response to the busyness, stress, and pressures of modern life.
But it often leaves us yearning for more presence, depth and agency over our life.
Embodied presence is a doorway to a more empowered and meaningful life.
It’s an invitation to tune in to our body’s natural intelligence (our somatic intelligence), to reclaim a sense of agency, freedom and sovereignty.
In this post, we’ll explore what embodied presence and interoception are, how we become disconnected from ourselves, why it is so vital for us to reconnect to our body’s natural wisdom to reclaim agency and to embrace a more empowered way of being and living.
How Do We Know We Are Disconnected from Ourselves?
In our fast-paced lives, most of us experience some sense of disconnection at times. This is because:
The noise of the world around us is so much louder than the subtle voice within us that it gets drown.
We are so busy, stressed and overwhelmed, that we rarely take any time to pause, be and listen.
So here are a few questions you might ponder over, to reflect on how connected or disconnected you may feel from yourself.
Take a moment to consider these with curiosity:
Do you push through exhaustion, stress, or discomfort habitually, unaware of how stressed or exhausted you really are?
Do you often feel stuck in your head, caught up in overthinking or rumination?
Do you find yourself making decisions based on what you think you should do, even if it doesn’t feel quite right?
Do you only recognise when you are hungry, thirsty, tired or suffering from a headache once the sensations have become overwhelming?
Do you feel disconnected from your own desires and struggling to access what YOU really want?
Do you feel like you are missing out on life because you aren’t fully present to savour the moments you are in?
What are you noticing as you read these questions?
So many of us habitually live this way.
This was me for many years, and it’s a pattern I might still fall into when I become stressed or overwhelmed. While it’s functional, it leaves me with a feeling of missing out on life, and being disempowered over my own ‘destiny’.
The good news is that connecting to ourselves, and learning to practise embodied presence is a skill we can all (re)learn.
What Is Embodied Presence, and Why Does It Matter?
Embodied presence is the practice of inhabiting our body more fully, noticing what we are feeling and experiencing in the moment we are in. It’s about learning to listen to the sensations, emotions, and signals within our bodies that let us know how we really are.
We move away from all the distractions, stories and chatter swirling in our mind, and into our real experience in the here and now.
Because our body only ever lives in this moment, its sensations tell us the truth of how we ACTUALLY feel.
At the heart of embodied presence is interoception, our body’s ability to sense itself from the inside.
Interoception is what allows us to feel our heartbeat quicken when we are excited, sense the tightness in our chest when we are worried, or notice the warmth in our heart when we feel joy.
Why does this matter?
Because when we are attuned to our bodies, we are truly present with ourselves.
We experience life more fully, with more depth (we live it through the sensations of our body rather than being distracted by the noise of our thoughts).
We listen to our inner voice - the natural intelligence of our body, that lets us know how we feel, and what we need.
We learn to sense our preferences again (our body’s ‘yes’ and ‘no’)
We can make choices that are more nuanced and better informed
Interoception is where clarity, agency and sovereignty live. It’s where we begin to move through life with a powerful personal compass that helps us to live intentionally, purposefully, and meaningfully.
How We Lose Touch with Our Interoception
Interoception is a natural skill that we all innately have, but stress, trauma, societal conditioning, and the constant pressure to perform can lead us to override our body’s signals. Little by little, these moments of override erode our connection with our body and this becomes our habitual way of being.
Think of all the ways you might dismiss or suppress what your body is telling you:
Ignoring hunger because you’re “too busy” to eat.
Pushing through exhaustion to meet a deadline.
Tuning out discomfort because you don’t want to “make a fuss.”
Each time we ignore these signals, we reinforce a pattern of disconnection.
After a while, we stop trusting our body, or even noticing its cues at all.
This disconnection isn’t a failure; it’s often an adaptive survival strategy.
But survival is not the same as thriving. And rebuilding the connection to our body and our somatic intelligence (its natural wisdom) is how we begin to shift.
Why Reconnecting with Interoception Is Key to Regaining Agency
When we lose touch with interoception (the body’s ability to sense itself), we lose more than awareness.
We lose the ability to respond to our own needs in meaningful ways.
Think about it:
How can we set boundaries if we don’t notice the tension in our chest that signals overwhelm?
How can we rest if we don’t feel the fatigue creeping in until we’re utterly depleted?
How can we make aligned choices if we’re not attuned to what feels right or off in our bodies?
In the words of Bessel Van Der Kolk, in The Body Keeps The Score:
“Agency starts with interoception, our awareness of our subtle, sensory body-based feelings: the greater that awareness, the greater our potential to control our life. But we can’t do this unless we learn to observe what is going on inside us.”
Interoception is the foundation for clarity and choice. When we listen to the body’s signals, we gain access to an internal compass that helps us navigate life - not based on what’s expected, but based on what’s true for us.
Embodied presence is a pathway to reclaiming this connection, and to regaining sovereignty over our lives.
How Can We Practise Embodied Presence?
Practising embodied presence can start small - simply creating moments where we deliberately choose to reconnect with our body, listen to its signals, sensations and wisdom with curiosity.
We can start small, by simply learning to pause often, and ask:
What am I feeling right now?
What is my body trying to tell me?
What do I need?
How can I tend to my needs?
Every time we listen to the wisdom of our body, we create micro moments of reconnection and we build a little more self-trust.
Embodied Presence as a Path to Transformation & Freedom
Reconnecting with our body is the foundation to reclaiming our life.
Through embodied presence and interoception, we choose to listen to the wisdom of our body, trust its signals, and make choices that reflect our true needs and desires.
We become more sovereign over our life and regain the freedom to live lives that are more fulfilling and meaningful to us.
If you would like to explore this journey to reconnecting with yourself, deepening your sense of presence and feeling more sovereign over your life, somatic coaching can offer a compassionate and transformative path. Simply get in touch here and let’s explore together how I could support you.
