12 signs you are NOT an embodied woman (and what you can do about it)

A good friend asked me, “what are the signs of being not embodied”. What a darn good question.

Embodiment happens when we get out of our heads, into our bodies, and connect with our heart and souls desire.

Embodiment happens when we are connected fully to who we truly are.

Embodiment happens when know in every cell of our being that we are enough.

I know how powerful this way of living is.

>> Yet I also know what it’s like to *not* be embodied.

Rewind a few years and I was a happy hospital pharmacist in a good relationship. Life looked great from the inside, yet within I felt numb. Looking around at my life I began to wonder ‘is this all there is?’

>> Not-embodied = numb within yourself, unable to feel your full range and depth of emotions

>> Not-embodied = feeling like you are not living your full purpose

At the time I was compensating for the lack of pleasure + excitement in my life with food. Sugar was my greatest reward and I was consuming it in abundance as a way to bring more ‘feeling good into my life’.

>> Not-embodied = using food, rewards and addictions as a way to fill up the emptiness we feel within

My body didn’t like the sugar, it started speaking to me with severe nausea that had me on the floor in a cold sweat more days than not.

>> Not-embodied = your body is speaking to you with symptoms of dis-ease which stem from deeper unaddressed emotional + energetic imbalances

Something had to change, professional dissatisfaction was at an all time high and I could no longer put up with the dread of going to work every day.

>> Not-embodied = taking actions (like going to a job you don’t love) that make you feel in servitude

I began the search for more. The search took me some pretty wild places, traveling to India, sitting in silent meditation for 10 days straight + studying healing techniques.

The truth was, I had no idea what my purpose could be. In fact, I didn’t even know what might make me happy. So I decided to start somewhere + explore..

>> Not-embodied = not sure what you want, not sure how to move into more purpose in your life

I eventually landed on Kinesiology + began the study of energy medicine. Yet the idea frightened me. What would my parents think? What would my colleagues say when they realized I had become a spiritual hippy?

>> Not-embodied = putting others opinions before your own desires, caring too much what other people think

I kept my studies a secret for over 6 months until finally, I couldn’t keep up the charade any more. I told my parents, I launched a website and went on to start my own in person practice as Kinesiologist.

Things thrived for the first few weeks, yet quickly this model of success started to feel like servitude once again.

>> Not-embodied = having to learn the same lessons over and over again and never quite transcending the habits that keep you stuck

At the same time I was beginning that the way I had been operating my *entire life* (which was writing a to-do-list, planning and playing it smart) just wasn’t working.

I began to realize I couldn’t plan my way to purpose. I couldn’t strategize my way to success. My heart was desperate to FEEL More of life. My INTUITION was desperate to guide More of my decisions. My body was wanting to OPEN more to feeling like a woman.

Yet I didn’t know how to finding the clarity within me.

>> Not-embodied = confusion and lack of confidence

I knew something had to change. And that something had to start from within. I had already taken so many steps in the direction of my desires I was being called to step more authentically into passion and purpose by claiming the brilliance that quietly lived within me.

>> Not-embodied = knowing there is brilliance within you, but unsure how to get it out

It was clear I needed to get out of my head. I wanted to move into my heart, my body, my soul, yet I struggled to surrender.

My heart was saying OPEN and FEEL more. Stop living in your head. Start living from your body. Start claiming the brilliance that you are. Start living those wild dreams. It’s your time. To step up and LIVE THE LIFE you know you want.

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After years of dancing with the idea, I finally surrendered to the idea that living as an embodied woman – a woman who knows her worth, and who claims it for herself – was the only way that I could be free. I had touched on this place, and I wanted to go there and live there.

I saw these women around me, these soulful women who were so in tune with their intuition and so empowered in their bodies. I saw these embodied women like Danielle Laporte who speaks her powerful truth with passion, like Maryanne Williamson who partitions for change with so much soul, like Brenee Brown who takes her greatest fears + uses them to enlighten the world.

I wanted to be them. I knew it was something I couldn’t fake. I knew it was something I had to embody authentically.

>> Not-embodied = not feeling like you belong/are good enough to be friends with women you admire

Around the same time I was invited to attend an erotic dance class. Part of me was terrified to get my clothes off in front of other women.

>> Not-embodied = fear of judgement and not being ‘enough’ (sexy enough, coordinated enough, beautiful enough)

As I danced, and stripped away my clothes, a sensual siren within me awoke. She ran her hands along my body, and ignited a desire for myself. She saw my vulnerability and fears, and loved me for them. She saw my dreams, and whispered they are yours for the taking. She ignited a fire in my heart, and I finally began to LIVE.

>> AN EMBODIED WOMAN CLAIMS HER SENSUALITY + HER BODY

I went home to my lover than night and asked if I could dance for him. He didn’t want me to, he said keep on your clothes, don’t be a try hard. I said goodbye.

>> An embodied woman doesn’t settle

I felt nature calling, and took a week to wander through the Tasmanian wilderness. I created a body of work, the teachings I received to get out of my head and into an embodied place. I shared the teachings with 25 women. They loved every minute.

>> An embodied woman claims her wisdom + shares it with the world

My intuition whispered Bali. I arrived, business bloomed, I met a man on my third day there. The first date we hit it off. He’s from Europe. I’ll be spending the summer there.

>> An embodied woman follows her intuition and allows her desired to be magnetized to her with ease.

Tonight, my women, sisters I have journey with over these 5 years of transformation sat in circle with me and asked me, Jenna. What does it mean to be embodied?

I said to them.
It means to be a woman.
It means to feel.
It means to claim yourself.
And radically fucking love yourself.
It means to be enough .
It means to be sensual.
It means to be alive.

Every woman deserves to be embodied.

Yet not many of us are embodied. Role models are few and far between. Women are not taught how to live in this empowering way. This doesn’t make you wrong, broken or less than another. Rather it’s an invitation – into more of your authentic self.

It’s important to know that being an embodied woman does NOT mean you have to leave your man, take off your clothes or change your job (though it could if that’s what you desired )

>> an embodied woman is 100% about HOW YOU ARE on the inside.

And from that sometimes changes happen out in the world as well. This story is a summary of 6+ years of my life. So while it sounds radical, it was also really slow going because I was navigating my way there blind. I didn’t have a teacher or a path to follow.

My desire in sharing this story is that it may illuminate something for you woman. I believe story is a powerful tool for healing + expansion.

Most importantly I believe that every woman is capable of being embodied. And that it is the most radically powerful, authentic + activating skill to learn.


Ready to put this into practice? Download the free Feminine Magnetism Map and out of your head & into your body in the most authentic, embodied & delicious way.

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About The Author
Jenna Ward

Welcome! I’m Jenna Ward. Feminine Embodiment Coach & Founder of the School of Embodied Arts. I’m an Australian woman living between Australia & the Netherlands. I speak English & een beetje Nederlands (that means, a little bit of Dutch). Mother of one. Lover of chai, chocolate & champagne. Read more here.

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