Living in your body instead of managing it has become one of the most transformative shifts of my leadership journey.
I’m in the midst of a caffeine fast. It’s not a terribly dramatic leap, but it’s one I take great pride in for what it represents. I even saw a Starbucks gift card on my counter this morning, to really feel the craving! If I’m being honest, some of my work, my roles, and even my identity have long rested on adrenaline-fueled effort—pushing through long stretches of back-to-back meetings, allowing the demands of organizations, individuals, and expectations to savage my attention.
I know I’m not alone in this. The World Health Organization now recognizes burnout as an occupational phenomenon — and many of us are living in our bodies as performance machines rather than regulated human beings https://www.who.int/
This month, I turned around and headed back to my body—quickly. Call it natural, or perhaps a deeper knowing and a more consistent honoring of the change and transformation happening within me. I do it for the identity I am growing into and the lasting impact I desire to make for the good of all.
That has been my recognized pathway to disconnection.
So then, what Does Living in Your Body Actually Mean?
Living in your body means saying no to the things that offer a short-term high in exchange for learning how to live from an embodied impression of who you are becoming.
It means making daily space for the emotions that try to hijack your system. It means pausing before you decide, act, judge, or conclude. It means remembering that you don’t need permission—and if you try to get it, it will often come roaring back as rejection (take it from me… hahaha).
Growing up with eating disorders was one way I managed my body. I honor who I was then. Another form of management was not allowing myself to feel or process my emotional world—despite emotions being the core makeup of who I am. In cycles of anxiety and depression, I eventually learned that the only non-medication antidote to my depression was expression.
So now, I choose space.
Making daily space for the emotions that try to hijack your system becomes essential.
It requires pausing before you decide, act, judge, or conclude.
And often, it’s remembering that you don’t need permission — because if you try to get it, it may come back as rejection.
Because living in the body isn’t about control. It’s about presence. And presence is where healing, leadership, and wholeness begin.
Feeling called to more presence, tune in, it’s worth the journey beyond the latte. Want to journey with other women finding their truest self, check out journeys near you https://www.conscioustourism.com/journeys/
In presence and kindness, KellyAnn Daubach
