Written by: Susanna Holowati, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We are in the middle of a revolution: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is permeating various aspects of our lives. This raises both, positive changes for the business landscape as well as serious concerns. How can embodiment help you stay ahead in this new technological revolution?
To thrive in a reality where AI is having a massive impact, it’s crucial to augment human capabilities (rather than letting them be replaced) and potentially create a synergy between humans and AI. Leveraging our unique psycho-physical capacities and cognitive attributes to complement computational power could open doors to unprecedented opportunities.
We humans have…a human body! This is our access into embodiment, a sphere AI won’t ever be able to enter. Through embodiment, we can cultivate self-awareness, emotional intelligence, creativity, self-regulation, morality and ethics as well as our intuitive and spiritual depths.
Our body is not just a ‘human hardware’ we need to maintain fit or functional but a vessel into the intimate reality of our existence. The following prompts will not only uplift your own skill set but even benefit a positive collaboration with helpful AI tools.
Self-awareness – Decode your inner programs
Make daily conscious breaks to check in with yourself and ask: "how am I feeling right now?“ Make an inventory of your bodily sensations, your emotional state, your posture, balance, and breathing. Observe without judging what thoughts are crossing your mind.
Practice this to get deeper into your felt senses instead of analysis. Our inner sensations are a huge precious database to understand where we’re at each moment and make wiser decisions.
Self-regulation – Reprogram yourself for smarter (inter)actions
Once having checked in, ask yourself. "Is my state serving me best right now?“ If the answer is no, adapt your way of standing, breathing, moving, or sitting to provoke an inner change: e.g. shaking your body to let go of a situation, expanding and lifting your posture to feel more confident, embracing yourself to feel self-compassion. Try out what serves you and focus on the sensation: outer postures are just a help to shift your way of feeling and thinking from the inside out. A powerful way to lead your states from moment to moment instead of being the slave of your inner moods.
Emotional Intelligence – The heart of human interaction
Fostering emotional intelligence is imperative to enhance nurturing interactions between humans (and even AI). It’s a combined skillset of self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy and the capacity to consciously influence the moods of others. Here again, it’s about deepening your capacity to sense. How can you train your ability to feel others and perceive the underlying moods and energy of your surroundings? Start by practicing during 1-on-1 conversations: what is coming up in you as you’re present with the other? What is your body telling you about their current mood? Make guesses and double-check with your Interlocutor to get better over time.
Unleashing creativity – Raise your originality
Human creativity is unique and will never be replaced by technology. Look at children and you see raw and beautiful creativity at work. What activities can help you bring out your playful inner child again to think outside of the box? Practice anything that enables your unique inventiveness: improv theater, creative games, spontaneous storytelling, playing music, etc. Make it fun and stimulating. If you have kids, play with them and learn how to spark your creative flame.
Values, morality, and ethics – The ground of purposeful embodiment
Whenever making a decision, pause and feel inside your guts: does it feel lighter and expansive or heavier and tense? We all have a set of values and beliefs about what is right or wrong and becoming aware of it can be a powerful compass to walk our talks.
What are your core values in life and what is not negotiable for you? What is your guiding principle for contributing to society and in which beliefs are they rooted? Trust your gut feeling and inner sensations to get insights instead of replying only through your mind. Ethics and morality are other imperatives to ensure synergetic co-existence and AI fully relies on our input to grow into virtuous potentials.
There are inherent human properties we will always be self-responsible for, no matter how evolved the technology around us. AI can, to some extent, be a catalyst to foster these skills, but practicing them among our human peers will always remain our own task. The more technology advances, the more impact embodied intelligence can have on the way we shape our reality and the legacy we leave for future generations.
Who knows what lies ahead in the future when it comes to the interface between AI and embodiment…?
Susanna Holowati, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Susanna is a passionate Embodied Change Facilitator, Trainer and Coach – founder of Embodytopia – who empowers purpose-driven leaders to act with more impact. Her mission: catalyse transformation. Her embodiment and leadership practices help change-makers worldwide to grow beyond brainy boxes. With heightened embodied intelligence and skills they can truly embody the change they want to bring to the world.
