How to practice embodied bible study

Before I share an example of how I practice embodied bible study, let’s talk about biblical embodiment for a moment. We were created with a mind, body, and spirit connection, and assuming the body = evil, or encouraging women to “deny their bodies” is keeping a lot of women running on stress hormones. constantly reactive to their environments, captive to their emotions + spiraling in shame as they feel like they are “failing at Christianity” because they struggle to stay focused while reading their bibles.

The pursuit of biblical embodiment involves getting curious about the role your physiology, nutrition, mineral depletion, past experiences, and daily habits and what role they are playing in your responses vs just excusing them away.

It involves becoming curious about what is happening vs spiraling into toxic shame.

It enables you to become equipped to take your thoughts captive before they take you captive, but often takes fierce intention to choose to slow down + reclaim time to contemplate, and takes bravery to choose to create space + safety in your body vs feeling completely out of control, constantly triggered and reactive and a slave to your physiology + environment.

Many women live completed disconnected from their physical bodies and as a result, get stuck in cycles of chronic stress. Some believe certain symptoms are just “normal,” and experience a lot of unnecessary suffering that can often be avoided.

There is a way to break free. If you want to learn how, you can read countless testimonies of women on my course page who have come home to their physical bodies, built awareness surrounding what can happen when stress hormones and emotional triggers are involved, learned how to nourish their mind and body accordingly and are embracing the process + equipping themselves along the journey toward heaven.

Biblical embodiment involves knowing that it is not a one time thing, it is an ongoing process, that involves lots of repentance, compassion, grace, community, and help from our Comforter + His living words along the way.

Curious to learn more about nervous system regulation + embodiment through a biblical lens? Join us by clicking this link.

Now that we have covered what biblical embodiment is, here is an example of how I practice it before bible study. I found this to be crucial for me because when I do not take time to honor my body prior to reading, I end up distracted or zoning out during my reading. Tending to my body first helps me come into a posture to receive and learn. Today’s embodied study will come from Proverbs 19.

Proverbs 19:21

Before reading today, I took time to tend to my body by doing a full body scan. A body scan is when you take a few minutes to tune in and check where you are holding tension. You can see an example of one here, just fast forward to minute seven. After this, I sliced some lemon and drank some lemon water. It was refreshing. I felt refreshed and present and ready to study.

Next, after praying for wisdom, I tended to my spirit, and the Proverb I chose to contemplate was Proverbs 19:21: “There are many plans in a man’s heart; nevertheless, the LORD’s counsel—that will stand.”

As a woman who is a dreamer and loves to plan for the future, it has been a hard past two years for me because everything we have planned has gone wrong. There has been a lot to grieve and release, but so much joy has been experienced at the same time. I am thankful I have built up the capacity to hold both joy and grief.

Though our plans have gone wrong, we have been able to look back and see the Lord’s hand in a lot of it. So this verse stood out to me because His counsel truly does stand, even when plans change.

As we continue to seek His wisdom and counsel, it can be frustrating when we do not have clarity right away, or when plans we thought were great come crashing down and the doors that were once opened close.

But I have learned that each closed door leads to a new one and is a form of direction. Rather than feeling like I have to constantly explain myself to others when they ask, I have started to respond, “If the Lord wills, these are the plans we currently have, but that could change tomorrow, and we are okay with that.”

We often get strange looks when we respond this way because it is far from what we have been raised to pursue. These looks used to really bother me because I wanted to control the way in which people perceived me. But I realized that is something I can never control, and people will always think and assume what they want to. Releasing the desire to control the perception of hours has impacted my nervous system in the best way.

I also believe that realizing our plans will often change or fail, and releasing the control to change that, and choosing instead to surrender, has helped me personally feel a sense of security and peace, come what may. I've also gained a sense of freedom because I know that it is likely, a lot of Jesus’ followers looked insane at some point for following Him, so I am in good company.

Releasing our plans while surrendering to His is a principle James also teaches in James 4:13-15:

“Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’”

It is hard to swallow the fact that our life is a vapor and that even with the best of intentions, our plans often fail. Especially while living in a world that proclaims, “Just manifest your desires, or work hard enough, and you can have whatever you want.”

Sometimes we even attempt to distract ourselves from the truth that our life is a vapor and our plans are not our own by being busy and overstimulated. It is easier to stay busy than to allow ourselves to sit in the quietness of our minds and pain.

But allowing ourselves to sit in this sober truth, yet remembering that no matter what happens, we are not alone, His counsel stands and His words remain, is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our mind, body, and spirit. It rewires our brain toward awe and hope, rather than toward anxiety and despair.

I hope this inspires you to reclaim some time to pursue Him today and honor the body, mind, and soul He has given you.

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