What Does It Mean to Embody Love?

To embody means to tangibly express something. We can embody all sorts of energies, silliness like a clown does or the spiteful revenge of someone planning a trap. We embody love when we are full of love, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" -1 John 4.:16

Our nervous system holds and expresses our thoughts and emotions. Because the nervous system extends throughout the whole body, the thoughts and emotions it expresses do as well. Clenching fists, wanting to run away, wanting to hug, these are basic examples of the expressions of the nervous system.

There are three different states of the nervous system, each operating on a spectrum of intensity:

• Sympathetic: flight or flight, holds emotions such as anger, worry, fear, annoyance, planning, rushing, etc.

• Freeze: overwhelmed, depressed, zoned out, just done, collapsed

• Parasympathetic: connected, calm, patient, playful, present, calm aliveness, loving

When we are able to connect to and embody our parasympathetic state, we are able to embody love. Which makes sense, because the sympathetic and freeze states are based on fear and a threat against us. God and love are the opposite of fear.

When we are able to release our fears, we clear space in our nervous system and our bodies for our loving, parasympathetic state, that is our most authentic state. It is always there but may not be activated due to overactivation of the other states. Making space for our parasympathetic state allows us to embody love, for God to abide in us and us in Him.

Find out what is blocking your ability to embody your parasympathetic state in my Free Guide to The 4 Roadblocks.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Receive news updates (not daily marketing emails) and the FREE Promise of Parenting Roadmap, outlining the four sources of dysregulation and the 10-steps to overcoming them.