Embodiment through the eyes of grandparenting

I visited 3 of my grandchildren,  about 30 miles from my house where my daughter lives. I had work to do nearby and decided I would buy them lunch, play with them, and visit until my work began later in the day.

While I was playing with them, I was thinking a lot about embodiment. Children have always taught me so much.

As I reflected on my visit while driving home, I realized how interconnected embodiment is with Risk.

My body is not just a vessel, but an active participant in sensing, responding to and understanding my world.  When you understand embodiment, you can sense so much more.

I love my grandchildren, and for me there is nothing in all of life more therapeutic than a visit full of hugs, kisses, and building towers on the floor. Yes, it can be stressful too with all the yelling and running and chaos.

But isn’t that what life is all about?

The chaos?

The risk?

The learning?

I was met in the driveway by my grandson who gave me a big hug and said ‘Hi Grandpa.!’

I could feel the stress leave my body.  The hug made me feel better.

He is so smart and I love him.

I was greeted by my granddaughter with a hug, smiles, and a good bit of gurgling sounds as  she is just learning to talk.  She is a sweet little girl and when I see her, I melt, and my attention turns to her immediately.

Something inside me feels joy. My body feels better.

Her face is covered with some kind of chocolate.  Her messy face makes me laugh because I know how much she enjoyed a cookie.

I also got to hold my beautiful little 4-month-old granddaughter and feed her a bottle before nap time. I touched her little feet in her pajamas. She feels so light and frail in my arms. I held her tight and loved on her.

As I was feeding her, she began to squirm and wiggle. Something was wrong. She wasn’t happy.

When this happens, I usually just look at my daughter and say here you take her – she is not happy!

But this time I held her longer. Did I have the grandpa skills to settle her down and soothe her?

Could I read her body and movements to attend to her? She was giving me the cues. Was I able to adjust my behavior? Could I attend to her enough to help her?

I did it. I was proud of myself. I used my embodied awareness to take care of her.  She was soon off to sleep.

I am so grateful for these little ones. My wife and I have 12 grandchildren. They give us strength. And a lot of fun on most days. OK, yes, some headaches too. The fun times are worth it. The BELLY laughs flood our bodies with happiness.

As I left from eating lunch with them to start work, I realized just how much I use my body as a grandparent and how my body allows me to attune to each grandchild.

Having recently completed Social Psychology of Risk’s Embodiment in Risk class has me listening to my whole self like never before. And it has me thinking about how our bodies impact the work we do in Risk and Safety.

Our body is an amazing early warning system. It can alert us to many things. A baby’s smile. A baby’s cooing. A chemical smell. A depressed employee. A hurting worker. Our bodies help us to live and breathe and be in this world.

Where would I be without my body?

Seems like a silly question. But it’s not. My body allows me to cradle my granddaughter, feel her warmth, and experience love. My body is so important to living, working, and learning. I couldn’t be a grandpa without embodiment. I cannot understand risk without embodiment.

Embodiment teaches us a lot about safety too.

Modern Safety tries to benefit from technology in many ways and all we hear about in the Safety industry is the brain.  What does all this focus on the brain cost us? If we lose embodied experience in our work and don’t understand it, we lose the wisdom our body provides us.

My recent learning in the SPoR Embodiment in Risk class taught me that understanding personhood as embodied is essential to understanding Risk and Safety. Safety people do not talk about these concepts at all and are missing out.

Have you ever considered how the way we move, feel, and physically engage with our environment could shape our ability to recognize and respond to risk more effectively?

Can our bodies help us be more risk intelligent? Yes. And learning how embodiment works is powerful.

Just as I was able to attune to my granddaughter’s cues to meet her needs, workers can learn to read subtle signals in their environments – whether it’s a shift in a co-worker’s morale or an overlooked hazard.

Embodiment sharpens our ability to sense and respond to risk.

A major theme for our SPoR Conference in Houston in May is RISK INTELLIGENCE.

For many years as a safety person, I was looking for ways to teach risk intelligence to our employees. I found a way. And I found a way to be a much better grandpa along the way by understanding embodiment.

If you want to know why an embodied approach to risk matters and how it can improve Risk Intelligence in your organization and help you in your practice of tackling risk, then join us in Houston May 19^th-23^rd at the Jung Center for an exciting week of learning.

We will be learning about an embodied approach to risk and safety and how it changes the whole way we approach risk, learning, and life.

https://linktr.ee/SPoR.USA.may2025