What Does It Even Mean to “Be” Instead of “Do”?
You know that feeling when you finish one thing, and your mind’s already sprinting to the next? When you’re three “to-dos” ahead? That’s doing. It probably sounds familiar. And productive, right? And . . . at times exhausting.
When you spend a lot of your time in doing mode—goal-focused, efficient, often reacting to things that cross your path–you get a lot of things done but chances are you literally run ahead of yourself.
While doing is a part of how you move through this living, there is another mode you can tap into: you can shift from doing to being. It’s not about zoning out or doing nothing. It’s about showing up differently: present, aware, responsive. A mode where your presence—not your productivity—takes the lead.
Why Is It So Hard to Slow Down?
Our culture celebrates doing. It rewards multitasking, values busyness, and treats rest and relaxation as something you earn rather than something you need. Over time, you internalize a sneaking suspicion that slowing down means falling behind, even failing.
But here’s the paradox: the more you operate from constant doing, the more disconnected you become—from your own needs, from others, and from what truly matters.
That’s where embodied awareness comes in. It’s not just about changing your mindset. It’s about shifting the way you experience yourself in the moment. Our method, Embodied Exploration®, supports this shift by integrating awareness, practice, and nervous system regulation.
Is There Any Science Behind This “Being” Stuff?
Absolutely. Research into mindfulness and self-compassion shows that being mode activates the parasympathetic nervous system—the part responsible for rest, digestion, and healing. This shift supports emotional regulation, reduces stress, and enhances well-being (Kabat-Zinn, 1990; Neff, 2011).
On a brain level, states of presence and reflection activate the default mode network, which is linked to self-awareness, creativity, and cognitive flexibility (Raichle et al., 2001). It’s a state of openness, where new insights and connections can arise—without forcing anything.
Can Doing Less Really Help Me Connect More?
What Happens When I Stop Reacting and Start Noticing?
Being mode isn’t passive—it’s spacious. It helps you respond rather than react. Practices that cultivate embodied presence, like meditation or aikido-based movement, train the nervous system to shift from stress reactivity to adaptive, centered responses.
This is a core element of Embodied Exploration®, where movement becomes a tool for cultivating resilience and relational presence. It builds resilience—not just in moments of crisis, but in everyday interactions (Porges, 2011).
Okay, But How Do I Go From Doing to Being?
What Might Open Up If I Let Go of Always Doing?
As we were preparing for our Embodiment Lab Beyond Doing, one of us asked the other: “What are you doing—no, BEING—tonight?” It was half joke, half truth. Because the pull toward doing is strong. But when you catch yourself on the treadmill, that’s the moment to pause.
Not to escape, but to reconnect.
When you’re in being mode, you notice more. You connect more. You align more easily with what matters. You can sense what’s right—for yourself, and for the people around you. Being is part of centering. It helps you conserve energy, build resilience, and face complexity with presence and ease.
So... how do you start?
Here’s something to try. Don’t just stop what you’re doing and replace it with something else. Instead: keep doing what you’re busy with and let your awareness drop from your head into your center. Breathe. Feel.
While doing you shift into being.
We created a short audio to guide you from doing to being, drawn from our Embodied Exploration® approach—because presence begins with sensation. You can download it for free and use it whenever you feel swept up in the doing. One breath — one shift — at a time.
Body Comes to Mind provides EMBODIED skills and practices to the globe through online courses, skills labs & workshops to enable people to take care of themselves while caring for others.
References for From Doing to Being
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York: Delacorte.
Neff, K. D. (2023). Self-Compassion: Theory, Method, Research, and Intervention. Annual review of psychology, 74, 193–218. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031047
Raichle M. E. (2015). The brain’s default mode network. Annual review of neuroscience, 38, 433–447. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071013-014030
Siegel, D. J. (2010). The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician’s Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Porges, S. W. (2021). Polyvagal Theory: A biobehavioral journey to sociality. Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology, 7, 100069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100069
Join the next Embodiment Lab
Interested in learning more about how Embodied Exploration™ might help you in a very practical, concrete way? Connect with us!
Get guidance with your first steps toward embodied awareness and join us for next month’s Embodiment Lab. Every 3rd Thursday of the month a new theme.
