How to Reclaim the Wisdom of the Body
with Cynthia Abulafia
What if growth is not about transcending yourself — but finally learning how to fully inhabit yourself?
In this deeply reflective episode of TNM Unplugged, Zoran speaks with Cynthia Abulafia — author, educator, yoga therapist, and guide in embodied spiritual practice — about embodiment and why so many people, despite years of personal growth, still feel disconnected from themselves.
Cynthia introduces the concept of the “transcendence bias” — the tendency across many spiritual and self-development traditions to encourage people to rise above, let go, detach, or transcend their humanity, while often neglecting the wisdom of the body and lived experience.
Together, Zoran and Cynthia explore:
- Why so many people feel disconnected from themselves despite years of personal development
- The hidden costs of “leaving the body” in spirituality, leadership, and everyday life
- The forgotten feminine principle and what modern leaders can learn from it
- Why curiosity may be one of the most powerful healing and transformational tools we have
- The relationship between embodiment, trauma, coaching, therapy, and healing
- How to work with emotional activations rather than bypass or suppress them
- Why leadership without embodiment can become performative
- A practical framework for reconnecting with the body in daily life
- The importance of returning from transcendence back into form — what Cynthia calls “the second half of the circle”
- How to reclaim sovereignty, reverence, and wholeness in an increasingly disconnected world
This is an episode for leaders, coaches, therapists, seekers, parents, high achievers, and anyone longing to reconnect with themselves in a deeper, more authentic way.
Key Talking Points:
- What is the “transcendence bias” and how does it shape modern spirituality?
- Why embodiment is the missing piece in leadership and human development
- The forgotten feminine principle in spirituality and growth
- Why curiosity is a pathway to healing and sovereignty
- The cost of spiritual bypassing and emotional disconnection
- The relationship between trauma, therapy, coaching, and embodiment
- Why many spiritual practices teach us to leave the body
- The “second half of the circle” — returning to form after transcendence
- Practical ways to reconnect with the body in everyday life
- Why wholeness already exists within us
Cynthia Abulafia is an author, educator, yoga therapist, and guide in embodied spiritual practice with more than two decades of experience leading teacher trainings, workshops, and retreats worldwide. Her work explores self-inquiry, embodied awareness, spirituality, and the deeper passages of personal growth. She is the author of: Embodying the Goddess