Introduction

The Embodied Leadership Model (ELM) is Field + Form’s framework for values‑based civic design and democratic renewal. ELM integrates somatic intelligence, trauma‑informed facilitation, systems thinking and creative practice to inhabit the space between policy and people, where institutional decision‑making and lived human experience intersect.

More than a response to crisis, ELM is a methodology for reimagining democracy — one that builds resilient communities by supporting trust, coherence and systemic awareness through both dialogue and embodied practice.

ELM is intentionally cross‑sector, addressing overlapping arenas such as community mental health, regenerative community development, cultural memory, the arts, and public governance rather than approaching them in isolation.  This integrated approach allows civic processes to reflect the complexity of real communities instead of separate policy domains.

Five Core Principles

Somatic Awareness

Using the body as a sensing instrument for alignment, conflict navigation and transformation. Grounding, pacing and orientation become civic tools that create space for deeper listening and more thoughtful decision-making.

Emotional Integrity

Treating feeling as a source of intelligence, especially in high-stakes political spaces. Emotional intelligence positioned not as a soft skill, but as civic capacity for staying present with conflict without defaulting to control or withdrawal.

Relational Facilitation

Designing processes that foster truth-telling, interdependence and the slow build of trust. Moving leadership culture from reactive to responsive, from extractive to regenerative.

Value Alignment

Grounding decisions in principled clarity rather than what is merely politically expedient. Staying anchored in shared values even when the path forward is unclear.

Temporal Humility

Recognizing that deep change unfolds across time and requires pacing that honors both urgency and emergence. Building through earned trust rather than forced consensus.