The session shares experiences on how the SDGs are understood and articulated, ranging from deeply embodied to disembodied positions. The objectives of the session are threefold: (i) to problematise the assumption that ‘development language’ – as articulated in the SDGs – is readily accessible, (ii) to provide examples and explore similarities of how the SDGs are understood in various forms of embodiment and (iii) to tease out good practices with respect to SDG articulation and communication through engagement with participants. The session will commence with deeply embodied experiences, using the methodology of autoethnography, focusing on how this methodology is used at the University of Pretoria. The conversation is then moved to the embodied knowledge contained in religious groups. This part of the session will draw on insights gathered in the Humboldt University in Berlin’s Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development. The third part of the session reflects on a less embodied approach to understanding the SDGs and draws on the insights and experiences of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and The Presidency of South Africa. The last part of the session focuses on the most disembodied way in which SDG understanding could be brought about and focuses on the machine-learning-driven SDG classification tool used by the South African SDG Hub.