Abstract concepts are central to human thought, and understanding how they are embodied within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics (CL) remains a highly interesting quest. In this chapter, we review CL’s development as a scientifically grounded field that departs from formalist and nativist models by placing meaning, experience, and embodiment at the center of linguistic inquiry. It highlights how cognition emerges from bodily and cultural interaction rather than abstract symbolic processing. We discuss the gaps in embodied language and in particular embodied abstract concepts, and the significance of culture and cross-cultural investigations in its understanding. By highlighting the scarcity of cross-cultural research on the embodiment of fundamental notions such as LIFE and DEATH, the chapter establishes the theoretical foundations for the empirical investigations that we discuss in the next chapters.