The body knows more than the brain. The phrase “it’s like riding a bicycle” is based on science. Once you learn to ride a bike, it doesn’t take much for your body to remember how to balance again and pedal away. I was reminded of this the first and only time I played pickleball. I have an arthritic knee. While physical therapy and exercise keep pain at bay, arthritis doesn’t go away. Recently, I played pickleball with two obsessed friends, and two other newbies like me. I tried to be careful but when the ball came to my backhand, my body turned beautifully to my left. My right leg went over and stomped to make my backhand. As my right leg crossed over and stomped, a shooting pain ran up my shin and into my knee. I screamed, “Ow!” So, my body remembered my backhand. It’s because I had a pretty effective backhand 30 years ago. It remembered in that quick split second of decision-making.
I was introduced to what the body knows during my coaching training. To be honest, it initially seemed a bit “woo-woo”. There were questions we were taught to use, such as:
“What color is the problem?”
“What kind of temperature do you feel when thinking about that?”
I wasn’t convinced of all of this because I was a logical thinker until I was introduced to the Strozzi method. It was Dr. Amanda Blake who introduced me to him. Along with the Polyvagal theory (from Dr. Stephan Porges and exercises by Deb Dana), I started to understand and then completely believe that we don’t just live in our brains. All information comes through our senses, and there are so many types of senses.
I tried this out on a client once. She talked about an anxiety-inducing activity the previous week. With her permission, I asked if she would be willing to return to that feeling. We took some deep breaths together, and I asked her what was occurring in her body when this was happening. It didn’t take long for her to come up with a word. And that word was like a loose thread we followed to unravel her anxiety. We then worked at the source.
After living mostly in my head for 20 years in the technical world, this revelation of the importance of our bodies was shocking for me. I saw the bigger picture: those of us who have vocations dealing with the body such as athletes, dancers, and actors are more in tune, and move with a deeper knowledge of this world. I totally bought into the fact that many of us who work analytically are cut off from the neck down. However, that’s where most of the wealth of information about our existence lies.
I invite you to invest a few minutes daily to take deep breaths, find your center and ponder these points:
- Is there a way for me to learn to tune into the signals my body sends me?
- How can these bodily signals be interpreted?
- What are some ways to navigate them?
Feel stuck? Let’s break through together. Book a complimentary call to explore how coaching can help you move forward: https://L2BAppointments.as.me/IntroWebsite
Copyright © 2025 Devashri Gupta. All rights reserved.
