So many of us live in our heads. Logic and analysis win out in the scientific and technological world. And surprisingly, we are proud of it. I was.
With a background in technology and science, I value being able to think critically. It wasn’t until I started coaching that I realized how imbalanced I was. I didn’t understand until I read the following paragraph in Richard Strozzi-Heckler’s book, “The Art of Somatic Coaching”:
“When Descartes declared, “I think therefore I am,” he removed the body from Western philosophy in one clean cut. He later expounded on this by saying emotions, feelings, and sensations happen to us, and we must learn to ignore or dominate them in service to what is rational.” 1
As a society, we can re-learn to trust our guts. Or at least become more balanced rather than completely living in our heads. We’ve seen what happens when we solely value thinking. Too much of this can mean that we have distanced ourselves from our hearts, our emotions, and our bodies. Examples of signs your body may give you:
- Stomach rumbling
- Heart racing
- Throat constricted
- Aching head
- Tingling fingers or feet
- An immediate desire to flee
- A need to hide away from light and noise.
The meanings of these bodily signs may differ from person to person. However, knowing these signs from our body should signify that our body is processing information that our mind may be missing.
How can we harness these signs? We must pay attention. If we quiet our minds and pay better attention to our bodies, we may discern them. By further quieting and listening to what this body reaction may be saying – by putting images or words or colors to the feeling we can experiment and see if our intuition kicks in and gives us an answer.
We’ve all experienced this in our lives: whether it is an upset stomach before we speak in front of a large audience or our heart racing when we find ourselves on a dark street in an unfamiliar city. Throughout your day, pay attention to your body to see if you can detect feelings. What could these feelings signify? Keep track to see if there are trends or patterns.
Two key learnings from the latest neuroscience research on how emotions play a crucial role in our lives:
- Emotions do not just happen to us; instead, they are a signpost of what’s brewing within. 2
- It’s not about ignoring emotions but rather becoming aware of them and learning to read them. This helps us to manage them (rather than control them especially if we bury them somewhere deep within ourselves).
I encourage you to quiet down and listen to what your body (gut) is telling you.
Copyright © 2023 Devashri Gupta. All rights reserved.
References and further reading:
1 Strozzi-Heckler, Richard. “The Art of Somatic Coaching”. Chapter 1. North Atlantic Books. Berkley, California. 2014
2 Books by Dr. Susan David and Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett cover the latest research into human emotions.
