Harnessing the intelligence of the body
We tend to think our intelligence is confined to the brain, an organ found above the neck, and protected by the cranium. The truth is, our intelligence extends from the frontal lobes of the brain to the tips of our toes.
Our intelligent bodies sense and interpret signals from the environment, skin, tissues, muscles, and internal organs. The heart and abdomen have extensive hormonal and neuronal communication systems, most of which operate outside of our conscious awareness. This is a wonderful design because we don’t have to think about beating our hearts, or breathing our lungs, or digesting our food. We don’t have to think about where our feet are in space to keep us balanced. We can instead focus on executive tasks, nurturing relationships, creating, and innovating. The downside is that we have unlearned how to listen and pay attention to the body and may not notice what’s going on for our bodies until we start to feel painful sensations.
We tend to think of the body as a means of transportation to our next activity, or a machine that can be fixed by experts†. In reality, our body is like a young child who sees, hears, and absorbs everything. It’s a finely tuned physical and emotional sense organ, taking the shape of our experiences.
We can connect with the intelligence of the body by becoming more aware of our posture and bodily sensations. I invite you to try these exercises:
- Where does your body tend to hold stress? For many, it’s in the jaw, or the shoulders, or the abdomen.
Check in with your body now. Where do you feel tight or tense?
Bring your attention to that place. Take a deep breath and move that part. For example:
- Open and close the jaw.
- Raise the shoulders up to the ears and relax them.
- Breathe deeply into the abdomen and feel it expand
- Stand up or move around.
As you do this, what happens to that part of the body? What’s happens to your overall emotional state?
- Sit hunched over in a chair with your head down.
- Say, “I am strong” or “I am ready for action.”
- How ready do you feel for action?
- Now sit up straight, shoulders back, both feet on the ground.
- Say, “I am strong” or “I am ready for action.”
- How do you feel now?
Our bodies can help us get into (embody) desired emotional states. For example, a female leader wants to embrace confidence and assertiveness. For her, the body posture that represents confidence is standing upright, feet wide apart, and hands on hips¥. There is evidence that this stance is associated with increased feelings of power, increased levels of testosterone, decreased levels of the stress hormone (cortisol), and increased risk-taking behavior‡.
What emotional state would you like to embody? How can you change your body posture to help you?
References:
† Amanda Blake. Your Body is your brain. Trokay press 2018.
¥Amy Cuddy’s power stance.
‡ Carney et al. Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance. Psychological Science, 2010.