Body Guidance

Body Guidance brings intuitive awareness found in all parts of the body (not just the brain) into the process of choosing and acting. It taps into the head, heart, gut, and groin sensors… and spirit. This guidance includes threats to our well-being, clarity about what truly matters to us, and sources of power and co-creativity.

Body Guidance helps us find our clarity and know what is a YES for us from head to toe.
Our heart often holds a wisdom that is calm, confident, and wise.
The gut can pick up subtle vibrations from others that alert us to deception and unsafety that is not necessarily obvious. It can also help us feel when intentions are aligned and compatible.
Our pelvis, genitals, and groin area hold power and connection to our strength, values, and ancestral wisdom.
Our spiritual body awareness broadens our sensors to include cooperative energies, intelligences, and savvy wisdom that support and guide us, both physical and non-physical.

When We're Too "In Our Heads"

We're taught to think about what we're doing, analyze the situation, and make a list of pros and cons. All this takes us into our heads.

The truth is that our head was never designed to make all the decisions alone. So often, people end up in a loop, ruminating and revisiting the same situation over and over again. Why?!?

…Because such a heady approach leaves out wise and aware parts of our body-mind and spirit! Most situations are not as clear from just the head's perspective.

Body Guidance reminds us: check-in with the heart. Ask it what matters here.

Check-in with the gut — is it picking up on something here that is not yet conscious? Is the situation reminding us of a trauma or type of relationship that does not serve us?

What does the pelvis have to say? What choice would be life-affirming? What posture would serve our survival and our thriving?

Where do I feel my connection to spirit right now and the guidance that can be tapped into from intelligent and loving energies that support my well-being?

While some people do this naturally, most of us have been so conditioned not to pay attention to body guidance that it will take practice.

Hold your heart, gut, and lower belly as you feel for any messages or indications. Trust that each part of us has useful data. A "no" doesn't always mean to say no. We have found that if your gut says no, or your heart, take a powerful pause and go deeper. Gain more clarity. Include spirit in the exploration.

My Head Says Yes, and My Heart Says No

We don't always get congruence. The head can be convinced! The heart can feel resistance. The gut can feel tense. The groin can be… uhh… where did it go?!?

Yes, parts of us can dissociate. If we've had trauma, the situation or person(s) involved might be reminding our primitive brain of "back then."

When one of our guidance centers feels numb or like it is hiding, body guidance may need a safer space and more time to get clarity.

A Full-Body YES is wonderful to feel. So useful!

A squishy, painful maybe is a signal to pause. So useful!

Listen. Tend to the signals you're receiving and learn to discern the wisdom.

Listen to the Whispers or Cope with the Screams

Pay attention to body sensations and the guidance present in the heart, gut, and groin. It's an incredibly useful skill.

It's useful because so often, people move forward, ignoring their body guidance, only to discover later that the "slightly uncomfortable feeling" in their body has gotten louder and LOUDER. The whisper becomes a scream. Sometimes, the scream becomes a disease.

The entire body expects to be a partner in our significant decisions. Its guidance is too often ignored — much to our distress. Ask yourself:

How "loud" does my body need to signal me before I listen?
How high does the pain have to get before I change what I'm doing?
What am I ignoring from my body?

Of course, our body guidance is ignored! We were taught that!

"Don't be silly! Go ahead and hug him!"

"You don't have to go to the bathroom."

"If you can't give me a good reason, then you have to."

Change those patterns of denying what the body is communicating. Get to know how your body indicates a YES… and how it says NO. It's a superpower you'll love having.

Useful Questions

What am I noticing in my heart? My gut? My groin?
If spirit wanted me to consider a fresh perspective or choice, how might it communicate that to me?
Is part of me picking up on something here that is not yet conscious?
Am I being reminded of a past trauma?
Is this matching up with how my body signals a YES to me… or not?
If there was an emotion in these places in my body, what might it be?

Resources

Tuning Into Body Guidance - Audio
This... or That? - Audio
Tuning into the Energy Around You - Releasing Blocks and Resistance - Real Skills Workshop

Related Concepts

Trauma Relief, Calm and Confident, Powerful Pause