Navigating Transitions With The Wisdom of Our Body

It depends.”

That’s usually our typical response to what we would do in a testing situation. But what exactly, does our response depend on?

The situation? Or the perspective we choose to view it with? Or something else?

Our perspective or orientation towards our world is a constantly evolving lens. This worldview is shaped by the conversation between our ongoing experiences and the history of our evolution as human beings – a dynamic interaction taking place in the here and now, as an embodied experience. It is this process that supplies that much needed ‘wisdom’ when we hit a wall with no signs for direction. This is the wisdom of our body.

This embodied wisdom has two elements to it.

Stories

We rely on stories to make sense of ourselves and the world. As the ongoing output of our internal chatter, stories provide us with perspective before we even encounter an experience. Consider this example. You get a call about an accident that has taken place near your home. How you choose to act in this moment comes from a story that is instantaneously developed about who might be affected, how badly, what’s the worst thing that can happen etc.

Objective facts (there is an accident), beliefs (what may have happened, why, and how it could have been avoided) and identity (your role as a partner or mother and so on) are the components of any story which, come together dynamically and orient us towards a particular choice of action. We know and claim all our actions come from valid reasons. Reasons are a clever substitute we use for stories as it makes us feel more objective.

Stories invisibly act as the GPS that helps interpret and navigate the various spaces we inhabit – self, work, family, relationships etc.

Energy

The source of our aliveness, that brings thought to action. This is our life force throbbing at the front end of our consciousness, moving us towards or away from a particular choice of action. It can be called our motivation, but it goes beyond and also includes our intention which, can vary moment to moment.

Our energy is influenced by our stories. Every story has a pattern of thought and related actions, which push us into the world, doing things we like or as we do most often, stay out of trouble. The first lever a story operates is one of emotion. At any given point of time, our body is a cauldron of electrochemical impulses we know as emotions. Each emotion has an associated story and a range of actions connected to it. For example, it can be quite hard to sing your favourite song when you’re angry. Based on the story that’s running, we have a set of associated emotions that run through our body, orienting us to act in a particular way; until a new story starts to play. This is the fundamental biochemistry at play in our body as we prepare to act – a million algorithms always at play in our thought-action repertoire. What may seem like a practiced habit or an instinctive reaction has an elaborate script running underneath.

Besides emotions, we can also be in moods which have a longer-term impact on our thinking and behavior. Anxiety for example, is a mood we can enter and stay in a range of action defined by what the mood allows us (quite frightening when you think who’s in control). It can be very hard to allow things to happen and let go of control when we are in the grip of anxiety. Moods develop over time and have a deeper, yet invisible impact on our behavior. Shifting moods is necessary to shift patterns of action or habits that may have developed over a period of time.

With its effervescence, our energy acts as an ongoing companion to our stories – informing, influencing, and institutionalizing them.

Put another way, moods are the ground on which the river of our energy flows. As the ground goes, so does the river. As the river flows, so goes the story.

The Wisdom of our Body

The interplay of our stories and our energy is the source of the wisdom of our body. How we tap into this wisdom underpins our resourcefulness in dealing with the challenges life throws at us. We have all had those moments when we realise the exact thing we should have said or done; we see it with amazing precision and clarity, except that it comes a bit later than we would have liked!

Why is this wisdom not accessible when we most need it?

One of the reasons is our survival instinct which kicks in when we are cornered (another story with its own energy), preventing us from accessing our more creative faculties. Those abilities are not absent; just lying dormant under the more frequently accessed routes on the GPS.

When we are navigating through complex transitions (as individuals or organisations), there are multiple stories at play, with each having its own energy and direction. In the face of increasingly complex situations, the information we have can serve us to a point, leaving us overwhelmed or feeling defeated. This is where we need a bit of the unknown to deal with the Unknown. This is where the recognition of our resilience as a species that has endured larger threats needs to be called to action.

The important thing to know is this - we all have the capacity for discerning action that makes a difference. It represents the pinnacle of our evolution and the sharpness of our presence in the here and now. It lives deep inside our bodies at a cellular level and speaks to us through a language of sensations – not what we usually rely on to solve our complex problems, but one that can surprise us with its insight.

Somajna

Somajna is the art of discovering and living from this wisdom. Derived from the Greek word Soma, which means ‘the lived body’ and the Sanskrit word Ajna, which stands for knowing or perception.

Somajna as a lived experience is the highest expression of our humanity. It is also a path of lifelong exploration, practice and discovery.

Working with Somajna is a journey that works its way into what is embodied. Engaging the somatic channel, we learn to unpack the stories and energy that shape our way of being. This gives us the unique opportunity to work on not just our behavior, but the sources that influence and determine its nature, in a tangible experience.

Somajna is the answer to ‘It depends’ as the body knows what the mind is still trying to understand.