What Does It Really Mean to Trust Your Gut?
Have you ever “trusted your gut” only to be disappointed at the outcome?
Felt that your gut has led you astray? Have you decided that having a hunch, guessing, or even hypothesizing “without proof” is such a lame approach that you now steer clear from any thought that doesn’t appear to have a “logical” basis?
If so, it proves what I’ve always said: The gut gets a bad rap.
It’s my opinion that it’s not that our guts have pulled us off course, but rather the way we interpret—or misinterpret—what that good ol’ gut is trying to tell us. That’s why the real question is, How do we know what our gut is REALLY saying?
But before we address the question of how we know, let’s take a look at what makes this particular question so important.
We’ll start with what’s happening in the world. First and foremost, in today’s day and age of Artificial Intelligence, the lines between fact-and-fiction and truth-and-lie have become so blurred as to be nearly undetectable. Which leaves us doubting how we can possibly know what’s fact—what’s real—and what’s not. How can we trust the information we take in, how we respond to it, how we construct beliefs and values based on its impact?
In the good ol’ days, it was about research.
The more we dug into studies, listened to the news, did our due diligence, the more we felt we could trust our conclusions. The logical (limbic) brain (a group of structures in the brain regulate emotions, behavior, motivation, and memory) that did its job, so we felt comfortable making decisions based on what we’ve seen, heard, perceived, learned, and processed.
I’d like to say that’s it’s only a matter of a different era (what my parents and grandparents said, like “Things were different back in my day, when you could buy a loaf of bread for a nickel and I had to walk to school 3 miles in the snow”). But it’s not that simple. While life has supposedly simplified because we have access to things like instant communication across the world, etc., life has also become infinitely more challenging for one reason: We no longer have ways of trusting what we see, perceive, learn, hear, and process.
Or do we? Fortunately, I believe we do. And the way to get there is actually profoundly straightforward.
You’ve probably heard me say this before, but the REAL TRUTH is that it’s all about alignment. Individual alignment. Yours and mine. Your neighbor’s, your friend’s, your mentor’s.
If we don’t know what alignment feels like, that place that feels like the vibration of truth, reality, absence of fear (confidence), rightness, satisfaction, knowing, etc., how are we supposed to know we can trust our so-called instincts? That’s why it’s not our gut giving us bad advice; it’s not knowing what the feeling feels like—the one that guides us in our best and highest direction.
Here’s the key. Once you know that feeling where your body, mind, and spirit are in alignment, not only do you never want to exist anywhere outside that feeling, you start making decisions from that calm, connected, guided place. How do you “get into alignment”? You start by feeling into your body’s somatic responses, the way your body reacts to both internal and external influences. Is your heart pounding? Are you having trouble breathing? Are you suddenly feeling nauseous? While the body’s signals can be symptoms of physical dis-ease, every physical symptom is a manifestation of something that originates metaphysically. Basically? We’re out of energetic alignment, which ultimately translates into physical distress.
What does it mean to “be in your body”?
Years ago, when it was first suggested to me that I needed to “be in my body,” I had absolutely no idea what that meant. Wasn’t I “in there” all the time? Where else would I be? Now I know otherwise. I lived in my head as I attempted to sort through everything coming at me like a constant storm, while my bodily and emotional reactions showed up in the form of panic attacks, depression, fear, generalized anxiety, overwhelm, and so on. Alignment? Not so much.
Here’s my tip for the day.
Close your eyes and take a breath to center yourself.
Say “My name is [fill in your name here]” out loud, with strength and power. Feels how that statement lands in your body.
Invite yourself to tune into what your body is experiencing: where you feel the truth of your statement and how it feels. We are not looking at emotion (e-motion), but energy in motion and where it lands inside us.
Stay in that energy for a moment to let it settle.
Now say, again out loud with the same strength and power, “My name is Jane Smith or John Smith” (or make up a name).
Again, take a minute to settle into your body’s experience: Where do you feel the untruth (the lie) you have just expressed? How does it compare to your body’s response to the truth?
You might feel a tingling in your nose the first time and a choking sensation in your throat the second time. You might feel a very subtle difference or a complete lack of sensation to one of the statements. Either way, it’s worth noting because this is your body’s way to let you know the “real truth.” It’s the path that paves the way to YOUR truth—no one else’s—only yours.
This is just the tip of the “alignment iceberg,” so if you felt very little or nothing, don’t be put off. It’s the basis of my Couch Talk (Intuitive Coaching) work, which includes lots of ways to get to the core of your authentic self. The self you can trust when it seems no amount of logic or research or evidence serves the purpose.
I call it Intuitive Logic, and I welcome you into its realm of sovereignty and empowerment.