Body Intelligence 01

There is an intelligence within the body that already knows. It can be difficult to explain, particularly when we haven't quite figured out what we're feeling ourselves, but the body seems to have a remarkable ability to respond to an experience before we've had the chance to make sense of it.

I like to call this Body Intelligence, and I wonder how much of it we recognize as we move through our days.

A walk can change our entire disposition, even when nothing about our circumstances has changed. A conversation can be perfectly pleasant and still leave us feeling tense afterward. We can walk into a beautifully designed room, admire everything about it, and find ourselves unable to relax. It's rather interesting how the mind can approve of something while the body remains unconvinced.

The body does not argue; it does not rush to conclusions; it simply responds. And although we may be inclined to question these responses, particularly when they seem to contradict what we think we should be feeling, they remain part of our experience whether we acknowledge them or not.

I wonder what we might discover if we became more familiar with the way our bodies respond throughout the day. The heaviness that follows certain experiences, the ease we feel in particular company, or the inclination to move toward something without knowing exactly why.

We may never find an explanation for every sensation, and perhaps we don't need to. There is something worth considering in the possibility that our bodies have been responding to our lives all along, even when our attention has been elsewhere.