Body Intelligence - BI - Support Your IQ and EQ

When I was at school back in the 70's and 80's we were taught that our skulls was the strong packaging for the most vital organ we have - our brains. It was the general of our internal army. It was the boss. Those other organs within our body? Well they gurgled along doing their jobs but made life generally uncomfortable if they stopped working well and the brain was unable to sort it out.

Skip forward 30 years and we are finding out all sorts of new things about our bodies. It sometimes seems that surely we must have discovered everything already and then something new is reported. A recent finding is this one: “Proteins form unfathomably complex networks of chemical reactions that allow cells to communicate and to ‘think’ – essentially giving the cell a ‘cognitive’ ability, or a ‘brain’,” says Queensland University of Technology researcher Dr Robyn Araujo. I have read many books and papers that show that we even have groups of cells that work together to create mini-brains in our bodies - like our hearts and our guts. And then there is the work of Stephen Porges who shows that the Vagus Nerve is the great communicator with 80% of the messages whizzing around in our bodies, going up to the head brain. 20% of the messages are coming down into the body.

Wow - that really shows that our bodies have quite a lot to say. Do we listen?

What is exciting is that this kind of research and finding gives more and more weight to the fact that the body, not just the head, has a role in thinking and decision making as it is able to take in internal and external stimuli and senses, feeding into those roles.

So with benefits to the workplace, our health and our relationships having intelligence of the body - body intelligence, BQ is well worth developing.

When I coach people into greater health or better decisions, I come across many who are just stumped as they can't figure out why they may be not as well as they would like to be or their relationships are not going so smoothly and their decisions. Their IQ is often high but often the problem is that they try to intellectualise, or ignore, the basic and vital needs of their body.

So how does it sound to you - to have a whole source of intelligence to be utilised that ultimately supports your IQ? Sounds a no brainer to me.

How do we forge a closer and more responsive relationship with our bodies? We learn to tune into it. We start to notice the sensations within our bodies, below our neck. We respond to the 'messages' of those sensations. And our quality of life will be enhanced. This is called interoceptive awareness (IA). IA involves noticing your heartbeat, breath, hunger, fullness, pain pressure and other bodily sensations. Do you do this already? Sure you do! You know when you are starving, when you need to go to the toilet, when your heartbeat is doing a tap dance in your chest. Some people are very good at this. Some people are only good at this when they are really getting the very strong messages, and other people have managed to disconnect altogether. This dissociation can come about from a response to trauma, but not always. It is where the messages are completely ignored for a long time leading to problems. So when burnout is the final result, you have to wonder what messages the body has been quietly giving and then finally shouting in order to be heard.

It is vital that you respond to those tired messages, or maybe take more time to stop and listen for them first. Then respond to them, rather than override them with that busy head brain otherwise something will eventually give way or give out.

What do you do when you feel those tired eyes while you are driving a long distance? It is likely that you pull over for a coffee, then keep going. How about when you are feeling exhausted after a big week at work, but the office party is on and you force yourself to go and take an active part in it. What do you do if at 9pm, you are yawning and feel that your bed is a wonderful option - but it is 'too early' to go to bed so wait up for a couple more hours. Maybe your chair and desk are set at an uncomfortable height yet you are too busy to do anything about it, but you know .

Push push push until our bodies are eventually breaking, breaking, breaking. Think of the last time you had the flu, or had strong pain - were you able to think properly? Were you able to make wise decisions at that time? No, the impact of your body on your head brain was too great. Interoceptive awareness was something that could not be ignored! Rather than treating the body and its messages as an annoying interference with your professional success, or day to day operating, grant your body the authority it deserves – listen to it, learn from it and look up to it – it’s smarter than you think.

And here is how you do it

Mindfulness is really useful to create your awareness. It doesn't have to take a long time, as even just checking in is really useful. During mindful moments, bring your attention inward, usually starting with how your are breathing and where that breath comes from, the moving with your attention to the heart, as if your heart is breathing. Hello heart! How does it say or feel hello back? Then take your attention to your gut, maybe swallowing a sense of hello down into it. Hello gut! How does it feel as your gut is 'doing' the breathing. And how does your head feel as it is allowed to take a rest from it's thinking job.

1. A few times a day, check in with your body. Notice your breathing, notice any muscle tension in your jaw, shoulders, back or buttocks.

2. When you are about to eat, sit and check in with your gut as to how hungry it is. You may be surprised that it has been starving for hours, or maybe not ready to take in more food. You may even figure out that the eating is an emotional cover up, not actually a need for nutrition or energy.

3. Notice thirst signals. Many of us wait until we are gasping for water, before refilling our water tanks. (Probably the one that I am not too good at!)

4. Those subtle sensations are significant. If you are tired, get some fresh air. Take a break, get more sleep - more sleep is one of the most important thing we can do regarding a better quality of life.

5. Any time you are just feeling 'off', quietly check in with your body - do a scan to feel for anything. In the silence, you may have a word or a picture come to you. What might that indicate?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise your feelings. All of these emotions are accompanied by a bodily felt sensation - a faster, pounding heart often is associated with anger - but could it be love? Butterflies in the stomach are often attributed to nerves and fear, but could it be anticipation?

So you can see now, how our emotions, intelligence and body all influence each other and the influence goes in all directions. That is the cybernetic loop at play which is constantly in action.

Your body lets you feel when you are making a good decision. You can feel when you are aligned in that decision - think of the last time you made a great decision. Can you remember how your body felt? Was it light and happy and confident? Now think of a decision you made that wasn't so great - how did the body feel then? Maybe really heavy, sick or just tense and 'not right'.

If you want to be more aware or aligned with your body and head, or in mBraining circles it is the head, heart and gut, you can take a course or maybe have some coaching from somebody qualified in it. There are courses being held all over the world and coaches eager to work with you too.

If now is not the right time to be taking a positive action towards your EQ, IQ and BQ, then when would be?