Balancing Intuition and Information
When do you trust your intuition and when do you trust information?
Information is usually from outside sources - friends, family, websites, doctors, researchers, and so on. Intuition is our own sense of things, more internal and physiological or sensory-based.
Our culture and education often trains us to trust the external sources more than ourselves - to value expertise over personal wisdom.
As I age (this is Carey), it’s the balance of the two that seems to make the most sense. When I ignore my hunches and my intuitive take on things, I often end up regretting it! But I’d also hate to rely only on my intuition, as I know that sometimes our perceptions are wildly inaccurate - plus I do think research and critical thinking is useful.
One tool I’ve been playing with lately is the Body Sway, which I learned from Martha Beck’s work (https://marthabeck.com/). It’s a way to tap into your intuition more concretely, plus it’s entertaining!
Here’s how it works:
You stand with your feet shoulder width apart and breath to center yourself. Eyes can be closed or not. Think of something or someone you know you love and let your body move any way it wants.
Then go to the starting posture and think of something dreadful, or at least unpleasant, and see how your body moves then. Most people have a clear yes/positive direction (often but not always forward) and the opposite no/negative direction (often but not always backward) of this sway.
It’s interesting to get a feel for the small yesses, and the small noes, versus the strong ones. Sometimes you don’t get very much of anything, which I read to be neutral.
Pretty much every time I’m resisting exercise, and I see whether I get a positive or negative sway, it’s positive. It is a small motivator, but it reminds me that my body wants to move.
This is useful with food also - as I’m wanting to eat some cheese (which my body does NOT do well with), and do a quick sway check, usually it’s a clear no. Sigh. So then I find something that induces a good positive - “peach?” Yes! Awesome.
The information about exercise and healthy eating is clear - and I know it. But sometimes feeling it so clearly in my body is helpful and confirming - and motivating!
Action Steps:
When you are curious about what your body needs (vs. what you may want, or what your thoughts say) try a body sway.
It always starts with a check in on what your strong yes feels like and what your strong no feels like, and then you check in on the specific question(s) you have in the moment.
If you don’t get much information to start with, keep practicing. We are taught to disregard our intuition and to ignore our body cues, and sometimes it takes some ongoing intentional checking in to reconnect to our body’s wisdom.