Story follows state - so focus on your body as your mind may be lagging

There can be a disparity between what’s going on in our brain to keep us safe  and what’s going on in real time in our body; learning to discern the difference as to what feels true can offer surprising and helpful insights

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So I went out for my walk earlier and I’d been so looking forward to it. I’d worked all week and had three clients today and it was the end of a working week for me and I intended to do a long walk. And in the event, I had a stiff, tense back and I felt exhausted. So I set off, carried on walking, gave myself a mile and came to a fork in the roads.

I was approaching the fork in the roads where I could have come home or carried on walking and that was my decision point there.

In that time my brain had latched onto the fact that I wasn’t feeling great, that I was feeling really tired, I had no energy and I’d made a complete story and I’d changed the plans for the evening accordingly.

So when I got to the fork in the roads my brain was still invested in the story of how I’d been feeling exhausted. And yet, when I checked out with my body, I felt great! The lower back had cleared up, I felt energised and I had a choice. Whether to go home and honour my brain and the story it had made up and was invested in and had attached to.  Or, tune into my body, listen to my body and honour my body.

And in the event, I carried on walking and had an extra walk. I carried on walking and really enjoyed that walk. I felt so much better for it.

My point being here, that our brains get invested in stories. Feelings are fleeting and don’t last that long, and yet our brains latch on to the feeling and create an entire story around the feeling and then get invested in the feeling and the story.  

So I could have come home and listened to my brain and not felt very good. And in the event, I tuned into my body, my body knew the truth and our bodies know the truth of the matter. They are acting in the present tense. They’re not acting on the future or the past. They are very much present.

So it’s always worth checking in with our body in terms of our truths, and noticing the difference.  There can be a very different story going on between what’s happening in the body in the present tense, and in the brain that is invested in a story based on information that’s old hat by the time we come to it.

So, learn to know the difference, check it out for yourself. There may be a disparity between what’s going on in your brain which is there to keep us safe of course, and what’s going on in real time in your body. And learn to know the difference and act accordingly.