You have 3 brains.
“What? Cop on. I only have one”
You have 3. The head, heart and gut are now all scientifically classified as functional brains with complex neural networks on all three.
“Listen to your gut” and “follow your heart” are all well known sayings that we’ve been listening to all our lives. It’s time we started hearing what they actually mean. When your heart and gut work in tandem with your head, that is where the magic really happens.
The ego in me has been a devil for over-rationalising everything. I mean, I always prided myself as being analytical which led to over-thinking the simplest of situations and scenarios. Anxiety would commence in parallel with the lengthy (and as I now see, fanatical) mental movies that would play in my head portraying events that haven’t even happened.
“If he says this, I’ll say that” type of stuff. Stuck in my head, I would have full imaginary conversations with my boss while I’m only in the shower. Or what I will say to my football manager if he say’s something about my performance. “I will have to bite back at him.”
Self-torture and very limiting. Why limiting? Because I would go into situations, with no awareness and my head running the show. This would impact my actions due to pre-concieved judgements and beliefs conjured up by the egoic mind in me. And believe me, with no basis on reality.
My body language would change towards a person, along with my tone of voice and general demeanor even though I may not even have met that person before. But the mental movie I played in my head just before the meeting gave me the worst possible scenario and the ultimate fear. That this person would embarass me or make me feel shame. So I need to defend. Put up a barrier. Shut down. Either try to become invisible or stand up. “Don’t let them walk all over you”.
And then they turn out to be super nice. Just lovely. Great fun. What was I worried about? “That went grand.” Such relief. But I have another work meeting tomorrow with someone else. What if they aren’t so nice. And the cycle starts over again.
You see the head was running the show and I didn’t know it.
Now, I ask myself these questions. What is your gut saying? What is your heart saying? I connect to these two. The body will always tell you the truth.
Just try this. What are feeling right at this moment? Rather than thinking about the feeling, focus on where it is in the body? Is it in the abdomenen? Is it is in your heart? Locate it. Sit with it. Breathe and stay with the feeling. Keep breathing. Become aware of the narrator in your head if he/she appears and don’t identify with it. Return to the feeling and your breathe. Keep with it. Face the feeling. Take 4-5 more breathes.
You will find the feeling just dissapates. You see things as they really are. A sense of calm and contentment will come over you. Its almost like magic.
Connecting with your heart and gut will lead to a happier and more fulfilled life. More clarity will come into your life. “My gut instinct has let me down” said no one ever. Listen to all your brains. You have 3 for a reason. Don’t just use 1.
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