That gut feeling

Ponder this: Embodiment is less about listening to and relating to the body, and more about listening to and relating to the world around us, through the body. 

… just sayin’.

We have two brains. One is in our head, and we wrongly think that it is the entirety of our mind and the only thing required for interacting with each other, our environment and whatever sense of spirituality we hold dear. We can thank Socrates, Plato and all the great thinkers for that, I suppose. But, there is another brain, and there is more to mind than what’s going on in our heads.

Our “second” brain isn’t like the first. This other brain is relational and visceral. It’s emotive. It’s the home of intuition. It requires honesty and vulnerability to access, not cleverness. It doesn’t relate through thought and ideas. It relates through energy. We know what humans are comprised of, and we know from E=MC2 that we’re only on this planet, because we are indeed made of energy. That could make one think that this second brain is a pretty big deal. So why don’t most of us know about it? I didn’t.

History suggests that as people learned to access more of the incredible capabilities of the head brain, they lost interest and connection to this second, more subtle brain. But still, we’ve all experienced life at one time or another primarily through this other brain. Most can think of a time when this connection has happened, but I’d bet by and large, it occurred through reflex and not intent. Getting lost in the joy of snowboarding or mountain biking might be such a moment. Tears at the memory of a departed friend might do it for others. Love-making free of thought and worry. Or the birth of a child. Those are times we leave the head behind and live primarily in the space of the second brain. But, again, it happens mostly unconsciously and by way of ancient memory. While these moments are incredible, they occur infrequently and between what can seem like long stretches filled with mundane. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could have more of those second brain moments? 

We all know the myth that people use only about 10% of our head brain, and we also know there is a certain truth for why that myth exists. Add to that idea that most of us have never heard of a second brain, and it can seem as though some of us are shuffling along like we’re unwittingly trying to roll an office chair with one roller brake on. I’m 59. I can claim a lot of years sitting in that chair. And, I’d give a bunch of them back for more of those too-infrequent moments spent intentionally exploring this other brain with all my office chair wheels rolling free.

The gut brain: It’s more than just the enteric nervous system talking to the head, and it’s way more than just the healthy functioning of our digestive systems. The gut brain is how and where we connect to the divine. It’s how we connect to one another. It is where we find our love for the world, and it is where we feel our highest highs and most meaningful moments. Most of us recognize these “meaningful moments” as the stuff we live for. However, it isn’t actually the moments themselves, but how we relate to them (open, vulnerable and embodied) that makes them so special. The best experiences, after all, are felt and not thought. And while snowboarding will always bring me joy, I’m going to experience less when my head’s chewing on a to-do list only half completed instead of intentionally letting the gut pick my line and take the lead.

So … if it’s not the moments but our own intention, attention and felt interaction that makes life so awesome, maybe we have the power to turn mundane moments into more momentous ones just by exploring this gut brain. 

…just sayin’.

– Grant Bronk, Durango