The body doesn’t lie – on the importance of physical intelligence in leadership
We have been trained to rely on the mind. On what we are thinking. We stuff our mind with knowledge endlessly.
And in the process of becoming thinking beings, we stepped over the very first system we used with great fluency. The language of the body.
A newborn infant does not have word language. But they know when they are hungry, cold, alone, in pain.
They may not have words for emotions, but their body tells them that something is occurring that is uncomfortable.
I have found myself awake these last few mornings with a low-grade, almost imperceptible discomfort in my body. Not a muscle pain or a feeling of sickness. But this ‘unease’.
It is so subtle that I have almost missed it. Like an ever-familiar background noise. Yet I know it is important.
Unease at the low-grade physical/body level leads to dis-ease if ignored. This may take months, years or decades. The dis-ease may occur in your physical body, or in your life. Broken marriage, financial loss, or illness.
The point is that the body speaks to us all the time. It will tell us clearly when to eat, when to stop, what to eat, what to avoid, when to sleep, when to wake, when to move. When to remove yourself from a situation, when to speak up, when to stay silent.
Yet we have trained ourselves to ignore this most remarkable instrument, of which the brain is but one part. Instead, we have become reliant on both our thinking brain and our egoic override mechanism. The one that says eat the extra piece of cake when your body clearly says do not.
To tune into the language of the body, our physical intelligence, requires commitment, consistency, practice. And intense listening.
Without the wisdom of our body, any decision is only partial.
Highly functioning leaders use multiple forms of intelligence – physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual, at the least.
What is your body telling you? And are you honouring its message?
Photo credit:
Tony Alter via Compfight
