The Body’s Voice

I was praised for my intelligence pretty often as a child, and have relied on my mind a great deal in adulthood. My conscious mind has historically been the first tool I grab in any situation. I think my way through everything.

Then in my 40s I started taking ballet for the first time, as a rank beginner. A year or so into that, I realized that there are some things the mind just cannot do. It is not the mind that dances, it is the body, and arguably the soul. The mind can coach us (“look at the window when you do that turn”) but the actual dancing is done by bone, flesh and spirit. It is a subjective sensory experience.

Fascinated, I dove deep into the “sensory experience” aspect of dancing by becoming a mindful movement teacher at age 53. My new movement practice placed no emphasis on correctness or performance. Rather, what was important was experiencing the movements as sensations. A major shift in perspective.

My trainers spoke of “the body’s voice” as a reliable gateway to your personal truth. They quoted Martha Graham as saying, “The body never lies” (whereas the mind lies all the time). They coached us to speak our truth directly from our bodies.

It was amazing. When I let the words emerge from my body, my words resonated in my bones and I felt more much sure of what I was saying.

After that training, I started doing it more often: paying attention to  my sensations and speaking from my body. Every time I did it, the outcome was better. My relationships improved. I felt more confident. My to-do list got a little shorter because I allowed myself to say “no.” Even in difficult conversations, my body’s voice made me more truthful and honest, which in the end, was best.

Later, I started consulting my body for help in making decisions. In 2017 I had a very difficult decision to make about a business I had founded: keep it going for one more year, or shut it down. Rather than relying on my mind to figure it all out, I decided to dance about it and listen to what my body had to say. I put a song on and danced to it imagining that I was shutting the business down. Then I danced the song again imagining that I was keeping going. The difference was remarkable. My movements were very different, in a way that made my body’s opinion clear: I should keep going for another year, even though it would have been much easier to shut down. I kept going and the very next year I finally found a buyer, sold the business and got free from it all - which only happened because I listened to my body’s voice.

Today I truly value what my body has to say to me. I have listened to it in many ways and situations and I tell you, it has never let me down. My body is smarter than my brain. It’s certainly more honest. It tells me the truth.

Knowing how to listen to your body’s voice is an amazing asset in life. It helps you know and articulate what you think and feel. It helps you make better decisions. It even makes you physically safer, by alerting you to possible safety issues and prompting you to take positive actions on your body’s behalf. Your body’s voice therefore makes you more resilient!

Are you self-aware of your body’s voice?

Would you like to listen more closely and hear what it has to say?

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