Body Wisdom: Somatic Intelligence in Business

BY NICOLE LAU

You're in a negotiation. The terms look good on paper. The other party is saying all the right things. But your stomach is tight. Your shoulders are tense. Your jaw is clenched. Your body is screaming "no" while your mind is saying "maybe."

Which do you trust?

Most business leaders live in their heads—analyzing, strategizing, thinking. They've disconnected from their bodies, treating them as vehicles to carry their brains around. But your body is not just a vehicle. It's an intelligent system that processes information faster and more accurately than your conscious mind.

Your body knows before your mind knows. It senses danger before you can articulate why. It recognizes truth before you can prove it. It holds wisdom your thoughts can't access. This is somatic intelligence—and it's your most underutilized business asset.

Let's learn how to access body wisdom for better decisions.

Understanding Somatic Intelligence

What Is Somatic Intelligence?

Definition: The ability to perceive, interpret, and act on information from your body's sensations, movements, and states

"Soma" = body in Greek

Somatic intelligence includes:

• Interoception (awareness of internal body states)
• Proprioception (awareness of body position and movement)
• Emotional embodiment (feeling emotions in body)
• Body-based decision-making
• Somatic markers (body signals for good/bad)
• Trauma and memory stored in body

Why it matters in business:

• Body processes information unconsciously and rapidly
• Gut feelings are literal body sensations
• Stress and burnout show up in body first
• Presence and leadership are embodied
• Body reveals truth words can hide

The Science of Body Intelligence

The gut-brain axis:

• 100 million neurons in digestive system
• Produces 90% of body's serotonin
• Communicates directly with brain via vagus nerve
• Processes information independently
• "Gut feelings" are real neural signals

The heart-brain connection:

• Heart has 40,000 neurons ("heart brain")
• Sends more signals to brain than brain to heart
• Heart rate variability reflects emotional state
• Heart coherence enhances decision-making
• "Follow your heart" is neurologically sound

Somatic markers (Damasio):

• Body creates physical markers for experiences
• Good experiences = expansion, warmth, ease
• Bad experiences = contraction, tension, discomfort
• Body remembers and signals before conscious awareness
• Guides decisions through physical sensations

Polyvagal theory (Porges):

• Nervous system has three states: safe, fight/flight, shutdown
• Body state affects perception and decision-making
• Can't think clearly when in survival mode
• Regulating nervous system improves performance

The Body's Language

Reading Body Signals

Expansion signals (YES, good, safe):

• Chest opening, shoulders relaxing
• Breath deepening and slowing
• Warmth spreading through body
• Lightness, ease, flow
• Energy increasing
• Smile or softening in face

Contraction signals (NO, bad, danger):

• Chest tightening, shoulders tensing
• Breath becoming shallow or held
• Coldness or numbness
• Heaviness, density, stuck feeling
• Energy draining
• Jaw clenching, furrowed brow

Neutral signals (WAIT, unclear, need more info):

• No strong sensation either way
• Confusion or mixed signals
• Body feels neutral or quiet
• Not ready to decide

Body Zones and Their Messages

Head/Mind:

• Tension: Overthinking, mental stress
• Clarity: Mental ease, clear thinking
• Headache: Overwhelm, resistance

Throat:

• Tightness: Unexpressed truth, holding back
• Openness: Authentic expression, speaking truth
• Lump: Suppressed emotion, need to speak

Chest/Heart:

• Expansion: Love, connection, yes
• Contraction: Fear, protection, no
• Heaviness: Grief, sadness
• Warmth: Compassion, care

Gut/Belly:

• Butterflies: Excitement or anxiety
• Tightness: Fear, resistance, wrong path
• Ease: Right decision, alignment
• Nausea: Strong no, danger signal

Solar Plexus:

• Power center, confidence, will
• Tightness: Powerlessness, control issues
• Strength: Empowerment, clarity

Pelvis/Hips:

• Grounding, stability, creativity
• Tension: Instability, fear
• Openness: Grounded, creative flow

Somatic Decision-Making

The Body Check Protocol

For any decision:

Step 1: Ground and center (2 minutes)

1. Sit or stand comfortably
2. Feel feet on floor, body supported
3. Take 5 deep breaths into belly
4. Arrive fully in your body

Step 2: State the decision (1 minute)

1. Clearly articulate the choice
2. "I am considering [decision]"
3. Hold it in awareness

Step 3: Scan your body (2-3 minutes)

1. Close eyes
2. Scan from head to toe
3. Notice sensations without judgment
4. Where do you feel expansion or contraction?
5. What is your body saying?

Step 4: Interpret the signal (1 minute)

• Expansion = yes, aligned, good
• Contraction = no, misaligned, warning
• Neutral = wait, need more information
• Mixed = investigate further

Step 5: Verify with mind (1 minute)

• Does body wisdom align with rational analysis?
• If yes: Strong signal
• If no: Investigate discrepancy
• Integrate both

The Future Projection Practice

To sense which option is right:

For each option:

1. Close eyes, drop into body
2. Visualize choosing Option A
3. Imagine living with that choice 6 months from now
4. Notice: How does your body feel?
5. Expansion, ease, rightness? Or contraction, tension, wrongness?
6. Repeat for each option
7. Body knows which future feels right

The Somatic Yes/No Test

Quick body-based decision tool:

Establish baseline:

1. Think of something you know is true ("My name is ___")
2. Notice how body feels with truth (usually expansion, ease)
3. Think of something you know is false ("My name is Mickey Mouse")
4. Notice how body feels with falsehood (usually contraction, discomfort)

Test decision:

1. State decision as if true: "I am taking this job"
2. Notice: Does body respond like truth or falsehood?
3. Expansion = yes, Contraction = no
4. Body knows before mind can justify

Somatic Practices for Business

Practice 1: Morning Body Scan (5-10 minutes)

Purpose: Start day connected to body, catch issues early

The practice:

1. Before getting out of bed or after waking
2. Lie still, close eyes
3. Scan body from head to toe
4. Notice: Energy level, tension, ease, messages
5. Ask: "What does my body need today?"
6. Honor what you sense

Practice 2: Pre-Meeting Body Check (2 minutes)

Purpose: Enter meetings grounded and present

The practice:

1. Before entering meeting
2. Pause, take 3 deep breaths
3. Feel feet on floor, body in space
4. Notice current body state
5. Ground and center
6. Enter from embodied presence

Practice 3: Somatic Stress Release (5 minutes)

Purpose: Release accumulated tension and stress

The practice:

1. Find private space
2. Shake out entire body (literally shake like a dog)
3. Make sounds (sigh, groan, release)
4. Move spontaneously (stretch, twist, dance)
5. Let body release what it's holding
6. Continue until body feels lighter

Why it works: Stress is stored in body, movement releases it

Practice 4: Embodied Breathing (3-5 minutes)

Purpose: Regulate nervous system, return to calm

Box breathing (for calm):

1. Inhale 4 counts
2. Hold 4 counts
3. Exhale 4 counts
4. Hold 4 counts
5. Repeat 5-10 rounds

Physiological sigh (for stress release):

1. Double inhale through nose (inhale, then sip more air)
2. Long exhale through mouth
3. Repeat 3 times
4. Rapidly calms nervous system

Practice 5: Walking Meetings (ongoing)

Purpose: Integrate movement, enhance creativity and connection

The practice:

• Take meetings while walking (when appropriate)
• Movement enhances thinking and rapport
• Side-by-side reduces confrontation
• Nature walk even better
• Body in motion = mind in motion

Somatic Leadership

Embodied Presence

What it is: Being fully present in your body, grounded and aware

Why it matters:

• People sense when you're present or checked out
• Embodied leaders command respect naturally
• Presence is felt, not just seen
• Grounded leaders create safety for teams

How to cultivate:

• Feel your body throughout the day
• Ground before important moments
• Breathe into belly, not just chest
• Make eye contact from embodied place
• Move with intention and awareness

Reading Others' Bodies

What to notice:

• Posture (open or closed, confident or insecure)
• Breathing (deep or shallow, calm or anxious)
• Tension (where are they holding stress?)
• Energy (high or low, engaged or depleted)
• Congruence (do words match body?)

Body language signals:

• Crossed arms: Defensive, closed
• Leaning in: Engaged, interested
• Leaning back: Disengaged, resistant
• Fidgeting: Nervous, uncomfortable
• Stillness: Calm, present, or frozen
• Eye contact: Connected or avoiding

Somatic Empathy

What it is: Feeling others' emotions in your own body

How it works:

• Mirror neurons create resonance
• You unconsciously mimic others' body states
• Feel their emotions in your body
• Provides deep understanding

The practice:

1. Be present in your body
2. Notice what you feel when with someone
3. Ask: "Is this mine or theirs?"
4. Use it for understanding, not absorption
5. Clear afterward (shake it off)

Somatic Wisdom for Common Business Situations

Negotiations

Body signals to notice:

• Gut tightness = something's wrong with deal
• Chest expansion = good terms, alignment
• Jaw clenching = holding back, not speaking truth
• Shoulders tensing = taking on too much

Practice: Pause before agreeing, check body, trust signals

Presentations

Body preparation:

• Ground and center before presenting
• Power pose (2 minutes, increases confidence)
• Deep breathing (calms nerves)
• Feel feet on floor during presentation
• Embody your message (don't just speak it)

Difficult Conversations

Somatic support:

• Ground before conversation
• Notice body reactions during (yours and theirs)
• Breathe when triggered
• Speak from body, not just head
• Release tension after

Burnout Prevention

Body warning signs:

• Chronic tension (shoulders, jaw, back)
• Fatigue that rest doesn't fix
• Digestive issues
• Frequent illness
• Numbness or disconnection from body

Somatic intervention:

• Listen to body's signals early
• Rest when body says rest
• Move when body says move
• Release stress somatically
• Prevent burnout through body awareness

Your Somatic Intelligence Action Plan

Week 1: Build Awareness

1. Morning body scan daily
2. Hourly body check-ins ("How does my body feel right now?")
3. Notice body signals during decisions
4. Journal: What is my body telling me?

Week 2-4: Practice Somatic Decision-Making

1. Use body check protocol for all decisions
2. Practice future projection
3. Notice expansion vs. contraction
4. Track accuracy of body wisdom

Month 2-3: Integration

1. Somatic practices become automatic
2. Body wisdom trusted and used
3. Embodied presence in leadership
4. Reading others' bodies skillfully

Long-term: Somatic Mastery

1. Body is primary decision-making tool
2. Seamless integration with rational mind
3. Embodied leadership presence
4. Somatic intelligence as competitive advantage

The Body Wisdom Advantage

Your body is not just a vehicle for your brain. It's an intelligent system that processes information faster, more accurately, and more holistically than your conscious mind. It knows before you know. It senses what analysis misses. It holds wisdom your thoughts can't access.

Most leaders ignore their bodies until they break down. Wise leaders listen to their bodies and let somatic intelligence guide them. They feel their decisions in their gut, their heart, their whole being. They lead from embodied presence, not just mental strategy.

Your body is speaking. Are you listening?

Start tomorrow. Feel your body. Trust its signals. Let somatic wisdom guide you.

In our next article, we'll explore timing: "Intuitive Timing: Knowing When to Act or Wait."

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This is Part 6 of our Intuitive Decision Making series. Next: "Intuitive Timing: Knowing When to Act or Wait"