The Practice of Decision-Making Part 2: Yo’ Body

This is the second in a series of articles about The Practice of Decision-Making – situating the experience of decision-making in the context of healing. Decision-making is an anxiety-riddled experience for many folks navigating this age of information. By transforming the process of decision-making into an opportunity for self-healing, we step beyond the bounds of the decision itself, reclaiming our inherent value. And, conveniently, we learn to make better decisions for ourselves.

Yo' Body

This is the first thing.

It’s the last thing.

It’s the thing in between all the other things.

But don’t stress if you forget to check in with your body after every phone call. Whatevs, it’s still there whether you actively check in with it or not.

Checking in with the body is the embodied way to connect with the meta-process of self-healing while decision-making. It reminds us of our wholeness and value that exists far beyond the margins of the impending decision. It reminds us that this thing that seems so incredibly important right now is just as temporal as all of the transient sensations in the body.

Different folks check in with their bodies infinities of ways. Essentially, checking in with your body just means that you take a moment or twelve to direct your attention to your physical experience. I often start off by directing my awareness to my breath. Not changing it, just noticing it. Then I scan my body and occasionally ask myself questions. “Where do I feel this right now? What is the quality of that sensation? Does it change when I pay attention to it?” I make it up as I go along. You’ll intuitively know what questions you need to ask the more you practice. It’s true. Try right now – get still and see what question comes to mind. Trust that question. It’s a good question.

 That’s how I figured out the stuff about my solar plexus, shoulders and heart (see part 1 of this article). From this body-centered awareness I also notice the qualities of my mind, as though it were just another body part. “What types of things am I thinking about? What is the pace of my thinking?” And emotions - “How do I feel right now?” Always No judgment, I’m not trying to find specific things. I might just notice numbness all over. The point is to take that time, not to make fancy breakthroughs of understanding.

For me, the hardest part of checking in with my body is remembering to do it. A good way to remember is to link it with some other action. For example, every time I realize I need to pee, I remind myself to check in with the rest of my body while I’m at it. Or put up a reminder on your computer. Now I link up body scans with basically any strong emotion, but I’ve written reminders on my palm, I’ve drawn pictures on my coffee makers, and I literally have a tattoo that pretty much serves this function (no, I am not suggesting you go get a tattoo, but if you’re getting one anyway it may as well be functional… just sayin.)

Our bodies are our wisest teachers, hands down, BLAM, easy. So freakin convenient, too. Check in to your whole self, and regularly – you are still whole, you bring your whole emotional physical intellectual and spiritual being with you. You are not the decision itself, you are essentially and always yourself. And this is you, making a decision. Interesting. Just like we get familiar with the experience of being “on” alcohol, or being “on” caffeine, learn to get familiar with yourself “on” decision-making. The adrenaline rush. The quality of your thoughts. How you view your time and how you view yourself. This is you on decision-making. This can be fun.