One of the great developmental tasks in life.
One of the limitations of science is that it has often been conducted by people who are highly identified with cognition. I know this from my own experiences of acquiring bachelors, post-graduate diplomas, masters and doctoral degrees at four different universities.
So it is perhaps not surprising that, for a long time, the dominant assumption was that the brain makes the decisions and the rest of us follows along. Certainly this was the assumption when I was studying the biochemistry of mood and behaviour for my bachelors.
But that is not how human beings actually feel from the inside when we become more developed in our awareness.
A great deal of my work as a psychotherapist, executive coach, clinical supervisor, and researcher is helping people re-identify with their physical body.
Not just as a machine that carries the head around.
But as a physical, psychological, and emotional system that is already communicating with us all the time.
Often before thought catches up.
Through tightness.
Through heaviness.
Through agitation.
Through dread.
Through warmth.
Through collapse.
Through relief.
Through a sense of opening or contraction.
Feelings are not just irrational noise.
They are part of how our body speaks to us.
And one of the great developmental tasks in life is to become better at:
noticing what our body is telling us,
understanding it more accurately,
and becoming more able to provide what our entire system actually needs.
Not just food and water.
But also:
rest
safety
boundaries
movement
comfort
emotional expression
connection
meaning
and sometimes a different decision
This is one reason I think so many people can look “fine” cognitively while being profoundly cut off from themselves.
They can explain.
They can analyse.
They can justify.
They can perform.
But they cannot yet reliably hear what their body is saying, or respond well to it.
And when that happens, life often starts to organise around compensation rather than genuine vitality.
So yes, I think the mind matters enormously.
But I do not think wisdom is found in cognition alone.
A wiser life is usually built when thought becomes better informed by embodiment.
When our head stops trying to dominate our whole system.
And starts learning how to listen.