The Body Keeps the Score

Nietzsche once said, “Your body contains more wisdom than your deepest philosophy.”

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He was right.

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Every emotion, heartbeat, and gut feeling carries information. The problem is that most high performers have been trained to ignore it. We were taught to trust logic above all else, as if the mind alone holds the truth. When you silence the body, you lose access to the oldest form of knowing you have.

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We like to think of the body as the vehicle and the brain as the driver, but in reality, they are in constant dialogue. When the body stops speaking, the driver loses half the information about where the road is heading.

The Science

In one study from the University of Wisconsin, participants who could notice subtle bodily shifts, such as a racing pulse or tightening chest, made better financial decisions under pressure than those who could not. They were not more logical; they were more attuned.

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At Cal Tech, researchers found that people’s palms began to sweat when shown images previously paired with an unpleasant sound, even before they consciously recognized the pictures. Their bodies remembered before their minds caught up.

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A 2013 study at Emory University found that scientists conditioned mice to fear the scent of cherry blossoms by pairing it with a mild shock. Generations later, their descendants startled at the same scent without ever being exposed to the shock themselves. The lesson is not only about genetics but also about memory that lives in the body, passed down as intuition that warns before thought intervenes.

A Case Study

Last year, I worked with a college athlete deciding whether to leave school early to go pro or stay for his senior season. On paper, leaving made sense. The opportunity was real, the timing was ideal, and everyone around him told him to take it.

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Each time we discussed it, his voice tightened, his shoulders drew in, and his breathing became shallow. When he imagined staying, his posture loosened and his breath deepened.

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We stopped analyzing and tried something simple. I asked him to close his eyes and imagine each choice vividly. When he pictured turning pro, his body went tense. When he imagined another year at school, he smiled without realizing it.

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He stayed. That season, he led his team to their best record in years and graduated the following spring. It was not a sentimental choice; it was alignment. His body had been telling the truth long before his mind could translate it.

How to Strengthen the Signal

1. Name what you feel before you act​
   Label the emotion - anxious, tense, impatient. Putting it into words quiets physiological arousal and clears space for sound judgment.
2. Try the A versus B check​
   Picture Option A for thirty seconds. Notice what happens in your breath, chest, and gut. Write three words that describe it. Reset, then do the same for Option B. The one that feels more grounded and steady often reflects the right choice, even if it looks harder.
3. Use your breath as a reset​
   Inhale for four seconds, exhale for six. Longer exhales tell your body that it is safe, which steadies attention and focus before important decisions or moments.

The Takeaway

Intuition is not the opposite of logic. It is the foundation it stands on. The body senses patterns long before the mind can explain them, and when you learn to integrate the two, your decisions stop feeling forced and start feeling right.

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If this helped you see intuition differently, share it with someone who needs to slow down and listen to what their body already knows.

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See you next week!