How To Make Highly Mind-Body Aligned Decisions
One of the absolute major elements of making highly mind-body aligned decisions this process is AWARENESS.
Then mind-body alignment and presence.
Making decisions based on your mind can work - but beware, your mind has been conditioned for decades and it may silence your inner knowing - your body’s wisdom.
Why make decisions with your body? You surely have heard about the gut feeling and intuition. They are both ways in which your body communicates with you and it is really difficult to describe the why or how it feels - it is an inner knowing.
But the gut feeling and the intuition are two different things.
The gut feeling is more about estimating potential danger.
Your intuition is a sign that you are living with flow and connectivity.
Let me tell you about my experience with “intuition”. My first very strong experience with intuition is a story that I love telling and I am sure everyone who knows me knows this story.
In 2009, after I finished high school in Germany, I ventured to Australia for my big self-finding journey, just like aaalllll the other Germans. Anyhow, I managed to avoid most of my people by staying on local organic farms and volunteering in their gardens. And the people I met this way are still a big part of me today - they have shaped me on this big adventure.
And in three different parts of the country (in Hobart, the Perth Hills and and in Maleny at the Sunshine Coast), people made me draw cards. Tarot cards, angel cards, what have you. And in each of these places, each time that I drew a card, it said “Intuition”. I KID YOU NOT. The first time I liked the card I drew because the concept of intuition resonated with me. The second time I thought, “oh wow, what a lovely coincidence”. But the third time it spooked me. But I also thought to myself, “Okay, Universe. I think I got the message, thank you!”.
Back then it really made me believe in myself and see that I was on the right path for myself. I was what I would call now “aligned”, or “going with the flow”. But it came so naturally to me that I didn’t even realise it.
The thing is that the more you are aligned with your intuition, the stronger your mind-body alignment is on an everyday-basis and vice versa and you will live your life with flow, un-hindered by the heaviness of your mind. A strong mind-body alignment allows for a strong intuition.
When you are following your true intuition, synchronicities will happen A LOT in your life (like drawing the same word three times!), leaving you in awe about the beauty of life.
Now, what do I want you to do?
To come home to your self and your body.
To get you started on this venture, let’s look into how to make mind-body alignment decisions!
ARRIVE
1) Think about the decision you want to make
What are the two or three options you are trying to weigh up against each other? Write them down to save for later, in case you forget them in the process. Important is that you write them down as statements, not as questions. This makes it easier to detect the physical reaction. For example, perhaps you generally have difficulties saying “no” to people but often you end up being unhappy with your decision and you feel drained and wish you had taken this time for yourself. So, let’s say you are unsure what to do with you latest birthday party invite. The decision you are trying to make may be around going to the birthday party or not. Then, add some context to both of those options, for example, Option 1, on Saturday I will go to my friend’s birthday party at 7 pm. Option 2, on Saturday I will not go to my friend’s birthday party, instead I will stay at home and read my book. Embrace both of these options as honest possibilities. Don’t push one of them away because of previous stories, like “but it is selfish of me to stay at home and not go to my friend’s party”. You want to make a truly aligned decision, so just embrace this for now without any judgment of yourself or your friend.
2) Get comfortable and present
You can get into a seated position like for meditation, lie in bed, or on the floor on a yoga mat. Be positioned in a way that your body is relaxed and no body part is tensed or blocking flow. (When you have done this a few times, you will be able to do this exercise in more dynamic surroundings, like when you drive but in the beginning, the motion and vibration of the car may make it difficult to focus or feel the physical sensations you are looking for.) Take a few deeeeeep breaths in and out to arrive in the present moment and in your body. Feel into your body, are there any sensations you can feel this moment? Arrive at a state where you feel safe and calm
RECOGNISE
1) Speak or think a known truth & untruth about yourself
This is to warm yourself up and to feel what a YES and a NO feels like in your body. First, speak a truth. The first truth you speak/think could be “My name is [insert your real name].” Feel in your body, which sensations do you detect? Where are those sensations? How strong are these sensations? If you cannot feel anything, try saying this particular truth again, and feel inside yourself.
Now, speak or think a known untruth about yourself. This is to warm yourself up and to feel what a NO feels like in your body. The first untruth you speak/think could be “My name is [insert a name that is not yours. It could be your mother’s or father’s or just any name].” Feel in your body, which sensations do you detect? Where are those sensations? How strong are these sensations? If you cannot feel anything, try saying this particular untruth again, and feel inside yourself.
2) Speak more truths and untruths alternately
This can be truths and untruths about your own life, things that you truly know to be true or untrue, no ambiguities allowed. Ambiguity will confuse your inner knowing. You can say un/truths about what you ate today, your date of birth, the names of your parents/siblings, the country you live in, the pets you have, … keep this to facts you know to be true or untrue and explore what the answer feels like in your body
Always leave enough time after each statement – truth or untruth – to feel the answer within.
3) Recognise your physical YES and NO.
Arrive at a place where you feel confident that you can feel the YES and the NO in your body strongly enough to base decision on. Remember, start with small decisions and see how this pans out in your life and if it works for you.
For me, for example, a YES feels like an expansion within the body. My body is relaxed and I breathe deeply quite naturally. I may feel my arms vibrating with sensations and I might even smile. It is a whole-body yes. A NO on the other hand feels like my body is contracting. I may stop breathing, feel my throat tense up, maybe I feel some tension in the chest. I can definitely not feel my arms tingling with sensations, it is like the flow is cut off. It is a clear whole-body NO.
Now, you are very likely to feel an expansion for a YES, your body is leaning in and feeling safe and for a NO, you are very likely to feel your body becoming smaller or tense, contracting. However, don’t be influenced by my physical YES and NO because they may feel different to you!
RECEIVE
1) Approach your question
Begin approaching the topic of the question you want a decision on, by taking a few more deep breaths. You can shake out your body a little bit to loosen up and open up for the response.
2) Frame the first option you are exploring as a statement
For example, “On Saturday I will go to my friend’s birthday party at 7 pm.” It is super important that you state the option like a fact and that you await the physical answer without ANY expectations or judgment. Hear into your body and hear the true answer. What is the physical answer? You should be feeling something similar to the previously explored YES and NO.
3) Frame the next option you are exploring as statements
For example, “On Saturday I will not go to my friend’s birthday party, instead I will stay at home and read my book.” Again, it is super important that you state the option like a fact and that you await the physical answer without ANY expectations or judgment. Hear into your body and hear the true answer. Hear into your body and hear the true answer. What is the physical answer? You should be feeling something similar to the previously explored YES and NO.
4) Be open for surprises
Sometimes, your body will surprise you with an answer. Sometimes, what you thought you want is not what your body’s wisdom shows you as the truly aligned response. Be open to that.
5) Take the first physical response with a grain of salt
It is your innate truth but chances are high that you are not very attuned to it, living in a world of constant distractions and potentially having a predisposed answer. Re-frame the statements in alternative ways and always remain open for the answer. Throw in an option you did not consider at first at all in order to test your mind-body alignment. Experiment. And Enjoy.
Once you do this a few times, you will become more attuned to your inner knowing and once you learn to TRUST, ALLOW and SURRENDER to it/yourself, you can make small everyday decisions in this way.
Think about it:
What would it feel like if you could base a portion of your every day on your deepest, truest intuition and live with flow and presence? What would it mean for your environment?
Other tips
Here are some other tips that are useful for making aligned decisions. For example, I apply the process of ARRIVE - WARM UP - RECEIVE a lot these days, but I also a kind of person who needs to weigh up decisions over a period of time. This may be due to my emotional authority in Human Design. I have certainly learned to not make decisions in an emotional stage.
1) Pretend to have made one decision for a whole day. How does it feel?
When you pretend for a whole day that you have decided for one of the available options, your body will tell you if it is the right one. Do your best to really “make that decision” - your body won’t know the difference and tell you the way. Have you ever sat in a restaurant unsure what to order? You have two things you can’t decide between and someone tells you to choose option A? Sometimes that’s exactly when you know that you don’t actually want option A but option B. That is what you are trying to achieve with this exercise over an extended period of time. After you pretended for a whole day that you made one decision, pretend for a whole day that you made the other decision. How does that feel? The compare, but I am sure you will already know.
2) Use your female cycle
If you are finding it hard to make a decision right now, wait for your pre-menstrual/menstrual or post-menstrual phase. Our intuition and wisdom is a lot stronger during that phase.
3) Take your time
Like mentioned above, if you have very elaborate emotions (like me - no judgment, only love and acceptance for this trait!), make sure to test the decision in different emotional stages to make sure that this is not an IMPULSIVE decision that is based on a strong emotional stage - in such a stage we are always far away from presence and alignment. Don’t make a decision in a very emotional state - this may only be best for immediate satisfaction/gratification but not good for you in the long run. Like don’t quit a job on a whim or respond to that email while you are still upset or angry… You don’t want to regret your decision.
↓↓↓ Let me know in the comments below how you are doing with these tips or if you find them helpful. Or tell me a story about your own experience with making aligned decisions. ↓↓↓
