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I make a lot of decisions and choices in a day.
Making decisions requires energy.
I make most of these decisions with my brain.
My brain has a finite amount of daily energy to make decisions. I call it our decision bucket. The bucket starts full, and decreases towards zero as the day progresses. Is there another way? Another source? And more importantly, is the brain the most reliable source to begin with? “I found it near impossible just to “think” my way out of a problem, or “think” my way into a new mindset or healthier thought pattern. What changed everything for me was welcoming my body back to the conversation,” says Poppy Jamie in Happy Not Perfect. The brain in our head is just one of our resources. Some propose there are four “brains” in our body. The brain in our head is our first brain. The second brain is our gut. The third brain is our heart. The fourth brain is our musculature. According to different tools for understanding the mind body system - for example Enneagram or Human Design - we each have a place in our bodies best suited for our unique decision making. Making decisions anywhere outside of my brain, is not something I'm regularly accustomed to. It confounds me that despite decades of conditioning, in addition to training and working as an engineer, that I was able to get out my brain enough to take the risk (a calculated risk of course) to become a full time artist. In fact, it’s perhaps only in my biggest decisions - who to partner with, whether to become a mother, whether to change careers - that I have any type of experience using something other than my brain as my most reliable resource for decision making. What about the rest of the decisions? The daily. What would it feel like to make decisions using other parts of my body? How would I know how to listen to them? How would I decipher their message? I began by practicing - while creating a reminder of that practice - listening to my internal energy. Starting from my gut, my womb, my sacral center - do I feel increasing waves of rising energy in response to a question? Or do I feel a weight slowly pushing down? A compact internal energy-filled center, compass, core slowly lifting or lowering. Without judgement. Ascending or descending. Yes or no. Without interference from the mind. Without fear or worry. At this time, in this moment, is it correct for me? Listening to. Noticing of. The inner authority.
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