Using the Body as a Compass
- Ruth Parchment

- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read

Pause for a moment.
Notice your breathing.
Notice your shoulders.
Notice your jaw.
You do not need to change anything. Just register what is already happening.
That shift, from analysing yourself to sensing whatever is prresent. This is the difference we will be exploring in this article.
We live in a head-heavy culture and have been socialised to prioitise intellect over intuition. When something feels uncertain, we think harder. When something feels uncomfortable, we interpret. When something feels ambiguous, we try to solve it cognitively. CBT has shown us how thoughts influence emotions and behaviour. But more recent psychological research highlights something equally important: emotional clarity and sound decision-making depend on interoception, our ability to sense internal bodily states (Critchley & Garfinkel, 2017).The body is not irrational noise. It is data.
Antonio Damasio’s work on somatic markers suggested that bodily states associated with past experiences guide decisions before conscious reasoning catches up. More recent neuroscience supports the idea that the brain integrates bodily signals into predictive models that shape perception and choice (Seth & Friston, 2016). In simple terms, the body often registers something before the mind explains it.
But anxiety complicates this. If you live with generalised anxiety, your nervous system may treat uncertainty itself as a threat. Research on intolerance of uncertainty shows that worry is often an attempt to reduce physiological discomfort rather than solve real problems (Carleton, 2016). The body activates. The mind scrambles to explain and control it. What feels like careful thinking is sometimes just an effort to calm activation.
The same dynamic shows up in perfectionism. You may believe you are being thorough or disciplined, but your body tells a different story. Tight jaw. Lifted shoulders. Difficulty resting even after success. Chronic bracing. The ego says, “Not enough yet.” The body says, “I’m tired.”
In social anxiety, the body activates in response to perceived evaluation. Self-focused attention amplifies that activation. A racing heart becomes “They can see I’m awkward.” A pause in conversation becomes “I’ve failed.” The ego builds a narrative around physiological arousal.
Now consider relationships. You meet someone who looks right on paper. Attractive. Accomplished. Available. Your mind evaluates compatibility. But notice your body. Are you relaxed in their presence, or subtly performing? Does your breathing deepen when they speak, or do you feel slightly contracted? After spending time together, do you feel expanded or depleted? Attachment research shows that individuals high in attachment anxiety are hypervigilant to signs of rejection (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007). A delayed reply can trigger real physiological distress. In that state, the ego says, “This is intuition. Something is wrong.” But often the body is simply activated by past relational threat.
Using the body as a compass does not mean obeying every sensation. Anxiety is embodied too. The key is regulation.
Before making meaning, settle your system. Slow your exhale. Feel your feet on the ground. Let your shoulders soften. When the nervous system shifts out of threat mode, signals become clearer. When regulated, bodily information tends to be steady rather than urgent. It may show subtle contraction around someone who requires you to impress. It may reveal ease with someone who allows you to be quiet, imperfect, unguarded. It may signal depletion in a job that looks impressive but demands constant self-monitoring.
Growth can involve activation. First dates can be nerve-wracking. Presentations can raise your heart rate. The difference is in the after-effect. Growth leaves you grounded. Chronic misalignment leaves you braced.
Try this now.
Think of a current decision. Imagine moving toward it. Notice your breathing. Your posture. The space in your chest. Then imagine stepping away. Observe the shift without analysing it immediately. The ego seeks certainty, approval, and protection from shame. The body signals safety, strain, congruence, and depletion. When the nervous system is calm enough, the body often tells you what the mind has been debating for weeks.
Embodiment is not mystical. It is disciplined noticing. It is sensing before narrating. It is allowing physiology to inform cognition, not be overridden by it.
Three Key Points
Interoceptive awareness, sensing internal bodily states, supports emotional regulation and clearer decision-making.
Anxiety, perfectionism, and attachment insecurity amplify physiological activation, which the mind may misinterpret as insight.
The body becomes a reliable compass when the nervous system is regulated; regulation precedes clarity.
References
Carleton, R. N. (2016). Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all? Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 41, 5–21.
Critchley, H. D., & Garfinkel, S. N. (2017). Interoception and emotion. Current Opinion in Psychology, 17, 7–14.
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. (2007). Attachment in Adulthood.
Seth, A. K., & Friston, K. J. (2016). Active interoceptive inference and the emotional brain. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 371(1708).*





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