Including Body Wisdom When Making Decisions

A few years ago I worked with a wonderful business coach, Katherine Golub. She taught me a useful tool for bringing the body into decision making. Versus, making choices from logic, strategy, or reasoning alone. I am a firm believer in whole person decision making. Meaning, I bring strategy, body wisdom, meditation, and my inner parts into the process. I allow enough space and time to make integrated choices.

Tetrolema is the name of the body-based practice taught to me years ago by Katherine. It is a simple way to start bringing in the information from the body when making decisions. It’s also a great way to slow down the decision making process and to take more opportunity for pause.

Here’s how to practice Tetrolema

1. Consider a decision that you feel inner conflict around.
2. Gather 2-4 pieces of paper and a pen or marker.
3. Write down one possible choice on a piece of paper, the second possible choice on another piece of paper, and so on. I usually won’t add more than 4 options but you can do more if you need to.
4. Place the pieces of paper in separate areas of the room. If you have four choices, I like to place one piece of paper in a square or cross shape 4-5 feet away from each other.
5. Stand in the middle of all the pieces of paper with the choices written on them. Close your eyes or gaze downward. Take a few deep breaths and feel your feet connected to the ground.
6. Walk toward one piece of paper and stand on top of it. Close your eyes again (or a soft downward gaze) and notice how your body feels while standing there. Is it heavy? Off balance? Light and expansive in the heart space? Notice any images that come into your consciousness as well. Make note, of how your body responds and any images you saw, in a journal or on a blank piece of paper.
7. After you feel complete with that potential choice, walk to the center of the room and reset with a few breaths.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the remaining choices.
9. When done, you can journal some more to reflect on which choice/s felt most aligned in your body. You can also spend more time journaling as you reflect.

Are you an audio or visual learner?

Watch my instagram video here where I take you through the steps of this process. I hope this serves you well in making embodied decisions. Let me know how it goes, you can leave a comment here on this blog, instagram or facebook. Wishing only the best for you friends.