Making

Most of us incorrectly believe that our intuition and emotions begin in our brain which then tells our body how to act or react. However, recent research suggests the opposite. The connection between our bodies and our minds are far more interesting and complicated than once thought. Another fascinating study was conducted on stock traders at investment banks. Traders need to make split second decisions to buy or sell based on various analytical charts that never tell the entire story. They have to make quick decisions based on a “gut feeling.” The first thing researchers did was measure each trader’s interoceptive sensitivity — their awareness of the inner state of their body. They then monitored their performance and found that the highly interoceptive individuals significantly outperformed the individuals with lower bodily awareness. It is interesting to consider that our gut — or the un-conscious knowledge recorded in our bodies is often more rational and reliable than our mind.

Evidently, we can increase our sensitivity to our body’s knowledge through meditation, mindfulness and breathing exercises. One of the more interesting techniques to increase sensitivity is keeping an interoceptive journal. The first step involves sensing, labeling and regulating our internal signals and the second step is to identify connections between a particular sensation and the pattern of events we encountered. As an artist I have been keeping an interoceptive (visual) journal for more than 25 years. I paint 3 small abstract paintings each day. After I complete the work, I tape it to the wall and ponder its result for weeks before I file them away to make room for the next round. Not only do I recall the procedures, techniques and strokes but consider the color, form and composition. I then consider how those works make me feel. I am training my intuition, my gut. I am recording complex unconscious knowledge deep within my body. However, when I paint, I never overthink what I am doing and give way to my feelings and intuition. I allow them to lead me to a conclusion.