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Somatic Intelligence
Awareness
Emotional cues
Do cognitive decisions exist without the involvement of emotions ?
Emotions are often seen as a sign of not being in control, or that the person showing emotions are less likely to act on behalf of their intellect and "common sense".
Emotions are given a negative reputation when it comes to how we communicate and respond. That hold especially true in the corporate world.
But emotions can actually help us use prior experiences to our advantage when we face decisions.
The challenge is to learn to trust and pay attention to our physiological responses instead of ignoring them.
The Somatic Makers Hypothesis (SMH) proposed by (Damasio et al., 1991) argues that "somatic markers is a bodily sensation that is associated with a scenario imagined by an agent".
“Somatic markers are a special instance of feelings generated from secondary emotions. Those emotions and feelings have been connected, by learning, to predicted future outcomes of certain scenarios”
"The SMH addresses this question, by proposing that pure cognitive processes unassisted by emotional signals do not guarantee normal behavior in the face of adequate knowledge. Cognitive processing assisted by emotion-related marker signals, conscious or not, contributes to the proper action being taken."
Ex.
I feel in my stomach that im hungry. I know by history that i need food to maintain my energy and blood sugar. I know that it historically have made me lose my temper, so I go and eat lunch.
The emotions and feelings we express are connected, by learning to predict future outcomes of certain scenarios. Somatic Markers assist us in the decision making process on a conscious and unconscious level.
But somatic markers can also assist us in choosing the right responses in a interactions with other people, or when many different outcomes are possible. What does my body tell me is right based off on my experience in similar scenarios? Which of the possible outcomes is the best ?
We create physiological and emotional patterns, to help assist us when we face decisions.
The thing is that we simply cannot disconnect the body and the mind even if we believe that we do so.
Paying attention to our body, and use it as part of the information gathering and decision making process, is a far better way of acting. It will often resonate more with our values, and bring us closer to what we believe is right for us.
That is part of the reasoning behind using our emotional, and somatic observations to make better quality decisions, when we want to align our actions with our values, purposes, and emotional being.
Damasio A. R. (1996). The somatic marker hypothesis and the possible functions of the prefrontal cortex. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 351, 1413–1420. 10.1098/rstb.1996.0125
Damasio A. R., Tranel D., Damasio H. C. (1991). Somatic markers and the guidance of behavior: theory and preliminary testing, in Frontal Lobe Function and Dysfunction, eds. Levin H. S., Eisenberg H. M., Benton A. L. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press; ), 217–229.
When I work with companies, organisations, teams, or private clients it is always the individual that is the focus. If we insert dysfunctional parts into a greater system the whole system will fail. It starts with the individual.
The choices we make in life are in large part based on the quality and clarity of the informations we have available, and in a busy life we often put our attention to the most urgent and present areas first.
If we don't pay enough attention to the signals our body is trying to communicate to us, over time we will eventually end up disconnected.
Restoring the connection and learn how to interpret the signals, so we can reconnect and preserve ourselves, is what it´s about.
My method will help discover and reconnect physical, mental, and emotionel components. Applying it in a neurological framework, that will ensure the required resources are integrated to support the process.
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