Everyone has one but most of the time it’s hidden behind high waist pants and often ignored or talked down to. No one wants to address our gut even though so much goes on in those little powerhouses!
Guts were once thought of as a simple organ however, as medical research has evolved, gut health has been notably one of the most complex and vital focuses when catering to overall health. Gut health is directly associated with so many other properties of our bodies such as our immune systems, mood, mental health, endocrine disorders, skin conditions, and more. Nutritionists always ask the dreaded question: “what is your poop like,” and that all comes down to gut so it’s easy to think of our guts as gross and ignore them.
Today, we aren’t going to be discussing the functions of a healthy gut as an organ. No ancient Chinese herbal tea secrets to a shining gut with flawless poops that creates glowing skin and complete health and wealth with a fountain of youth on the side. No. Ever heard the saying “trust your gut”? Lets dig into that mindset.
Why is it so difficult to listen to our guts? We all know the feeling-whether its butterflies, a “sick to my stomach,” this-or-that feeling. We have been there. We put up fights with ourselves and are constantly second guessing our motives no matter how simple they may be. So what good is intuition when your head, heart, and GUT are all arguing?
However, we may feel from past experiences that our intuition has wronged us when in reality, maybe the outcome wasn’t your ideal picture-perfect situation but in that moment, to you, it was right. To you, it held value. That is where the conflict comes from, intuition being overcome by our own generating of reason and the blurred lines of expectations vs. reality.
Often, people seek friends, family, mentors, other trustworthy third parties for help and insight when there is a sticky situation that arises. It is important to hear someone outside of our own heads. However, self-reliance will be created based off of our intuition and the influence of others and past situations whether or not we are aware of that.
As humans, we are born recognizing patterns and draw conclusions based on past experiences generated from those patterns. For instance, when someone approaches you and pulls the ye old “we need to talk,” more often than not, it won’t be news you are dying to hear. Another example is walking by mall kiosks-what do we do? Just move forward and don’t make eye contact because its a trap and someone will sell you something. That’s like intuition, we identify and store patterns and when situations occur and our brain gives us the corresponding past experiences so you can react (either fight or flight).
Life is but an endless search for truth, but sometimes we come across the “illusion of validity: a subjective sense, often misleading and dangerous, of truth,” (Kahneman, Conditions for Intuitive Expertise).
It’s important for us to recognize our intuition and gut feelings to create a separation because ultimately we know what we want. Fear overpowers when assumptions of the unknown are made..
Self-awareness is vital to our own experiences (as the individual self) we are existing in and are creating. We must understand our own wants and needs in order to comprehend that of those around us. Therefore, when making decisions (especially ones where our guts are screaming at us) it is important to truly understand the potential outcomes of the various directions or have a willing flexibility to flow with whatever may happen..
Ultimately, you are the expert in your own existence and curator of your own experiences. Insight from others or google searches may help bring you clarity and an understanding of not being alone. However, no one has worn your shoes, no one knows your willingness to sacrifice to overcome challenges or create accomplishments. You hold the wheel to your own destiny and your gut is your intuition-trust yourself, believe in yourself and clarity will follow.
