The Body Knows First

Many of us have lived in automated states for a long time, which means when we experience life, we often don't know how we are feeling consciously. We are focused on the story, not the felt sense. The story lives in the mind. The body shows the actual reaction.

Naming our feelings helps move us out of the story. At first, this is typically practiced after the experience, but as we move into a space where we want to practice it in real time — especially during big emotions — we may get stuck in the story, feeling like we don't have emotions at all.

Here's some good news: the body knows first.

The body often knows how we feel before the mind does. It shows up as tightness, posture, pressure, heaviness, or changes in breath or body temperature. When we don’t have words for our emotions or don’t understand what we’re feeling, we can look to our bodies.

The Body Feels First

Emotions register in our bodies before the mind can process them. This is captured in the world-renowned book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, where he explains how trauma develops and often stays stored in the body.

The amygdala (our brain's alarm system) and nervous system respond within a fraction of a second. That is long before the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for reasoning, has caught up.

What we feel in our bodies is commonly overridden by our thoughts. Thoughts try to explain; the body simply signals what is.

By pausing and noticing how our body feels, we see what we’re actually experiencing — and we open space for new possibilities.

If we have many stories about the past or future, regularly checking in with our bodies helps us develop awareness of our internal state. That is where we find more truth, peace, and freedom.

Emotions Aren’t Just in the Mind

Emotions aren’t just in our heads. They move through the nervous system like weather — sometimes subtle, sometimes intense. Every emotion changes the body, and we have the opportunity to feel it.

If we do not feel safe, emotions do not surface. If emotions don’t surface, we can’t release them.

When we ignore or suppress emotions, they become stored tension. The body holds what the mind avoids in muscles, digestion, and sometimes chronic pain.

Crying, shaking, and trembling are natural ways the nervous system releases stored emotional energy. This isn’t weakness. It’s biology.

So building awareness of bodily sensations helps us notice emotions earlier.

Scanning the Body

A brief body scan helps you notice sensations before your mind tries to label them.

Close your eyes and slowly move your attention from your head down to your toes.

Notice:

• Where are you tight?

• How does your stomach feel?

• Are you clenching your jaw?

• Can you feel your feet on the ground?

If you feel “nothing,” that is still a feeling. Numbness counts.

Then:

• Stay with it. Breathe into the sensation instead of trying to fix it.

• Ask gently: What is this feeling protecting me from? What am I not letting myself feel?

• Allow what comes. Sometimes it’s a memory, word, or emotion.

• Name it kindly: My chest feels tight. My stomach feels heavy. Naming creates space to move through it.

Consistency

With practice, we begin to recognize our signals sooner. Sometimes even before the mind creates a story around them.

Each time we check in and stay long enough to feel what’s present, we build trust with our bodies.

The key is consistency, not perfection. Start in slow moments. Eventually, your body will speak even in tense ones. The goal isn’t to control emotions but to notice them sooner.