The Missing Link in corporate wellness
Posted on August 03, 2019 by Dorit Noble, One of Thousands of Team Coaches on Noomii.
What's the connection between your intuition, being mindful, sustainability and decision making? read this article to find out more
In 1995 a book was published which changed business culture forever.
Daniel Goleman’s ‘Emotional Intelligence’ argued that our emotions play a much greater role in thought, decision making and success than was ever previously acknowledged.
Emotional Intelligence skills include self-motivation, empathy, interpersonal relationships, impulse control and other characteristics not measured by IQ tests.
Goleman drew together scientific findings on how emotions are regulated by the brain- giving the corporate world a new language and new way of thinking about the ingredients of success.
For the past 10 years there’s been an elusive layer of conversations in the corporate world around the importance of wellness, meditation, intuition, gut brain and snap judgements. Drawing from scientific findings and neuroscience, these conversations have been popularised by writers like Malcolm Gladwell and Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk on power poses.
The benefits of mindfulness in the workplace are widespread and are becoming increasingly accepted into corporate life.
Harvard Business School now incorporates mindfulness principles into its leadership programmes and large companies are encouraging their staff to practice these techniques to reduce stress and anxiety and increase emotional intelligence in the workplace. However, there is still a missing piece in these seemingly separate strands of information.
It’s been hinted at but not yet fully grasped within the context of coaching and business.
That missing piece is Body IQ.
“The human body is a Universe in miniature. That which cannot be found in the body is not to be found in the Universe…It follows therefore, that if our knowledge of our own body could be perfect, we would know the Universe “ Mahatma Gandhi
Have you ever seen someone stay at a job they hate, clinging on, to suddenly be made redundant? It’s not what we consciously hold onto or say that determines most of our life — it’s the unconscious broadcast that people pick up from us.
Neuroscientist Jo Dispenza says that ‘the body is the unconscious’. The unconscious broadcast is the backdrop to all our conversations and it’s why increasing your Body IQ is so important.
The body is the bridge between your unconscious and conscious self. Body IQ is the ability to listen to, understand and consciously unscramble pre-verbal information via signals. Award-winning neuroscientist Antonio Damasio calls these “somatic signals”.
Synaesthesia is a fascinating condition best described as a “union of the senses” in which senses that are normally experienced separately are involuntarily and automatically joined together. Colour may be experienced when sound is heard, or certain words may trigger a taste.
This is where body intelligence lives — the mingling of the senses. All information channels are open throughout the body and constantly receiving and transmitting information in sync.
A prime example of the unconscious broadcast is the movements people make with their hands while they talk. These are important non verbal signals, unconscious information transfering from body to body.
So why is body intelligence still so elusive?
One key factor is that it requires what creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic Jon Kabat-Zinn refers to as “awake stillness”. The Western world is addicted to stress. Our conscious mind is chattering loudly while the unconscious broadcast is merely a whisper, drowned out by the stimulation of our daily lives (unless you don’t own a mobile phone, computer or television and spend most of your year in silent retreats — in which case this will probably not apply to you).
Neuroscientists are still exploring how the “brain behind locked doors”, i.e. the unconscious, might be more consciously accessible to us in our life. Increasing body intelligence is key.
How can I increase my Body IQ?
Growing your ‘awake stillness’ moments is the first step towards increasing your body IQ. Train your mind to stop, even for 2 minutes a day. This will change the chemistry running in your body and begin to rewire your brain. It will nurture your nervous system and help you see the bigger picture when you make decisions.
By expanding our body IQ and tapping into our unconscious broadcast we can train ourselves to reduce and handle stress, communicate more effectively and make better decisions.
Body IQ is the missing link between mindfulness, wellness and corporate life. It’s the key to unlocking better performance in business and life.
About the Author
Dorit helps companies reduce employee absence, stress and staff turnover, increase performance and positivity in teams and engage employees.
She has helped major companies and organisations improve workplace wellbeing, including Innocent, Deloitte, Telefonica, O2, Wagamama, Mencap and London South Bank University.
Her work has featured in magazines and press including BBC Radio London, Spirit and Destiny, The Guardian’s Well Being column and Psychologies.
Dorit is an award-winning somatic educator and wellbeing trainer and executive coach (PCC CPCC ORSC) and a front of room leader for the Nia training faculty.
Since 2005 Dorit has been studying teaching and training body intelligence and has inspired an international community of women in leadership who practice movement for the sake of personal development and wellbeing. She is a regular presenter for the CTI coaching community in the UK and runs workshops and trainings in the UK and abroad. Dorit is both a certified individual coach (CPCC PCC) as well as a certified team coach (ORSCC)
Prior to coaching Dorit worked as a professional opera singer in her local opera house in South Africa.
Find out more about body intelligence at: www.bodyiqcoaching.com
