Did you receive a strange email from me this week? Some of my friends and clients received slightly odd messages and scheduling proposals, which led to a lot of confusion this week! I realized that my email provider included an AI response to your messages. For a minute there, I thought I was losing my mind! The entire thing has been disabled now.
Musings
AI is something that really gets me thinking. Can we really talk about intelligence when there is no body? Did you know some people talk to Chat GPT like it was a therapist? but how can a language-based machine understand a body-based reality? Questions abound...
There is, by the way, something called somatic intelligence. Some of us have a highly developed form of it; a deep and constant awareness of what is going on inside of our bodies and brains. Some of us have a less refined version: just the bare minimum to know how to orient in space and function. Wherever you are on that spectrum (and whatever brought you here), it's always a good place to start.
Want to know where you are on the Somatic Intelligence spectrum?
🎁 NeuroSomatic Practice of the Week
Test your NeuroSomatic Intelligence
When you go through your day, how clearly do you notice what is happening inside your body?
(like tension, heartbeat, breathing, or energy level)
Somatic intelligence is your body’s capacity to sense, predict, and regulate itself through interoception (inner sensations like heartbeat, breath, gut feelings), proprioception (sense of position and movement), and affective signals (emotions, urges, “vibes”, or intuitions). Neuroscience now describes the brain not as a passive receiver of information, but as a prediction engine constantly adjusting the body to stay safe and efficient. This “predictive processing” view shows that what you feel in your body is not random: it reflects how your brain believes it must protect you and manage your energy budget. Over time, chronic stress, pain, and trauma can bias those predictions toward over-protection (hypervigilance, pain amplification, shutdown), and you enter into a vicious circle...This is why gentle movement, attention, and refined sensory experiences can update those predictions, otherwise known as healing.
AI can detect and predict patterns in data, but it does not have a body, a nervous system, or lived experience. It does not tremble when a relationship feels unsafe, or relax when a hand is placed kindly on a tense shoulder. It doesn't regulate, and operates on an "infinite" budget. Most AI models today are based on language; but the human experience is infinitely richer than that.
In contrast, somatic intelligence is grounded in the continuous loop between the brain, the body, other humans and the environment. NeuroSomatic practices - especially when undertaken in a space of connection - have been shown to improve interoceptive accuracy and emotional regulation, and to reduce symptoms of anxiety and chronic pain, by re-training those brain–body predictions and enhancing nervous system regulation.
So when you experiment with small, kind movements or take listening pauses during your day, you are engaging the most advanced, the most intelligent system on earth: an organic, living, adaptive and infinitely refined intelligence that has been learning since before you were born. AI can offer information; your somatic intelligence offers transformation.
Take the next step...
See what’s possible when you explore your body and brain with curiosity. Eliminate chronic pain, reduce anxiety and learn to live with ease. Book a free call today.
PS: I will be in the office until 22nd december, then on a break until January 5th. Vitality program members still get SMS and phone support during the holiday period.
