I wrote in Light Up: The Science of Coaching with Metaphors about a study of traders on the London Stock Exchange, by Narayanan Kandasamy and colleagues (2016). They examined the differences between successful and less successful traders on the London Stock Exchange. The question the researchers were exploring was about interoception. “Interoception is the sensing of physiological signals originating inside the body, such as hunger, pain, and heart rate.

In a nutshell, what they discovered was that traders who were better able to feel their heartbeat tended to be more successful. Evidence suggests that interoceptive sensitivity contributes “to profitable risk taking in the financial markets” (Kandasamy et al. 2016). The better the traders were at reading the messages from their bodies, the more successful they were. Interoception was not just about managing their heart rate; it was also providing them with valuable information. And when they used that information, they tended to have better results.

Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and psychologist Gary Klein explored when we can reliably trust our gut instincts in their seminal 2010 article Strategic Decisions: When Can You Trust Your Gut? They emphasized that intuition works best when:

• The environment is predictable enough for patterns to be recognized.
• The individual has had prolonged, high-quality feedback and experience in that environment.

Similarly, Wellars Gasamagera’s work Why a Leader Should Trust His Gut argues that gut instincts are unavoidable in decision-making, particularly for leaders navigating complex, fast-changing environments. He highlights how emotions, memories, and subconscious tagging heavily influence judgment, for better or worse, and that effective leaders learn when to trust and when to second-check their instincts.

Recent scientific studies affirm that intuition is real and powerful, but it becomes most reliable when paired with somatic self-awareness and critical reflection.

The key? Bridging intuition with grounded body listening.

Here is an outline of what I do for myself when I am waffling and not at a hard Yes or No: Somatic Practice for Finding Your Inner Yes

This simple practice is something I have been doing for most of my life. I will say, I have gotten much better at listening and trusting myself. It’s all about tuning into your body’s internal compass, learning how it says yes, how it says no, and how it tells you when a story is safe to shift.

You don’t need any fancy setup. Just you, your breath, and a few quiet minutes.

Step One: Settle In

Find a comfortable seat or stand tall with both feet planted. Let your spine lengthen, not stiff, just upright enough that you feel awake. Let your shoulders drop. Take a slow, full breath in… and out.

Notice any physical sensations: tingling, tension, warmth, coolness. No judgment. Just listening.

Step Two: Feel Into a True “Yes”

Think of a memory or moment that brought you deep joy or ease. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. It could be the feel of sun on your skin, laughter with a friend, that first sip of coffee.

Let your body remember that moment. Notice what happens.

Where does your body say yes?

You might feel an opening in your chest, warmth in your belly, a softening in your jaw. These are your somatic cues. Your nervous system saying, “This feels good. This feels safe.”

Step Three: Feel Into a “No”

Now, gently bring to mind a situation or thought that makes you feel unsettled. Something small, don’t go for the deep trauma here. Maybe a minor frustration like someone’s car alarm going off, or something someone said that didn’t sit right.

What do you notice in your body?

Tightness? A pulling away? Shallow breath? These sensations are just data—your nervous system signaling discomfort, a boundary, a “not this.”

Step Four: Come Back to Center

Return to your breath. Inhale slowly. Exhale fully. You’re not trying to change anything. Just noticing. Affirm to yourself: “I can feel without fixing. I can witness without judgment.”

This is the beginning of body-based StoryJacking. Learning to trust your inner signals. Learning to recognize when your body is inviting you into a new story, and when it’s telling you to slow down and wait.

This practice draws from somatic psychology (Levine, 1997), polyvagal theory (Porges, 2011), heart-brain coherence research (McCraty et al., 1995), and emerging intuitive intelligence models (Pearson, 2021; Gunnsteinsdóttir, 2016), plus mindfulness and yoga.

Recognizing these somatic cues gives you access to an inner compass, clearer, faster, and often wiser than pure cognition alone.

When to Trust Your Gut (and When to Check It)

In Why a Leader should trust his gut intuitions by Wellars Gasamagera highlight that gut instincts are most reliable when:

• You have deep experience related to the decision.
• You feel calm, emotionally regulated, and grounded.
• You consciously check for internal biases, strong emotional tags, or old patterns.

According to Kahneman and Klein (2010), intuition is trustworthy when you have learned from repeated real-world feedback in stable environments. Otherwise, gut instincts can be misleading.

Gasamagera further emphasizes that even the best-laid strategic plans may become outdated rapidly, and a leader’s instinctual judgment becomes critical in dynamic realities.

In either case, body awareness and somatic grounding practices protect against impulsive or distorted reactions. They sharpen your ability to distinguish authentic intuition from anxiety, fear, or wishful thinking.

When you integrate body wisdom, emotional intelligence, and pattern-based intuitive cognition, you make decisions that are more aligned, resilient, and deeply authentic.

Drawing from my Radical Curiosity work, here’s a simple but powerful framework for navigating these moments:

The Curiosity Framework:

1. Catch the Story: What the heck just happened?
2. Question with Curiosity & Courage: What is this situation trying to tell me?
3. Choose a New Groove: What’s one small action or belief shift that aligns with the story you want to tell?
4. Live Your Rewrite: How are you practicing and embodying your new story, one choice at a time?

This practice builds the inner flexibility needed to:

• Recognize emotional triggers.
• Clarify underlying needs and values.
• Move toward wiser, more centered decisions, ones that align with your Hard Yes.

Ultimately, when we meet ourselves (and others) with radical curiosity, we strengthen the very intuition and body wisdom that guide our best choices.

As Rumi said:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”

And I would add:

“I’ll meet you there, with radical open-minded curiosity.”

Your gut is not a flaw. Your body is not a distraction. They are ancient, powerful allies, and your truest compass toward finding your Hard Yes.

Trusting them is a skill, and it’s one you can strengthen with practice.

Because in a world full of noise, learning to hear your true Yes might just be the ultimate act of wisdom.

I would love to hear your thoughts…

#Decisions #HardYes #GutInstincts #BodyWisdom

References:

• Fairbank, R. (2025). Can You Trust Your Gut? The Pros (and Cons) of Intuition — According to Science.
• Gasamagera, W. (2015). Why a Leader Should Trust His Gut.
• Gunnsteinsdóttir, H. (2016). InnSæi: The Power of Intuition (Documentary).
• Kahneman, D., & Klein, G. (2010). Strategic Decisions: When Can You Trust Your Gut? American Psychologist.
• Kandasamy, Narayanan & Garfinkel, Sarah & Page, Lionel & Hardy, Ben & Critchley, Hugo & Gurnell, Mark & Coates, John. (2016). Interoceptive Ability Predicts Survival on a London Trading Floor. 10.17863/CAM.6427.
• Levine, P. (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma.
• McCraty, R., Atkinson, M., & Tomasino, D. (1995). Science of the Heart. HeartMath Institute.
• Pearson, J. (2021). The Intuition Toolkit: How to Build Better Decisions with the Unconscious Mind.
• Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation.