The Somatics of Intuition

Intuition is our inborn capacity for rapid and embodied response, permitting automatic and rapid reactions within an uncertain and unpredictable world. Intuition is the body’s flower of compassion and creativity, offering a set of embodied capacities that lies at the heart of our uniqueness, spontaneity, and capacity for connection. How intuition manifests differs from person to person, depending upon genetics, personality, upbringing, and culture. Although each one of us continually uses intuitive faculties to navigate our physical, social, and spiritual worlds, the topic is all too rarely discussed. This course examines intuition from multiple angles—its evolutionary origins, neurobiological roots, expression in the body, individual differences, utility and shadow sides. We cover intuition’s uses and abuses, its ordinary and extraordinary edges, as well as ideal circumstances for its enhancement.

Students of this course will learn:

• Understand common biases against recognizing the centrality of intuition within teaching and clinical practices and how the lens of interpersonal neurobiology helps to resolve them.
• Contrast two main systems of information learning and memory within the human mind/brain/body: unconscious intuition versus conscious deliberation.
• Identify seven emotion/motivational circuits common to all mammals in order to highlight the SEEKING, PLAY, and CARE circuits critical to the operation of intuition.
• Examine the importance of spontaneity and a playful attitude for empathic and attuned responses, whether in the role of teacher or clinician.
• Learn to identify embodied metaphors at the heart of healing interventions.
• Describe the various subtypes of intuition helping to identify the unique blend that characterizes each participant’s own style.
• Analyze when intuition is appropriate and useful and when it is not, including warning signs that commonly lead practitioners astray.