can help you make the best decisions possible, regardless of external conditions and circumstances.
As I healed emotionally and physically from my traumatic experience, I became fascinated with the realization that my gut had known that something was off about sitting in that car with my friend!
Afterward, I promised myself that I would never second-guess my gut knowing again, even if the reasons for that knowing were not readily apparent on any other level.
That experience opened my eyes, and I realized that I had failed to listen to my own alarm system. My learned habits, automatic responses, and limiting beliefs had kept me from listening to and acting on my body’s wisdom.
This life-threatening trauma jolted me awake and brought me to my process of self-healing. The journey home to the wisdom of my body is my life’s work, and it is this process I share with you in this book. Not only did it enable me to heal fully, but it also has guided me in ways that helped me avoid other potentially traumatizing situations.
I hope that as more people awaken to the wisdom that lies within, fewer will experience the kind of trauma I did.
The Most Important Relationship in Your Life
Your relationships with other people throughout your lifetime — with your parents, spouses, children, friends, and teachers — will shift as time passes and situations change. As long as you are alive, however, your body is always with you.
It is so beneficial to have a strong, deep, intimate relationship with your own unique physical self.
Your body is designed to guide you, keep you safe, and bring you full vitality and pleasure. It is the vehicle through which you create and manifest your thoughts and dreams into reality.
In this book, you will discover how establishing and nurturing a healthy relationship with your body will allow you to reclaim lost parts of yourself, tap into your body’s wisdom, and better navigate your life.
Let’s begin by exploring your current relationship with your body, first by discovering what I call your “Body IQ,” or “BQ” for short. This simple baseline assessment reveals how comfortable you are in your own skin. While my main goal is to help you develop a better relationship with your body, awareness of where you stand now is the first step.
Please engage your curiosity and suspend your judgment as you answer the nine questions in the “BQ: Body Intelligence Quiz.”
BQ: Body Intelligence Quiz
Is your current relationship with your body friendly, or does it feel uneasy or unsettled? Take this nine-question quiz to find out. Don’t overthink your answers. Just circle the number that best expresses your quick “first hit” response.
1. When you think about your body…
Is your first impulse to feel appreciation for it?
Or do you judge yourself and mostly notice things you want to change?
2. When you engage in a typical daily activity…
Are you more likely to trust that you know what you are doing?
Or do you feel fearful about the outcome?
3. When a stressful situation arises…
Do you calmly and clearly problem-solve the issue, the way you might talk it over with a friend?
Or are you more likely to get confused and anxious?
4. When your body’s natural needs and urges arise for sleep, food, fluids, sex, and elimination…
Do you feel at peace with those needs?
Or are you at odds or in conflict with your body?
5. When you are stepping into something new in your life…
Do you feel supported by your body?
Or do you feel it betrays you by putting the brakes on?
6. When your body has physical issues and/or you become ill…
Do you have clarity and understanding about the nature of those issues?
Or do you feel confused and unsure about their origins?
7. When you slow down and turn your attention inward…
Do you feel deeply connected to your body and its needs?
Or do you feel detached, as though you are watching someone else?
8. When someone tells you something about yourself… Do you trust your own inner reflections and what you know to be true? Or do you automatically accept what they have said because you do not know what is true for yourself ?
9. When you are in action, thinking and doing in your world…
Are you in easy partnership with your body?
Or do you see your body as something you have to control — masterfully riding it until it does what you want?
Add up your circled numbers for all nine questions. If your score is low (under 18), you probably feel pretty comfortable in your own skin under most circumstances.
