Two Voices, One Body

Anxiety projects outward. Gut doesn’t.

As anxiety says “what if they’re lying”, the gut is saying “I don’t have enough information to trust what they’re telling me, yet.”

Anxiety vs. gut can be difficult to discern because they both can show up in the same place in your body, and they're pointing at the same thing.

The key is to understand they deliver different messages, because they have different jobs.

Your gut’s entire job is to remind you of where your edges and limits are. To bring you home to yourself when the weather gets prickly. To remind you to take cover in a storm.

So your gut is only going to talk about you. It's not going to talk about what's happening outside of you.

Anxiety’s entire job is the alternative. It's the weatherman, spending its time looking outward and to the future. Constantly evaluating everything outside of your control and outside of your sphere of knowing. Anxiety can be wrong about what's coming, and what others are thinking.

But it's letting you know the risks outside of you, while your gut tells you the truth of how to prepare, and handle them.

Your gut and anxiety have different jobs, but they show up at the same time. So when you’re unsure of whether it’s your gut or anxiety speaking, the answer is usually both are speaking at the same time. Hence the confusion.

But you can use both, by catching what your anxiety is projecting outward, and realizing that it's signaling you to get in touch with your gut.

Every time it says "what if..."

The gut has the answer to that question.

Your job is to listen to your body. Not to obey it, but to partner with your body. Both of these signals matter.

So when anxiety shows up, your job is to get curious about what your gut says about you, and what you need to address.

Then, hearing your gut can become a simple process of acknowledging what's true, about you, right now.

“They might be dangerous” becomes “I don’t feel safe.”

“They might be lying” becomes “I don’t trust them yet.”

“What if I get fired?” becomes “I don’t feel prepared to lose this job.”

“What if they leave?” becomes “I'm not prepared to let them go.”

Anxiety pipes up when you lose touch with your gut. That's why I think maybe it's trying to help you find your way back to it, in its own way. Regardless, trauma disconnected your relationship with your gut and anxiety's working overtime to mend the gap. But it can't do that.

Not really. And it's tired (just like you).

Anxiety is always focused on what's outside of you, outside of this moment, and outside of your control. We can't do anything with the things we can't control except spin in circles about them. But we can do a lot with what's in our power. And that's what our gut highlights for us. What's inside of us, what's true for us, in this moment. That's what the gut it points us to.

So we need our gut and we need to heal our relationship with it.

A world exists where you can observe what's happening outside of you without losing touch with what's going on inside of you. A version of you exists that can take the world in while remaining whole.

And you're not helpless, here. You can learn to discern the difference.

For a lot of people that starts with a simple translation.

The Practice:

Next time your anxiety pipes up, notice it.

What story is it telling? What question is it asking?

It's going to say "what if...?"

What if what?

Then, get curious for the voice that answers the question. It tells you what's true, about you, right now.

That tells you what you need to work on, or do, to come home to yourself in this moment.

You'll know you found it because it will be about you. About the present moment.

And most of all, it will be true, and you'll feel that.

That’s your gut.

Rooting for You,

Tori

P.S. Maybe deep down you know you could be the person who feels more embodied. Who feels at ease, because you're confident in trusting and partnering with the signals in your body. Who knows what works for you, and what doesn't. Who's confident in your ability to make the right choices for you, even if you still get anxious sometimes.

Maybe you know you could be this person, and you want to be. But maybe you also know you'd like support becoming this version of yourself.

This is the foundation of my work. Whether clients initially come to me for work with insecure attachment, trauma triggers, or something else, this is the work that touches it all. I help them communicate with, partner with, and build trust with, their bodies. Everything else comes together as a byproduct of this work.

If you want support with this, I have a spot available. Click here to see what it could be like for us to work together.