When Your Body Knows Before Your Mind - The Hidden Source of Confusion

Most women think confusion is a thinking problem.

But in truth, confusion is often a body problem long before it becomes a mind problem.

Your body is like that quiet colleague who always spots the issue first,

But whispers instead of shouting.

And when you’re busy, responsible, or used to pushing through…you miss the whisper.

Not because you’re disconnected.

But because you’ve been trained to trust your mind more than your own inner signals.

This is where clarity begins to fall apart.

Why Your Body Speaks First (and Your Mind Arrives Late)

Modern neuroscience explains this beautifully.

Dr. Gabor Maté has spent years showing that the body senses truth, discomfort, and misalignment long before the mind can form language around it.

Polyvagal theory reinforces this: your nervous system detects safety or threat in milliseconds.

Before you think.

Before you reason.

Before you plan.

And here’s the part that still surprises people:

🔹 80% of the vagus nerve signals travel from the body to the brain

🔹 Only 20% go the other way.

This means:

Your body informs your mind; not the other way around.

So when you feel confused, uncertain, or “off”…

it’s often because your body has noticed something your mind hasn’t caught up to yet.

This is why thinking harder makes you feel worse.

Your mind is trying to solve something it doesn’t have the full information for.

A Real Story - When the Body Spoke First

A client of mine (composite to protect privacy) once told me:

“Everything in my life looks fine on paper…

so why does something feel wrong?”

Externally, she was thriving.

A good job.

Supportive partner.

Busy but managing.

But every morning, she felt a quiet uneasiness.

A heaviness she couldn’t explain.

A knot in her stomach she kept pushing aside because it “didn’t make sense.”

Her mind had no language for it.

But her body knew.

And when she finally paused and learned how to listen, the truth surfaced: calmly, clearly, without force.

Within weeks, she made a decision she had been circling for months.

Not with panic.

Not with pressure.

But with certainty.

Clarity returned the moment she stopped overriding her physical signals.

This wasn’t mindset.

This was physiology.

The Hidden Reason You Feel Confused

Confusion is not a failure of intelligence.

It’s not a lack of confidence.

And it’s not an inability to decide.

Confusion happens when your body is in protection mode.

Protection mode keeps you safe but it also blocks clarity, direction, and momentum.

You can’t make aligned decisions

when your system is quietly bracing.

You can’t access intuition

when your physiology feels threatened.

You can’t feel clear

when your mind and body are speaking two different languages.

This is why brilliant women, even the most capable ones, say:

• “Why do I feel off?”

• “Why can’t I decide?”

• “Why does this feel harder than it should?”

• “Something isn’t right, but I can’t explain it.”

You’re not confused.

Your system is protecting you.

A Line That Always Brings People Back

Rick Hanson says:

“The body is the foundation of the mind.”

If the foundation is unsettled,

the mind can’t build clarity on top of it.

When the body feels safe,

clarity becomes simple, obvious even.

Not because you think more.

But because you can finally hear yourself.

If This Resonates, We Go Much Deeper in the Masterclass

In my upcoming live masterclass, I’ll be unpacking:

• why your body knows first

• how protection mode blocks clarity

• and how to shift into decision mode without force

3 Reasons You Feel Stuck And How to Move With Clarity Again

Thursday 4 December — 7:00 pm Melbourne (AEDT)

Live on Zoom

If you want clarity that’s honest, grounded, and sustainable, not forced, this session will help you move toward it.

You can register here: https://www.shevive.com.au/clarity-masterclass