Tony Stark’s Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth (FRIDAY) – is a natural language interface that gives Tony constant updates on his situation. FRIDAY informs Tony of Ironman suit breaches and any injuries he sustains. She analyzes patterns for engagement and helps defend Tony against sudden attacks. Based on her continuous analysis, she warns him of pending peril. Ah, it’s good to be a superhero. And I’m here to tell you, you have this same superpower in your body.
The good news is you don’t need an Ironman suit to utilize this power. The bad news, you need to be able to identify and understand when your body is talking to you. Your body may not use a natural language interface, but if you pay attention, you can learn to interpret the messages.
Any part of your body can talk to you using feeling and sensations to communicate. Some sensations we easily identify, like the pleasure of a hug or the pain of a cut. There are other more subtle feelings like buzzing, pulsing, heat, and cold. Or, the more obvious sensations like a stomachache or joint pain. Each one of these sensations has a message for you if you can hear it and understand it.
You might be surprised to hear that one of the main avenues for your body to communicate is your gut. Most of us have experienced gut feelings. An article by Harvard Medical School claims there is a second brain in your gut. They say, “although it can’t compose poetry or solve equations, this extensive network uses the same chemicals and cells as the brain to help us digest and to alert the brain when something is amiss. The gut and brain are in constant communication. Kind of like Ironman’s girl FRIDAY.
Judith Orloff, author of Second Sight says, “Your body is a powerful, intuitive communicator.” She explains in her book, “Intuition allows you to get the first warnings signs when anything is off in your body so you can address it.”
If you have a gut feeling about your body — that something is toxic, weak, or ‘off’ — listen to it. She’s seen too many people ignore their sense that something isn’t right with their bodies, and subsequently find that small problems have become big ones.
I know a young man who has no feeling in his feet. You may not think it’s a big deal, but without his sensors providing feedback, he regularly kicks and runs into things injuring and cutting his feet and doesn’t feel it. The pain signals that most of us benefit from to learn what to do and not to do are absent for him and has caused many serious health issues. These sensations are a gift, the gift of knowledge that we can work with. Like the information that FRIDAY provides to Tony at just the right time. We too can tap into our internal knowledge, sensations, and perceptions to help guide us and keep us safe.
You may have ignored your body for a long time or listened to others more than you listen to yourself. Elise Museles, certified eating psychology and nutrition expert says, “if you are willing to listen, your body will tell you everything you need to know.” Now is a good time to stop the external noise and listen, really listen to what our bodies are saying.