When I was little, I heard stories about heroic things mothers did to protect their children — like lifting a 1.5-ton truck to free a kid stuck underneath. I was fascinated by what people call “hysterical strength”: an adrenaline-fueled surge that lets the body access extraordinary power. What could be cooler than discovering your inner Hulk?

Nothing like that ever happened to me. No supernatural strength, no miracle. At some point, I decided my body just wasn’t capable of that kind of wisdom or power.

And then I went to therapy, where one of the main questions was: How does it feel in your body?

It took time to quiet the mind to hear the answer. Once I learned to listen, I started noticing a lot. Maybe not enough to lift a truck, but enough to realise that I had been accepting offers while ignoring the pulse in my stomach. That I was entering spaces that looked friendly while my shoulders were already rising. That I was smiling not because I felt open, but because my body was defending me — like an animal showing its teeth.

It revealed a whole new dimension: my body knew things before I did. And this isn’t magic. It is biology.

Disclaimer: This material was first published in the special print issue of The Sandy Times Newspaper, created for House of Porsche. This digital version has been adapted for online publication.

We often speak about intuition as if it floats somewhere above the body, mysterious and abstract. But more and more research suggests the opposite: intuition is deeply physical. It is shaped by systems distributed throughout the body.

The gut, for example, is often called the ‘second brain.’ It contains a vast network of neurons that communicates with the brain through the vagus nerve. This connection plays a major role in stress and emotional regulation. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which influence mood, are also produced in the gut. No wonder fear, excitement, unease, and anticipation often show up there first.

The body is also a master of pattern recognition. Long before the conscious mind catches up, the nervous system is comparing the present moment to past experience. Something in a tone of voice, a facial expression, a room, a rhythm — and suddenly your body reacts. Your stomach tightens. Your breath shortens. Your chest closes. You may not have a logical explanation yet, but your system has already registered a pattern.

Emotional memory works this way too. The brain stores past experiences not just as stories, but as sensations and emotional imprints. When something familiar appears, the body can respond before the mind finds the words. What we call a gut feeling is often the body recognising something the intellect hasn’t named yet.

And it isn’t only the brain and gut involved. Signals from the heart, the immune system, the peripheral nervous system, even the microbiome all contribute to the subtle internal information we continuously receive.

You slow down enough to notice what happens before the mind edits it.

The body speaks in sensations, not speeches. Tightness. Warmth. Nausea. Softness. Learning to hear yourself means learning that language.

Not every strong sensation is intuition. Sometimes anxiety imitates urgency and calls itself truth. Anxiety is usually loud, repetitive, and catastrophic. It spirals. It pushes you into a reaction. Body knowing is often quieter, simpler, clearer. It doesn’t always scream. Sometimes it just points.

And this isn’t only about negative reactions. The body doesn’t only warn — it also recognises joy, safety, pleasure, calm, excitement, and genuine connection. Once you become more sensitive to yourself, all of that starts to unfold too.

The wise choice is to feel everything. Pain comes and goes. But harmony stays. And life becomes fuller when you stop overriding your own signals.

So if something feels uncomfortable, it is your right to do something about it. I am not a fan of forcing yourself to ‘leave the comfort zone’ just for the sake of it. I am a fan of finding your true comfort zone — the one rooted in self-trust, safety, and presence.

And your body, if you learn to listen, will help you find the way.