Notice Body, Feeling and Thought
Where you are: Module 1 · Lesson 4 of 30 · about 21 minutes (reading 11, practice 10). In Lesson 3 you separated the facts from the story. This lesson looks at what happens inside you in the same moment: in your body, your feelings and your thoughts.
What you'll be able to do
- Describe a strong reaction in three parts: body, possible feeling and exact thought, in plain words.
- Catch a thought that is written as if it were a feeling.
- Use "unknown" honestly, and keep the work fact separate so that you still act on it.
A reaction is not one thing
When something goes wrong, most of us say "I was stressed" or "I got annoyed". One word hides several things happening at once. When you separate them, you can see each one and decide which needs action.
What the authors teach
Beatrice Chestnut and Uranio Paes describe three "centres of intelligence", which are ways of taking in what happens around us:
- the head centre: thinking, analysing and planning (in their map, Types 5, 6 and 7);
- the heart centre: feeling emotions and connecting with others (Types 2, 3 and 4);
- the body centre: experiencing life through the senses (Types 1, 8 and 9).
Everyone uses all three. The authors say we get out of balance when we rely on one more than the other two.
You do not need to know your type for this lesson. The authors also suggest noticing reactions at the level of the body. For readers who identify with Type 1, a pattern focused on getting things right, they suggest noticing tension in the body linked to a wish to correct something. For readers who identify with Type 6, a pattern focused on security, they describe a need to stay vigilant and an inner tension when feeling unsafe, which may stay unconscious unless you work to notice it.
The three-field note
This is this course's own tool. When you notice a strong reaction, write a short private note with three fields. It takes about two minutes.
| Field | What to write | Example | Common trap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | Where you feel it and what it is like | "Jaw tight. Face hot." | A judgement, such as "I overreacted" |
| Possible feeling | One or two words, with "maybe" if unsure | "Maybe worry. Unknown." | A thought written as a feeling: "I feel he doesn't care" |
| Exact thought | The words as they came, in quotation marks | "They'll think I've lost control." | Tidying the thought so it sounds reasonable |
Three rules make the note useful.
- "Unknown" is allowed. If you cannot name the feeling, write "unknown" or give two possibilities. Forcing a label adds another story.
- The thought is real; what it predicts may not be. "I'll be blamed" is a prediction about the future or about someone's mind. Write it exactly. That you had the thought is a fact about your mind. What it predicts may be untrue.
- The note does not replace action. After the note, write the work fact in one line: what actually needs dealing with. If there is a deadline, you still act on it.
Thinking about a feeling is not feeling it. Watch for sentences that start "I feel that". "I feel that this is unfair" is a thought. A feeling is usually one or two words: worry, anger, embarrassment, relief.
Why the body comes first. Your body may react before you have words. A tight jaw or a cold stomach can be the first sign that autopilot has started. This is the course's suggestion, not the authors': if you learn your own early signs, you may gain a few seconds to choose.
If it is more than a work reaction: if a reaction feels so strong that you feel unsafe, or someone else may be in danger now, stop this exercise and use your workplace emergency process or local emergency services. A note never delays urgent help. This course does not diagnose and cannot give urgent help.
Worked example
Ibrahim supervises a bank branch. On Sunday at 10.20 an email arrives from the regional service manager: a customer's replacement debit card has not arrived, and a status and next step are needed by 14.00.
His jaw clenches as he reads. He steps into the back office for two minutes and writes:
- Body: "Jaw tight. Shoulders up."
- Possible feeling: first he writes "I feel regional is being unfair". He looks again, sees it is a thought, and changes it to "Maybe anxiety. Maybe embarrassment. Unsure."
- Exact thought: "Regional will think I've lost control." He marks it as a prediction.
Then one work-fact line: "A customer's replacement card has not arrived. Regional needs the status and next step by 14.00." Nothing in that line is about blame.
He checks the card system before calling anyone in. The card was put on hold six days earlier because of a signature mismatch, and the hold notice went to a shared inbox that nobody checked. He calls the customer, then replies to regional with the facts and a plan. The note gave him two minutes to find the work fact before his impulse to find a person to blame took over.
Your turn
Write your answers privately in your own notes.
Part 1. Maha's description. Remember the event from Lesson 3: Nasser's report was due at 12.00 noon on Tuesday and arrived at 16.10, and nobody asked him why it was late. After the Wednesday huddle, Maha describes her reaction like this:
"As I left the huddle my chest was tight and I noticed that my tone had been clipped. I felt irritated, and a bit worried. I thought: 'He never takes deadlines seriously.' Honestly, I feel that Nasser is careless."
- Put her description into the three fields: body, possible feeling, exact thought.
- One sentence is a thought written as if it were a feeling. Find it and say where it belongs.
- Write the work fact in one line.
Part 2. Your own event (private, optional). Think of one recent work moment that stirred a reaction. Write body, possible feeling and exact thought, a few words each. Leave out names and confidential details. If nothing comes to mind, write "not sure yet" and use the next strong moment you notice.
Check your work
Part 1.
- Body: "Chest tight." The clipped tone is something she did, so it belongs with her first reaction, not in the body field.
- Possible feeling: "Irritated. A bit worried."
- Exact thought: "He never takes deadlines seriously." Mark it as a story: it is a claim about an attitude nobody can see.
- Misfiled sentence: "I feel that Nasser is careless." It starts with "I feel that", so it is a thought, not a feeling, and it contains a label. It belongs with the thoughts, as another story.
- Work fact: "Nasser's report arrived at 16.10 on Tuesday, against a 12.00 noon deadline." You may add the unknown: why it was late is not known.
Part 2: check yourself. Your note is strong if the body field holds sensations only; the feeling field uses one or two words, with "maybe" or "unknown" where you are unsure; the thought keeps its own words and you can see which part is a prediction; there is no "I feel that" in the feeling field; and there is no verdict on yourself.
Other valid answers: different words for the same noticing. "Tight stomach" and "knot in my stomach" both pass; so do "frustrated" and "irritated". Writing "unknown" for one field is honest. If you find no body sensation at all, say so in a few words and look again next time.
Extra practice (optional)
Yasser's complaints summary was due in the shared folder at 13.00 on Thursday. It was not there, and it arrived at 15.30. Nobody asked him why. Maha says: "When I opened the folder my face went hot. I felt annoyed, and a little anxious about the meeting. I thought: 'He does this every time.' I feel that Yasser doesn't respect the weekly meeting." (No earlier occasion is in the facts.)
Put it into the three fields, find the misfiled sentence, and write the work fact.
Key. Body: "Face hot." Possible feeling: "Annoyed. A little anxious." Exact thought: "He does this every time", a story, since no earlier occasion is shown. Misfiled: "I feel that Yasser doesn't respect the weekly meeting" is a thought and a story about respect. Work fact: "The summary was due in the folder at 13.00 on Thursday and was not there."
Knowledge check
Which note best meets the aim of this lesson?
A supervisor's thought is: 'I'll be blamed for the delay.' What should she do with it?
Which entry belongs in the feeling field?
Answers explained
- D separates body, a hedged feeling and the exact thought. A joins a feeling to a story about someone else. B skips the note, so the impulse stays unexamined. C is a verdict on yourself.
- B keeps a thought that really happened while stopping it from being treated as a fact. A throws away useful information. C spends time on defence before the delay is dealt with. D asks someone to answer a worry before she has the facts.
- C uses one or two hedged words per feeling. A and B start with "I feel that" and are thoughts. D names a feeling but then adds a reason, which is a thought.
Key takeaways
- A strong reaction has a body sensation, a possible feeling and an exact thought. Keep them in separate fields.
- "Unknown" and "maybe" are honest. Do not force a label.
- Having a thought is a fact about your mind; what it predicts is not a fact about the world.
- Write the work fact separately, and act on it.
- Next lesson: noticing a habit without turning on yourself.
Sources
- Chestnut, B. and Paes, U. (2021) The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up. Hampton Roads Publishing. PDF pages 15 to 16 (the three centres and the types linked to each; being out of balance when one centre dominates), 42 (Type 1: noticing tension in the body related to a desire to correct) and 166 (Type 6: staying vigilant, and an internal tension that may stay unconscious). The printed page is the PDF page minus 13. Publisher listing: Simon and Schuster (the listing does not show these pages).
- The three-field note and its rules, the suggestion about early body signs, and the cases of Ibrahim, Maha, Nasser and Yasser are this course's own design and fictional examples.