Ways of Knowing

This post is in response to a request to speak more about ways of knowing.  This is a fairly complex topic!  As part of the PCT training we discussed cognitive, emotional, intuitive and somatic knowing.  For our purposes with the PCT training, I am keeping our content focused on a few important points.  Don’t think that you have to expand beyond these points.  Remember in the PCT training this topic is limited, its introduction serves to broaden the meaning making / assumptions discussion.  I will also reference a few authors should someone want to become more conversant in this topic.

Contextualize within the PCT training

Many people go through life unaware that our ‘knowing’ is informed by more than our cognition. 

Perception – what we see, how we see it, and how we process our understanding of ‘it’ – is shaped by our perceptual lens.  Each person’s perceptual lens draws on different sources of information to make sense of her world.

One opportunity in cultivating deeper levels of self-awareness is to more fully understand how I make sense of my experience – the sources of information I rely on to make meaning.  Understanding the source of the information may allow me to consciously invite other sources into my meaning making.  The advantage here is that I may uncover something new about the situation that may serve me differently.

For Example:

You can distinguish a person who relies more heavily on emotional knowing verses cognitive knowing by the language s/he uses to frame expressions.  For example – “I feel that” rather than “I think that”.  Neither is good, nor bad.  This is information.  The more aware I am of how my perspectives and opinions are informed - I may choose to invite more knowing into meaning making – “yes this may be what I think about this situation, but how do I feel”?

Daniel Goleman is well recognized for his work on the subject emotional intelligence.  He is well published and contextualizes emotional intelligence in work place relationships and leadership.

I think that people may be more familiar with intuitive knowing over somatic knowing.  Many can provide examples of times that actions were forwarded because they intuitively knew it was the right decision – “I knew at a gut level this was the right decision”.  We might not be able to fully explain “how” we knew it was the right decision, yet we felt compelled to act from this place of knowing.  I am equally sure that many have had the experience of ignoring your ‘gut knowing’ and forwarded action based on your cognitive mean making – and perhaps suffered undesired results. 

Many years ago my family and I were getting on a plane to travel to Florida in December.  My husband was attending a professional event and my daughter and I were attending the family days incorporated on the front end of his commitment.  It was snowing heavily and the trip to the airport was treacherous.  We boarded our 7 pm flight well after 8 pm.  We were then deplaned after sitting through a couple of hours deicing.  The flight was delayed many more hours. 

At 1 am, we boarded for the second time and literally as I stepped into the plane I turn to my husband and said – ‘I don’t think this is smart.  What do you think?  Maybe Jordan and I should scrap this trip and head home?  At a gut level we both knew that we were in for a long travel experience that would be more of a hassle than a good family experience.  We ignored our gut and went with our emotional knowing - neither of us wanted Jordan and I to miss out on the family event and our cognitive knowing - Henry did not think it was safe for me to drive home by myself in the middle of the night amidst a snow storm.

We sat on the runway many hours into the next morning (this was before such issues were addressed in the past 10 years).  We arrived in Florida almost 24 hours later.  It rained non-stop for our remaining 2 days.  Our flight home was delayed again due to additional snow fall.  Jordan and I still made the treacherous drive home now in the midst of more snow fall.  And I have pictures of the neighbor kids helping me shovel the four feet of snow at the base of my drive left by the snow plow after two snow storms.

We all have drama filled stories like this one that illuminates learning opportunities! 

Back to somatic knowing. 

The guided visual imagery activity is a great way to introduce learners to somatic knowing.  This is a difficult concept.  Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, Stanley Kelleman and Thomas Hanna are all published in the field of somatic science (along with many others). For the purposes of PCT – our goal in introducing somatic knowing is to open the learners’ to the notion of mind, body, spirit connection.  Our body sensations are important sources of information and contribute to the nuances of our unique perceptual lens.   For example, the familiar sensation of tightness in my shoulders while discussing an important conflict invites me to consider my angry feeling regarding this conflict.  Noticing a heavy sensation in my chest during an exchange of angry words; invites me to consider if I have unresolved or unexpressed sadness around this conflict as well.

Another great resource for more/different understanding about ways on knowing is the DVD – “What the Bleep do we know”.