“What is happening physiologically when we experience the felt sense?”

Nancy writes: 

I am a theatre professor and have been developing some new acting techniques based around the felt sense. I have been having tremendous success with it and would like to know more about what is happening physiologically when we experience the felt sense.

Dear Nancy,

That’s great, I’m delighted to hear that you are bringing felt sensing into the world of acting!

And it’s a great question: What is happening physiologically when we experience a felt sense? If we can answer that one easily, we can perhaps explain Focusing – and its benefits – to more people.

The answer has two stages: (1) that our organisms have a natural ability to respond to life situations holistically, and (2) when we pause and become aware of those responses, and let them form freshly, that is a felt sense.

Let’s take #1 first. Whatever situation you are in, your body-mind is already responding to. If you catch a glimpse of a person across the street, even before you have consciously processed who that is, your body is already responding in a dozen ways to the person who has already been recognized. You are pulling away or walking forward in delight and then you realize who the person is.

We don’t first understand the world as made up of categories, and then respond one by one to those categories. We are first in the world, living forward… and then if categories are useful we come up with them later.

Your body-mind, your organism, already understands your life situations better than your conscious mind. I think actors know about this! Actors know that if you put your body into a relationship on a set, and let that situation come alive, you will BE there, expressively, in a whole body way that you never could have planned out fully in advance. 

#2: If you follow me that far, then one step further: Felt sensing is pausing and becoming aware of the way your body-mind holds the situation. That additional dimension of awareness allows access to the multiple possibilities that are implicit in the situation. There is always more… and with felt sensing we can feel and explore that “more,” directly.

I’m not sure I answered your question so… if I didn’t, please ask again!