Feature photo by Nick Page on Unsplash
Listen to our gut
If we are to listen to our gut, we need to understand its role in how we think and make decisions.
The gut is often called the “second brain.” It contains its own complex nervous system and communicates constantly with the brain. Much of this signalling travels from the gut upward, meaning the body is not simply responding to the mind, it is informing it.
A gut reaction is not a metaphor. It is a physiological reality.
The state of our gut shapes how we feel, how we perceive, and ultimately the quality of our decisions.
Poor gut health is now widespread. Much of our food system relies on highly processed products that are high in sugar and unhealthy fats, and low in essential nutrients. At the same time, people are regularly exposed to pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilisers. Added to this is the heavy use of antibiotics.
Together, these factors disrupt the balance of the gut. It is therefore not surprising that metabolic disease has become so common. In many cases, poor gut health may be a key underlying cause.
There is also an emotional layer. We often eat not just for nourishment, but to cope. Food becomes a way to manage feelings, a source of comfort. Like any addiction, it allows us to consume rather than feel, to swallow emotions instead of processing them.
Somatic healing and a healthy gut
This is where somatic healing becomes essential.
Somatic work brings attention back to the body. It asks us to notice sensations and allow emotions to move through, rather than suppressing, numbing or overriding them. As we process emotions in the body, the need to manage them through food begins to lessen. We rebuild internal safety, and with it, trust in our own signals.
A healthy gut is not just about what we eat. It is about how we live in and listen to our body.
When we ignore hunger, stress, or intuition, we weaken the very system we are later asked to rely on.
This has direct relevance to decision-making on the land.
In Holistic Management, “gut feel” is one of the key testing questions used to check whether a decision aligns with a person’s holistic context. It recognises that our internal sense, shaped by experience, observation, and intuition, has real value in decision-making.
Many of us have lost trust in the inner guidance of our gut
However, many farmers have lost trust in this inner guidance. Instead, there is a growing tendency to search for a “silver bullet”: a new product, a new system, or a consultant to provide the answers and direct what to do with their business and their land.
This shift can lead to decisions that are less grounded in the unique context of the individual farm and more influenced by external advice, which may not always fit.
This is not a failure of intelligence or capability. It is often a reflection of disconnection with our gut.
When our internal signals are unclear, we look outside for certainty.
This is where coaching becomes important.
Good coaching does not tell people what to do. It helps them learn how to listen to their thinking, their emotions, and their body. It creates the space for people to slow down, notice what is happening internally, and reconnect with their own judgement.
For farmers, this matters deeply. They hold years, often generations, of tacit knowledge about their land. But without trust in themselves, that knowledge is easily overridden by external advice.
Coaching helps rebuild that trust. It supports farmers to integrate their practical experience with clear thinking and embodied awareness. It strengthens their ability to sit with uncertainty, rather than rush toward quick fixes.
In this way, coaching is not a soft add-on to technical expertise but rather a foundation on which it sits. It is what allows that expertise to be used wisely.
The connection is simple.
Good decisions require clear internal signals. Clear signals require both physiological health and emotional processing.
Trusting your gut is a practice
Trusting your gut is not a mindset, it is a practice.
It means nourishing the body, reducing chemical load where possible, engaging in somatic awareness, and developing the capacity to reflect rather than react.
When we do this, something shifts.
The “second brain” becomes reliable. Gut feel is no longer vague or suspect, it becomes grounded, informed, and trustworthy.
And from that place, decisions about land and business no longer rely on a silver bullet, or someone else’s answer.
They come from within.
If we want to trust our gut, we must treat it with respect, and heal what ails us.
