The Notion of You

Episode 21: Decision-Making with Your Body, Not Just Your Brain

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Stop Letting Panic Choose for You

Episode Snapshot: If you've been making decisions from a place of anxiety, urgency, or other people's expectations — and still ending up somewhere that doesn't feel right — this episode is for you. Tashi walks you through the neuroscience of body-based decision making and a simple ritual to help you stop second-guessing and start trusting yourself again.

What You'll Learn
  • Why decisions made in fight-or-flight are neurologically different — and why they often feel wrong afterward
  • How to use the Body Check ritual to move from panic to grounded clarity before you choose
  • The difference between a decision that feels "open and light" versus "heavy and closed" — and what your body is actually telling you
  • How to use a simple Notion Decision Clarity log to build lasting evidence of your own intuition

    • Key Moments

    0:00 — Welcome + opening grounding practice: drop in, breathe, and slow down
    2:26 — The college decision made from pressure, fear, and someone else's urgency — and what it cost
    4:14 — The morning prayer that made a high-stakes decision feel already made
    11:18 — The Body Check ritual: four steps to regulate your nervous system before you choose
    15:08 — The Notion Decision Clarity log, centering oils, and your integration practice for the week

    The Lesson

    • Your body state determines your decision quality. In fight-or-flight, your brain narrows. In calm, it opens. The state you're in when you choose matters as much as the choice itself.
    • The Body Check Ritual. Pause before responding. Notice your breath. Drop into your shoulders, chest, and gut. Then ask: does this feel open or closed, heavy or light?
    • Panic-based decisions have a signature feeling. Tightness. Shutdown. Walking on eggshells. Learning to recognize that feeling is the first step to not letting it drive.
    • The Notion Decision Clarity log builds self-trust over time. Tracking choices, body sensations, emotions, and outcomes creates a personal case file for your own intuition — so you stop needing outside permission to trust yourself.
    • Ritual creates regulation. A centering oil used only during decision-making moments becomes a sensory cue that tells your nervous system: we're going inward now. Simple, consistent, and powerful.
      • Quote Worth Remembering
      "The women who learn to trust themselves didn't arrive there by thinking harder. They arrived there by listening more."

      This episode is part of the Natural Alignment framework — a four-step method to regulate your nervous system, reconnect to your intuition, realign your identity, and rebuild self-trust. → Read the full framework here.

      Links & Resources

      • First, grab my free Scattered to Steady Workbook– it’s the exact framework I use when life feels chaotic.
      • Then, if you want the full transformation, check out From Burnout to Alignment – 45 pages of practices, oil pairings, and guided rituals. 
        • Your Invitation: Try the Body Check this week on one decision you've been postponing. Log what you notice. Then share it — with one safe person, or in your own notes. The things we name, we begin to trust.
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        The Notion of YouBy Systems & Self Trust |Tashi J| Natural Alignment