The Body Knows - Episode - Four - The Language of Behaviour

The Body Knows - Episode - Four - The Language of Behaviour
What if the words we use to describe behaviour - “good,” “bad,” “compliant,” “defiant” - don’t actually describe what’s happening in the body at all?

In this episode of The Body Knows, we explore how systems redefine behaviour with loaded words that turn nervous system signals into moral judgments.

Through the scenario of an autistic child masking in a classroom, praised for stillness while overwhelmed inside, we see how language can reward suppression and punish authenticity.

You’ll discover:

🔹 How words like “good” and “bad” distort biology into morality.

🔹 Why masking creates a double bind: praised short-term, harmful long-term.

🔹 How philosophy (Wittgenstein, Derrida, Foucault, Han) reveals the hidden power of language.

🔹 Personal reflections on silence, praise, and the cost of suppression.

🔹 Practices to notice masking in yourself and others and reclaim a language of compassion.

🎙️ The Body Knows reminds us that behaviour is not virtue or vice. It’s the body speaking. The question is: are we listening, or just repeating the system’s dictionary?

#TheBodyKnows #Behaviour #Masking #Autism #TraumaHealing #PolyvagalTheory #Philosophy #Psychology #Podcast