Why Metacognition Matters, and How mBraining Helps Us Think (and Choose) More Wisely
Have you ever noticed yourself halfway through a conversation and realised you’re no longer really listening, you’re planning your response?
Or made a decision that looked perfectly sound on paper, yet something inside you felt uneasy?
These are moments where metacognition comes into play.
In psychology, metacognition is often described as thinking about thinking. But in lived experience, it’s more subtle. It’s the capacity to pause, notice how we are making sense of what’s happening, and choose how to respond — mentally, emotionally, and physically.
And it’s not just happening in our heads.
Metacognition: A Brief Grounding
The concept was introduced by John Flavell, who described it as awareness and regulation of our own cognitive processes, knowing how we think and what strategies we might use (Flavell, 1979).
In cognitive science, metacognition is closely linked to executive functions such as monitoring, planning, and self-regulation (Diamond, 2013). Traditionally, this research focused on mental processes in the cerebral cortex — what we might call the head brain.
However, over the last few decades, research has increasingly shown that cognition is embodied. Our thinking is shaped by bodily states, emotional signals, and sensory feedback, an approach known as embodied or grounded cognition (Barsalou, 2008).
Reflection, then, is not purely intellectual. It is also emotional and physiological.
mBraining: An Embodied Extension of Metacognition
This embodied perspective sits at the heart of mBraining, developed collaboratively by Grant Soosalu and Marvin Oka. mBraining proposes that we experience intelligence through three interacting centres:
- Head: thinking, analysing, planning
- Heart: emotion, values, empathy
- Gut: instinct, identity, courage, action
The “multiple brains” language is heuristic, yet it aligns with neuroscience on interoception, the body’s ability to sense and communicate its internal states to the brain (Craig, 2003; Garfinkel et al., 2015).
Metacognition, in this framework, becomes an act of noticing which intelligence is leading, which are quieter, and how they interact.
Wisdom is not generative if it’s not creative, compassionate and courageous. (Grant Soosalu)
This captures a central theme of mBraining: insight alone isn’t enough. Reflection is valuable when it leads to compassionate, creative, and courageous action.
Reflective Practice as a Whole-Person Inquiry
In the collaborative work of Grant Soosalu and Suzanne Henwood, reflection is a whole-person inquiry, not a purely cognitive exercise. It involves noticing patterns of thought, emotion, and bodily response, while also attending to relational and systemic context.
This aligns with research showing that metacognitive awareness is influenced not only by internal monitoring but also by bodily signals and situational factors (Pollatos et al., 2007).
Reflection, in other words, is personal, relational, and embodied.
What is the most compassionate, creative and courageous me I can be and do today? (Grant Soosalu)
This reflective prompt encourages awareness across head, heart, and gut, keeping metacognition grounded in lived experience.
A Simple Reflection Practice
Try this brief exercise next time you face a decision or uncertainty:
- Pause: Take one or two conscious breaths to create stillness.
- Notice the Head: What am I thinking? What assumptions am I holding?
- Notice the Heart: What feelings are present? What matters to me here?
- Notice the Gut: What sensations arise in my body? Is there tension, ease, urgency, or hesitation?
Reflect Meta-Cognitively
- Which intelligence feels most active?
- What might shift if I listened more fully to the others?
The goal isn’t to force agreement between head, heart, and gut, it’s to notice their relationship. That noticing is the metacognitive practice.
Why This Matters
Research shows metacognitive awareness supports learning, decision-making, and emotional regulation (Flavell, 1979; Diamond, 2013).
When reflection includes bodily and emotional signals, it becomes a more accurate reflection of how humans make sense of the world.
The work of Soosalu and Henwood deepens cognitive insight by inviting attention to multiple intelligences. It is thinking about thinking — but in a way that is grounded, compassionate, and responsive to complexity.
In a fast-moving world that often prizes certainty and speed, taking a moment to notice how we know what we know may be one of the most generative practices available.
References
Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 617–645. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093639
Craig, A. D. (2003). Interoception: The sense of the physiological condition of the body. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 13(4), 500–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4388(03)00090-4
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34(10), 906–911. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.34.10.906
Garfinkel, S. N., Seth, A. K., Barrett, A. B., Suzuki, K., & Critchley, H. D. (2015). Knowing your own heart: Distinguishing interoceptive accuracy from interoceptive awareness. Biological Psychology, 104, 65–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.11.004
Pollatos, O., Schandry, R., Auer, D. P., & Kaufmann, C. (2007). Brain structures mediating cardiovascular arousal and interoceptive awareness. Brain Research, 1141, 178–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2007.01.026
Practitioner Sources (Coaching Literature)
Soosalu, G., & Oka, M. (2012). mBraining: Using your multiple brains to do cool stuff. CreateSpace.
Soosalu, G., & Henwood, S. (2013). mBIT coaching for leadership: Coaching the head, heart and gut brains. Rapport.
Soosalu, G., & Henwood, S. (Eds.). (2021). Coaching multiple brains: Essays on multiple brain integration techniques (mBIT). Worldwide Coaching Magazine.
