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Listening to Our Bodies ~They Know More than We Do!

6/30/2020

Our body holds much of the information we need to function at our best, but too often we ignore its messages and plow ahead with what our minds tell us. Perhaps because we’re not taught from early on to pay attention to internal messages as well as external demands, we frequently ignore our body’s communications.
So we take another extra-strength aspirin rather than investigating what’s causing our head to ache. We use more caffeine or sugar to give us a lift when we feel tired, rather than hearing our body’s message about needing rest or recognizing our fatigue as an early symptom of burnout we’d do well to heed. One look at our pets may be all we need to see the value of naps.
We fail to take into account the thousand little messages communicated to us by how we’re holding ourselves: the mouth that’s pinched and tight rather than relaxed. The fact that our shoulders are up around our ears, the knot of tension in our stomach as we promise to do something when closer consideration might tell us we are already over-extended.
These days we’re notorious for putting deadlines ahead of the protests of aching bones or inadequately nourished bellies. (Is there hidden wisdom in calling a due date a deadline in the first place?) Instead of asking our body what it wants, we go for the quick fill-up or the comfort food that may be the last thing we really need.
Here are some ideas to give your body equal say in how you use it:

Start with the breath. Breathing consciously is a major part of body awareness. Turn off thoughts and just let yourself experience the inflow and outflow of the breath. Label them: in, out, in out or count your breaths coming in and try to make them equal when you exhale. ie: in, one…two…three…four…five…etc. and out, one…two...three…four...five…etc. This exercise alone will help you get in the present moment, calm you from anxiety, anger or frustration. And, you can do it anywhere.
Allow yourself quiet time. Sit for ten minutes just observing yourself, even (especially!) in the middle of a busy day. Meditate. (A great app for this is HeadSpace or Insight Timer.) Take a walk or a nap. Allow time to do nothing. Soak in a hot tub rather than taking a quick shower
Get a massage from a loved one since during COVID your regular massage therapist is not available). It can wake up the whole nervous system and help you tune in.
Use your journal to dialogue with your body. Ask your body how it’s feeling, what it wants, what’s going on. Give that sore wrist or stiff lower back a voice and let it tell you what its message is. Use Louise Hay's book - Heal Your Body. The book gives a reference to your pain area with what could be the issue and an affirmation to change your thinking.
Eat when hungry, sleep when tired. Take a week and really pay attention to your body’s most basic needs. Notice your real rhythms for eating and sleeping to conform to the habits you’ve established? If they don’t, change them!
Do a body inventory to relax. Start with your toes and work upwards. Scan your body from the inside. Or try tensing each part slightly, then relaxing it to release residual tension.
Practice mindfulness. Get used to tuning in to your physical self, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.
And if your body suggests rolling down a grassy hillside, taking flight on a playground swing, or skipping down a winding path, why resist? Its impulses hold the key to our well-being!

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Join me for 4 Thursdays,
every other week starting April 30th,
at 3:00 pm EDT via Zoom.