“Your body is telling you the truth.”
I heard this statement in a podcast this week.
And it’s been on my mind ever since.
I realize that I’ve learned to believe whole-heartedly in this principle, and now it’s become the basis of what I teach.
Basically what it means is, when you have a good awareness of your body, you can trust what it says and it will steer you in the right direction.
And this is very contrary to what I believed fifteen or twenty years ago.
I ate according to the clock and all that was on my plate – children are starving in Africa you know.
If I had a headache, I didn’t question why it was there, I just took a Tylenol (or an Aspirin).
If I was training for a swim competition or running event, and felt pain or even felt really tired, I just kept pushing through because I was strong (right?).
And even though I didn’t like milk, and it made me feel yucky, I drank it. I needed calcium (right?), so I mixed it with some sweetened chocolate flavored powder and just moved on.
Can you relate to any of these things?
In all these cases I just didn’t know to trust my body to tell me what I needed.
I just went with what was normal, or prescribed, or popular, and ignored the fact that my body could have been trying to tell me something.
And then my mother got cancer and died at 57, and life was turned upside down.
It made me question just about everything.
What was true?
I wanted the truth.
Was the truth in books, in the latest info-mercial, in what health professionals said, or in a yoga retreat?
I realized there was no one source of truth. Ultimately truth is what you believe is true. And that’s different for everyone.
But I did come to understand that my body, and your body, are finely tuned instruments of truth.
This body you were given, which houses your soul, is your closest ally, your ultimate protector, and it will tell you what is going on, and what to do.
But it can only do this if you stop to listen to what it says, and if you take care for it like the precious gift it is.
Your body is never the enemy, unless you believe it is.
Ok, so this is getting a little deep, but I think you see where I’m coming from.
With this new appreciation of my body, I’ve learned to listen to it more, and treat it more like a privilege than a right.
One of the things I’ve been doing regularly lately, is a full body scan.
I just take about 2 minutes, close my eyes, and mentally scan my body from head to toe.
I notice what’s going on, like tension or pain, but also take note of feelings of well-being and strength.
And thanks in part to this practice, I’ve become aware of many things about myself that I just failed to recognize before.
Now it’s rare that I eat when I’m not truly hungry.
I check in and listen for those tell-tale signals of hunger that my body reveals: grumbling, echoing noises in my belly; a feeling of physical emptiness (don’t know how else to describe it, I just know it feels that way to me); and even slight nausea.
And if I have a headache or I’m overly tired or even sick, I stop for a moment and try to understand why I feel those things. Am I not sleeping well or not enough? Am I doing too much? Am I feeling de-hydrated?
It’s rare that I’ll take a pill to resolve my problem (but I’m not opposed to medication when it’s needed). I’ve learned to look to my body first, and try to understand these things as symptoms of some bigger issue.
And I no longer drink milk and stay away from dairy most of the time. I feel better. And no broken bones.
And I’ve also learned that sometimes the best thing you can do for your body is rest. Exercise is great (and necessary), but if your body is truly exhausted, it can actually hurt more than help.
I now know that strength doesn’t come from pushing through pain or exhaustion, it comes from doing what you know is right for your body at any given moment.
But of course, I’m not perfect.
I do over-indulge in foods I enjoy sometimes, and I do let myself get over-stressed on occasion, and I do skip on sleep when I want to get things done.
But my body screams even louder when I ignore its signals.
And when I hear it, that’s when I try to reel myself in, and come back to the reality and the truth that is my body.
Do you believe your body is telling you the truth?
This may be a new concept for you, or it may be something you’ve been doing all along. But I’d love to know where you are with trusting your body.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
We’re almost one week into the 10-Day Build-Up-to-Spring fitness challenge, and there are now 65 of you following along with me!
It’s awesome to know that so many of you are out there, and working up a sweat with me every day.
And even if you haven’t joined the challenge yet, you can still sign up and do the last few days with us. You could even start over, at your own pace, starting with the first exercise and adding one each day.
Please sign up here if you’d like to see what we’re up to and even join in the fun:
https://debbieharbec.lpages.co/10-day-build-up-to-spring-challenge-2018
Until next time, keep moving forward!
Debbie
PS Spring Classes are coming! Boot Camp will start on Monday, April 9th, and Yoga will begin Thursday, April 12th. Just click on the link to sign up!
And there are still two winter classes left of both if you want to drop in and try them!
