When we talk about listening to your body, we mean listening to the signs and signals it’s sending you. You may have heard the phrase “gut instinct” before. What this means is that sense of feeling or knowing that we cannot always explain. It is when you know that something isn’t right but you can’t explain why or how. It could also show up when you feel as though you should go left instead of right. The messages of the body are subtle. You will have to cultivate the habit of relaxing and listening to learn that you are maybe growing tired and might soon experience burnout, or to learn that you have been giving too much of yourself to other things. Our body is constantly sending us messages, but are we receptive?
Listening to your body may not mean you physically feel that you lack a particular nutrient, or feel yourself getting sick, although sometimes, you do feel it, like when you are constantly hungry because you lack fiber. It simply means you are able to quickly observe the tell-tale signs of falling sick or you eat when your body says it is truly hungry, instead of forcing yourself to eat because you think that you should. It also means you listen when you feel reluctant to go somewhere or do something.
Think back to those times when you worked out till you could barely move, or when you ate so much that you had a stomach ache right after. Or maybe you stayed up all night and worked for hours because you wanted to feel more hard-working. We sometimes tend to overwork ourselves, thinking that if we could only push ourselves just a little bit more then we would be satisfied. But then our bodies are exhausted and in need of rest. That is more so self-neglect.
A question you can ask as a first step is: How do I feel right now? How do I feel emotionally, mentally, physically, and just all around? Do not try to think about the answer. Let the answer come to you just by moving your awareness away from the mind and thinking, and to feel. Do not try to place reason behind it, otherwise, it becomes more about thinking and less about listening.
When you begin to listen to your body, the messages, and the needs, you may begin to come to an understanding of your inner workings and your overall well-being. You may begin to understand why you feel the way you do, what supports you to feel better, what your cues are, and so on. If, for instance, you feel the exhaustion begin to rise and you become less interested in socializing, you are constantly procrastinating, then you realize that you may be getting burned out.
How then do you go about listening to your body?
1. Respect it. Do not do the things you wouldn’t want to do to others, or you wouldn’t want others to do to themselves. The body houses our very being. It is only right for us to nurture our temples. By holding respect for the body, you may begin to feel less like harming it. This means you want to nourish it with good food, water, the right vitamins, the appropriate amount of sleep, and so on.
2. Take deep breaths in and relax. You have to learn how to move away from the mind to the heart. When you find yourself beginning to overthink, take a deep breath in, hold it, then exhale. Allow your heart rate to slow down and your awareness to shift from your thoughts to your breath.
3. Ask your body what it needs. Does it require water? Food? Sleep? Or maybe even just a hug to help to release stale emotions.
4. Write down the way you felt and the things you did that made you feel better afterward.