Always Listen Inward

I needed that!

I spent about half of the weekend in bed & sleeping.  No, I wasn’t sick.  I was very tired & my body needed the rest.

After two months of less than normal activity, many things came back onto my schedule all in the same week.  Then, for the next several weeks, it was full speed ahead.  My body clearly told me that I needed to take a break.

That break was just what I needed.  I ended the weekend feeling calm & rested.  Thankfully, I know that this pace won’t continue.  My schedule will settle back into a ‘normal’ routine.  In the meantime, I’ll continue to listen to my body and give it what it needs.

So what does my body need?

Well, that depends on the moment.  Some days it needs me to move.  Other days it needs me to rest.  Sometimes it wants to be alone and sometimes it wants to be with other people.

There is no one ‘right’ thing that your body needs all of the time.  Instead, you need to support what is happening in the moment.  For example, if you’ve been outside doing some work in the yard in the middle of August, chances are that your body is in need of hydration.  And, if you’ve been spending a lot of time at your computer lately, then your body might need you to get up & walk around.

Listen Inward

When I started my yoga practice over 15 years ago, I began to listen to my body.  At first it was mostly my body complaining about the different positions that I was putting it in.  They all felt so hard!  Over time though, I got better at listening to those messages and I heard more messages from my body.  It was no longer just the pain talking, it was so much more!

Then years later, I began to study yoga therapy.  I found out that the messages that I had heard from my body were just the tip of the iceberg.  There was so much more wisdom that my body was waiting to share with me.  I just had to be quiet and listen.

Now, my body tells me things like, you’re tired & you need rest so that you don’t get sick.  It also tells me when I’ve had enough sweets or I need to shift my position after sitting for too long.

Through my yoga therapy training, I’ve learned to listen to my own body in ways that I couldn’t even imagine before.  Now, that inner guidance is so much a part of my life that I wouldn’t want to live without it.

There is no ONE right way!

This is true whether you are talking about your diet, your exercise routine or how you react to the social injustice that has come to center stage lately.

I often hear people saying that this diet or that diet is the one that will solve all of your problems.  Or if you do 100 Sun Salutations daily, your life will be perfect.  Maybe that is true for a few people, but for the majority of people, it’s not that simple.

We are all unique individuals with unique needs.  Doing what someone else prescribes in order to fix your problems, might work for a short while.  It won’t work long term because it’s not unique to your own issues.

This goes back to listening to your own body.

So, what do you need right now?

What is really important to you in this moment of time?  Listen inward.  Just like my body gives me guidance to what I need, your body is waiting for you to listen.

When you don’t listen, your body will get louder & louder in order to get your attention.  It really wants to be heard.  That ache that used to be small but now commands most of your attention is your body trying to tell you something.  That tight muscle that won’t relax no matter how many massages you receive, is your body sending you a message.

Stop.

Take a deep breath.

Listen inward.

The message that you get might just be that you need to sleep for half of the weekend, like I did.  It might also be that you need to change your job, eat differently or confront an issue from your past.

These are all important messages and your body is just waiting for your to listen!

I’d love to hear what messages your body is sending right now!  Leave me a comment and share.

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Until next week,

Love & Hugs!

Becky