Your body is talking. Are you listening?

Mindfulness.

Awareness.

Gratitude.

Connection.

I’ve been talking a lot lately about the increasing importance of learning to listen to our bodies and our inner wisdom in order to find optimal health in our lives. It’s about time that I write about it!

How have we gotten so far and disconnected from ourselves and the world around us?

It’s easy to forget to listen.

It’s easy to not know how to listen.

So, what does it mean to listen to your body and why is it so important for your health?

Our bodies are constantly sending us signals (they are magical in this way). These signals can tell us if something is wrong, if someone is chasing us or if something is toxic for our health. Over millions of years, we humans have developed such advanced body messaging that we can really learn a lot about our environment and what is healthy for us just by listening to what these signals are telling us.

The problem is that we have disconnected our awareness from our bodies. We no longer know how to listen to these signals and messages. We no longer understand what they mean. We easily brush them off and try to forget all about them. They are thought of as nothing more than a nuisance.

When we ignore these messages, our body has no choice but to start to “shout” louder to get our attention.More problems will arise, either emotionally or physically, until we are forced to listen. Cancer, arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, weight gain and almost every other health concern is simply our body being in a final state of warning to protect our health. When we finally have no choice but to listen, we start to make a change.

But wouldn’t it be easier to make small changes before our health is in such danger?

Can we learn to listen and tune in so we can understand what needs to shift earlier?

I believe we can.

I believe we have to.

It will take time to connect again. It will take patience to learn to understand yourself again.

Here are some of the best ways to start to tune into your body and mind. You can play around, try a few, until you find something that feels just right for you.

1. Stop frequently throughout the day and take 3 deep breaths. If you can close your eyes you will tune in even better!
2. Practice yoga– This is a great short video to start with
3. Try a Yoga Nidra style of meditation – Here is one of my favorites
4. Journal in the morning or the evening
5. Eat your meal in a calm and undistracted environment
6. Go for a nature walk without any technology
7. Ask yourself “What am I feeling and why?” whenever you can
8. Slow down, take time for yourself to just be each and every day. This could be a quick bath, a walk around the block, or simply sitting on your deck with a warm tea at the end of the day. Just be.

With any, or a combination, of these techniques, you can finally start to listen to what your body is trying to tell you. Once you are alert, aware, and fully listening, you can discover what your body needs at any given moment to provide optimal health and happiness.

So, what is your body saying? What is it trying to tell you in this very moment? 

Take the next 5 minutes to close your eyes, breathe, and really listen. 

These tips are no good unless you actually start using them. Believe me, I know how easy it is to read something and then just push it off to the side or delete it from your inbox. I want to challenge you to comment below and tell me:

What 1 technique will you try this week?

I am patiently awaiting your answer 🙂