Are You Listening?
The body is an amazing thing. Think of all the things it does automatically and also how it handles all of the demands that you place on it day after day after day. Yet it keeps plugging along and you continue to do whatever it is that you need to do. Your body will continue to adjust to whatever you have going on. However, your body can only take so much before it will start sending you signals that it might need to rest and relax a little bit. It could be as simple as a scratchy throat or small cough or maybe a twinge in your lower back that you haven’t felt before. Your body will continue to send you those hints and signals telling you to take care of yourself a little bit more than you already are. Are you listening to those hints or are you ignoring them? If you ignore them long enough, your body will take over and make you stop. This could be where you are so sick that you can’t get out of bed or your lower back hurts so bad that you can hardly move.
Because I am a massage therapist, I like to think that I am listening to my body and am aware of the signals and hints it is sending me. These signals could be physical (scratchy throat) or they could be emotional (tight feeling in the pit of my stomach). The point is: I like to think I listen, but I sometimes don’t do a very good job.
Case in point–I was sick last week. I was so worn down and tired; I could hardly get out of bed without it taking all the energy I had. I don’t get sick very often, so I knew that I had been ignoring the signals that my body had been sending me. In hindsight, they are blatantly clear to me; however, at the time I totally ignored them. Also, I ignored some signals from my body while I was sick.
So what signs did I ignore? I won’t bore you with all the details but here are a few things:
- A few days before I got sick, I felt pretty tired and worn out; however, I told myself that I couldn’t be tired because I had just taken the week between Christmas and New Year’s off. Just because I wasn’t in my office doing actual massages doesn’t mean that I was taking it easy and taking care of myself.
- I also told myself that the weekend was just a couple of days away and I would take it easy then. Well, I did—kind of, sort of. I still had a few errands to run, so I was taking it easy, but not enough.
This was about the time my body decided that it had had enough and it took over. I was so exhausted and worn down and tired that it literally took all my energy to get out of bed. Everything required a tremendous amount of energy. Even reading (which I love to do) was exhausting. So really what it boiled down to was–I laid in bed and watched TV, movies and the entire 4th and 5th season of Lost. (Yes, it makes more sense when you watch the episodes back to back).
After a few days, I began to feel better. I thought to myself, ok, I can still be productive even though I won’t go in to my office to do massages. So I started doing some paperwork that I had put off, making some phone calls, etc. Well, wouldn’t you know it, my body went in to revolt again and the next day, I was beat.
That was when I really started to listen and didn’t do anything but rest and relax and watch TV, DVDs ,etc. When I started to feel better again, I still took it easy for just a little bit longer. My body was happy and it had finally gotten the rest that it needed. When I did go back into my office for massages, I still took it easy and didn’t push myself to do more than I could possibly handle.
Ok, so I probably made a long story longer, but the point I wanted to make was that my body knew exactly what it needed and I wasn’t listening, so it took over and made it virtually impossible for me to do anything but rest and relax.
ARE YOU LISTENING???? Are you listening to the subtle signals and hints that your body is telling you? Are you feeling tired and run down? How about a scratchy throat? Do you feel overwhelmed? How about that gut feeling that something just doesn’t feel right? Is there a pain in your body that you normally don’t have?
Take a moment right now and see how your body is feeling. Pain in your body is a signal that something is out of balance and your body is trying to get your attention, but are you listening?