Are you tuned in or tuned out?
Life is an ever changing journey. As we face the daily grind of work, family schedules and the day to day noise of our lives are we letting that noise dull the messages that our bodies are sending us. Are we listening when our bodies are giving us the signals to slow down or take care or I need you to pay attention. Are you tuned into what your body is trying to tell you or are you tuned out?
The practice of being in tune with your body is exactly that “a practice” that we need to exercise daily to achieve awareness of the messages the body is sending. The body is amazingly designed and message us constantly with little to know thought given. For example, when we touch a hot stove top with our hand, nerves in the hand relay an electronic message to the brain and your brain immediately sends a response to the hand to remove it post haste, lest it burn? This all happens without any conscious thought and we react accordingly to the messages that have been sent. However, what if the messages aren’t that dramatic? Is our ear inclined to hear what the body is saying?
Being mindful is a great way to start listening to your body. Mindfulness is defined as “the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.” Being mindful creates the space in which you can hear your body and your mind and start to be more in touch with both.
Emotions can often arise when we least expect and if we can interpret how our bodies exhibit stress, maybe by sensing neck or back tension, a feeling of unease or nausea after eating, poor sleep and even when we start to crave certain foods can all be signs of stress or emotional overload. The trick is recognise the symptoms. You can apply mindfulness by stopping throughout your day and checking in. Ask yourself, how is my body feeling? Note any sore or tight areas, have you noticed bloating after a certain meal and is it constantly after eating a certain meal? Are there patterns forming in that unease, on the way to work, on the way home from work?
The art is in the listening. When doing a regular weekly yoga class recently, the instructor starting questioning everyone in the class, after certain postures, to notice how the body feels. Is the pose difficult, are those muscles tight, is there any pain associated with a move, do you feel more free after completing a pose on one side of the body as opposed to the other and also is it harder to breath on one side or another. These were great reminders to check in with how we were feeling whilst doing this class. Carrying this through to day to day life is something that is worth working on.
When we at Gut Happy speak to people it is amazing to hear how when people start making changes to their nutrition, add prebiotic fibres, bone broth or collagen powders into their day to day lifestyle, how impactful these changes can be, but also how people start to realise how the symptoms they had been “living with” did not need to persist and by listening to their bodies they have found a way to engage and treat themselves. It’s hugely encouraging to us, but even more encouraging for those who are trying hard to improve health outcomes, by being in tune with what their bodies are telling them.
As we age, our bodies change and adapt to what experiences we are in the midst of and how we treat ourselves. We can grow with knowledge and we have the power to change health outcomes. We just need to be able to hear and decipher what are bodies are telling us they need. It’s not always easy to find the solutions to our bodies and the various issues that arise, but the journey is certainly worth exploring what can be done and we just might feel a whole lot better in the process.
Stay Gut Happy
The Gut Happy Girls
xxx