Starter’s Guide To Tuning Into What Your Body Needs

Hi there Friend!  I am so glad to have you here with me today!  This post today is literally a guide for me to keep myself accountable as I am very much a newbie in the realm of surrendering and listening to what exactly my own body needs.  I hope there will be a few nuggets of wisdom or an ‘AHA’ moment you will get from it as well and then we can hold each other accountable in the future.

OK, so I used to be really good at abusing my body.  I would even go as far as to say I was a Pro at it.  It was my norm for many years to completly ignore the signs, signals and symptoms my body would try to whisper, or rather, scream to me.  I learned how to push it past its extreme abilities, I learned how to damn near starve it, I also learned how to poison it with toxic chemicals and drugs and then do it some more until all that was left was a malnourished and dehydrated body.  Another thing I learned was to get angry at my body when it would finally get to a breaking point and inevitably get sick or slow way the hell down.  I felt detached from my body.  I took it completely for granted and I was probably the furthest distance away from tuning into what my body needed then I can even express to you.

Fast forward about 9 years and a complete lifestyle change I have started to learn to look at my body as a blessing.  An invaluable gift.  A gift that deserves to be worshipped, loved, cared for and tuned into.  This took many years of healing in all areas of my life to finally get to this point right here.  To view my body as a precious and delicate gift that deserves the utmost care is not a place I ever would have thought I’d be capable of getting to.  Now when I take a look back on the way that I so easily, without question or hesitation abused my own body I mourn for that girl, the girl that hadn’t learned there was a better way, there was a happier, healthier, more fulfilling and loving way.

I started slow.  For me it started with eating healthier and working out in a healthier manner, meaning, not trying to run my body into the ground every workout, rather adding some yoga in, doing shorter workout sessions.  Taking the time to feel into and tune into how my body feels that day.  Do I feel energetic and strong?  Ok, cool, do HIIT.  Do I feel slow and sluggish?  Not a problem, do some light yoga or, you know what?  Skip a day!  Not a big freaking deal.  You might be reading this and thinking, “Duh, why not skip a day, What’s the big deal?”  Well I used to make it a big deal.  That used to be a big part of the way I used to abuse my body by pushing it harder and harder when really by body was screaming for a rest day.

The next tool I have found to be tremendously helpful on this beautiful journey of tuning into my own bodies needs is to meditate.  Meditation is proven to have major health benefits.  An article written by The Pharmacy Times says, “Meditaion helps mitigate stress by decreasing activity in the sympathetic nervous system, otherwise known as the “fight or flight” response, which is typically responsible for constricting blood vessels and raising blood pressure and the heart rate.”
I literally cannot say enough good about the powerful effects that meditaion can have on your life.  Like it’s just insanely amazing to me how this one simple technique can enhance your life in so many incredible ways!  Meditaion has helped me to get more tuned into all areas of my life, especially my body.  So if you think you simply cannot find the time, life is just too crazy and hectic to add in one more thing, think of it like this, if you devote 10 minutes out of your day every single day for quiet time that is literally only 2% spent out of your day.  And that 2% is you making a declaration the YOU matter!  You matter enough to You that you will devote those 10 divine minutes going inside and tuning into You and Your needs.  Sounds pretty freaking great to me if I do say so myself!

Lastly I do a check in with myself about three times a day.  In the morning I tune in with my body and how its feeling, do I need to skip a workout or get in there and crush it?  Then around lunch time I feel into my body as I eat, am I pretty much inhaling my food or am I enjoying every bite, eating slowly and stopping when I feel full?  Then towards the end of the day I check in with my body I check in with my emotions, how do I feel, how was the day?  Is there anything I could improve on, or is there anything I need to stop and pat myself on the back for?

All of these tools laid out here are a work in progress.  Every single part of this process is something that I strive to improve on, I strive to tune in more and more everyday.  Lawd knows I don’t have it all figured out but I’ll tell you what, the progress I’ve made in my life thus far has been a freaking game changer in the most epic way!  Seriously, that is why I am soooo passionate about sharing with you every week!  It literally lights me up from the inside out!
You Rock!  Tune into your body and show it the love and care that it so rightfully deserves!

Remember in your core that you are made of love and light!  The world is ready and waiting for you to shine your brightness onto the rest of us!  Have a great day friends!  MUAH!!!!