Do you know your body speaks a secret language that only you can understand? It’ll tell you when it craves some yum food, when it’s ready to tackle your never ending to-do list, when it needs fresh air, when it’s tired, and when it needs some pampering & good old rest.
Where most of us might fail, is listening (and we mean real listening), when it speaks to us. Our bodies are our true homes, the only ones we have & it’s imperative that we care for them because, no kidding, they come with a no-replacement policy. We keep so busy working through our purposes in life & taking care of other material things we own, that we sometimes forget that we’re capable of enjoying them because of this amazing cluster of cells we are blessed with. And by no means are we saying that other things should not be important, but we do believe taking care of your body & being healthy will allow you to do so much more.
Being productive in whatever satisfies your soul & being healthy, both mentally & physically, are not just crucial, but are also crucially co-dependant. To use a simple example, if you have a headache, it could easily make you less able to accomplish your daily tasks. Similarly, being unable to accomplish those tasks could make you worry & eventually give you a headache. Do you see where we’re going with this?
The good news is, we have the option to manage this. And that’s pretty cool, considering there’s stuff out there that we can’t control (things like shitty weather & difficult people). But these management skills (ehm. yes, that’s what we very proudly call them.) require you to pause & listen to your body when it tries to tell you how it feels & what it needs.
One way to do that is by doing a body scan every night, if possible. It shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes, but you can spend as much time as you like on it. Starting from the toes, all the way to the head, assess each body part & note if you feel pain or any difference. You can rate the pain & also relate it to your daily activities. For example, in the case of a headache, maybe you were out in the sun or didn’t have enough water throughout the day. Sometimes these pains could happen out of the blue but a regular body scan will help you stay aware & seek professional help if needed. Listen to your body like you listen to your friend, and comfort it with as much love & care.
So what we’re trying to say is, practice/work on reconnecting and improving your relationship with your body and you’ll have a lifelong friend. Once every week, if not daily, sit down with it & have a one-on-one and make it the most important meeting of your week.
