Listen To Your Body

“Listen To Your Body.”

Our Body is truly miraculous – there are so many things that it does without needing us to think about it at all. We don’t have to tell our heart to beat or our lungs to breathe. No, they do it automatically. Our brain constantly sends out signals to communicate with every cell of our being. Our organs know exactly what to do to keep us healthy. Each cell knows how to repair itself when necessary.

Our Body is the ultimate authority of what we need. No one but our Body knows our Body’s needs. Our Body talks to us all the time for the things it needs. Our Body sends us signals when it is hungry and needs food and when it is full and wants us to stop eating. Our Body tells us when it is thirsty and needs something to drink. It asks us for movement and for rest. It tells us when to empty our bladder or move our bowels. It tells us when we are sick and need attention.

You have to develop what I call Body Trust. Trusting the all the signals your Body sends to you, each and every time your Body sends you that signal. You already have some degree of Body Trust. How do you know when you need to empty your bladder? You know because of certain cues your bladder sends to you. And when you get those cues you look for a bathroom to use. If those cues returned quickly, you may have curiosity about them, “Gee, I just went to the bathroom. But I have to pee again!” You wouldn’t say to yourself, “What is wrong with you! You just have no willpower! Now that you’ve peed twice, you can’t pee again until tomorrow!” No, if you had to go to the bathroom, you would just go. You also wouldn’t say, “No one else is peeing. Let’s wait until everyone has to pee and we’ll all pee at the same time.” You also plan ahead and use the bathroom when you know one will not be available, like before a long road trip.

Similarly, we need to learn to trust our stomachs like we do our bladders: listening to the signals our stomach sends us, being curious about these signals, heeding these signals each and every time we hear them, and planning ahead for times when food may not be available.

Namaste

Amy Grabowski, MA, LCPC

Amy is the director and founder of The Awakening Center. She is running a workshop: "Catching The Uh-Oh's: Stop a binge before it starts" on Sunday September 19th. For more info call her at (773) 929-6262 x 11.