Listen to Your Body, It Knows More than You Do! 

The body holds much of the information we need to function at our best, but too often we ignore its messages and plow ahead with what our minds tell us. Perhaps because we’re not taught from early on to pay attention to internal messages as well as external demands, we frequently ignore our body’s communications.

So, we take another extra-strength aspirin rather than investigating what’s causing our head to ache. We use more caffeine or sugar to give us a lift when we feel tired, rather than hearing our body’s message about needing rest or recognizing our fatigue as an early symptom of burnout we’d do well to heed. A look at our pets may be all the message we need about the value of naps.

We fail to take into account the thousand little messages communicated to us by how we’re holding ourselves: the mouth that’s pinched and tight rather than relaxed. The fact that our shoulders are up around our ears, the knot of tension in our stomach as we promise to do something when closer consideration might tell us we are already over-extended. 

These days we’re notorious for putting deadlines ahead of the protests of aching bones or inadequately nourished bellies. (Is there hidden wisdom in calling a due date a deadline in the first place?) Instead of asking our body what it wants, we go for the quick fill-up or the comfort food that may be the last thing we really need.

So, what to do to give your body an equal say in how you use it? 

1. Start with the breath. Breathing consciously is a major part of body awareness. Turn off thoughts and just let yourself experience the inflow and outflow of breath. Label them, “In. Out. In. Out.” Note how and where you are breathing or failing to, a clear sign something important is going on.
2. Allow yourself quiet time. Sit for ten minutes just observing yourself, even (especially!) in the middle of a busy day. Meditate. Take a walk or a nap. Allow time to do nothing. Soak in a hot bath rather than taking a quick shower.
3. Get a massage. It’s not self-indulgence to be massaged; it wakes up the whole nervous system and helps you tune in. I think I know someone you could call 😉
4. Use a journal to dialogue with your body. Ask your body how it’s feeling, what it wants, what’s going on. Give that sore wrist or stiff lower back a voice and let it tell you what its message is. My new Body Mechanic’s Handbook Journal may be just what you need!
5. Eat when hungry, sleep when tired. Take a week and really pay attention to your body’s most basic needs. Do your real rhythms for eating and sleeping conform to the habits you’ve established? If they don’t, change them!
6. Do a body inventory to relax. Start with your toes and work upwards. Scan your body from the inside. Or try tensing each part slightly, then relaxing it to release residual tension.
7. Practice mindfulness. Get used to tuning in to your physical self, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing. 

And if your body suggests rolling down a grassy hillside, taking flight on a playground swing, or skipping down a winding path, why resist? Its impulses hold the key to our well-being!

And truth be told, it can be extremely difficult to ACCURATELY interpret the messages your body is sending you. Given the complexity of the human body you can be forgiven for misunderstanding your tight hamstrings, sore knees and/or chronic back pain. That doesn’t mean listening to your body is any less important, only that you may need some help with the interpretation.

Here is something a patient shared with me after she received the email containing her updated Alignment First corrective exercise routine following a recent video consult:

Awesome!! And thanks for the details!! Much appreciated to satisfy my inquisitive highly visual mind!! 😁

As impressive as it is there’s one correction … 

“Karen says that her L hip and lower back continue to be better than before she first saw me.”

Clarification: L hip and lower back are doing amazing!! Suffered severely, for years, almost drove her broke and insane.. nothing worked!! Felt hopeless .. now she claims to  feel no pain even as she transitions back into high intensity activities.. miracles do happen and the body mechanic is living proof!! 

I hope you have a great evening! I’ll check in in a few weeks and let you know how I’m doing. 

Thanks again for the ‘repair’ / ‘refurbishments’!!!

Karen

Now, Karen happens to be an extremely active and athletic individual who pays very close attention to the messages she gets from her body. However, for a long time she (and her healthcare providers) misunderstood some of those messages, so she wasn’t getting effective help for her chronic hip and back pain! You can’t solve a problem you don’t understand and Step One on the path to understanding your pain problem is accurate assessment and interpretation of what’s going on with your body!

If you find yourself in a situation where your body seems to be yelling at you give us a call or send an email to the address below and we’ll get you pointed in the right direction again. You can’t please everyone, but you SHOULD be on friendly terms with your own body 😉 We CAN help you with that.

Yours in health, 

Geoff Dakin

(403)719-9192

info@alignmentfirst.ca