“Listen to your body” is a phrase often tossed around in diet plans and fitness manuals. Your body’s always supposed to know best. But then you hear conflicting ideas, like working out despite pain and how the battle is in the mind.
This paradox leaves many people treating their bodies like machines. And like machines, the abuse will cause it to deteriorate and fail you when you need it most.
Listening to your body isn’t a complex idea. It means being in touch with what’s going on inside you. Your mind-body connection plays a crucial role in this, and you can let it impact your life now.
Paying Attention
Society propagates an idea that there’s a body type to aim for and a level of success to achieve. Often, people join this pursuit at the cost of their health.
It’s easy to ignore chronic fatigue when you’re part of the urban rush in Salt Lake City. Wherever you turn, there’s a quick fix ready for grabbing: coffee, energy drinks, and fast food. It’s not a common practice anymore to pause and ask how you’re feeling in your body.
It’s always telling you something, and in today’s world, the likely message is to slow down. Take a weekend off to sleep eight hours or hit the gym to get rid of your sluggish feeling. If that doesn’t work, consider seeking medical help. You could already be experiencing symptoms pointing to a condition, and you’ll want it taken care of before it gets worse.
For most of your life, you might have taken for granted the hands you use to lift objects and the feet that take you places. You don’t see the beautiful parts of you, only the ones that need ‘improvements. Turning this toxic behavior around will make it easier to listen to what your body’s telling you.
Practice self-appreciation and aim to feel comfortable in your skin regardless if you believe you need to lose or gain weight to be beautiful. Speak kind words to each body part and build a relationship that allows you to respect your physicality. Through this, you’ll know how it wants you to take care of it.
Analyze What Your Body Needs
Self-appreciation and respect should always go before planning a new diet or exercise routine. It’s this way that you learn to do it for your body and not because you want to look a certain way.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to being healthy. It’ll take patience and a bit of experimenting to see what your body responds to best in terms of food, exercise, and rest.
Some changes you need to make might be as simple as replacing your mattress for better sleep or asking help in finishing tasks at work and home. You don’t need to wait until you’ve reached your body goals to be happy when you make it a habit to appreciate the work it does for you.
Take a step back from the overwhelming noise of other people’s opinions. When you tune them out and tune in to what’s happening within you, you will realize what makes you happy. The body is a sophisticated and fantastic design, and it will work for you if you agree to listen to it.