Listening to your body is an act of love.  To give respect to a companion that has been on life’s journey with you, gave you children, recovered from injury or surgery, hunkered down to fight colds and flu, and perhaps got you through a life threatening disease.  The scars, wrinkles, and stretch marks on our bodies are stories of our lives.  So since it has been through so much with you, practicing the art of listening creates a pathway of support and nourishment.  It is dynamic and changes every day, hour, minute, second.  Asking for a certain temperature, healthy foods to pull energy from, water to function, and whether or not it wants to get moving.   In return, your heart beats without you telling it to - that is pretty cool!  It’s a daily practice to check in with your body, check in with it’s needs and wants.  You’ll get more in return that way.   Here’s some ways to think about this, and start asking the questions.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a yoga class at home and I struggled to get through it.  It wasn’t that the class was harder than usual, but something was not right with my body.  My muscles fatigued much quicker than usual.  I still finished the class, but I needed to stop and rest more times than I usually do.  I asked the questions: Was I wimping out?  No. I usually get through it without a problem.  Was my body telling me it was anemic, water deprived, or it was tired, or maybe fighting a bug, and it didn’t want to expend that energy today?  I didn’t know, but took some iron and drank lots of water to rule out a nutritional need. I was definitely achy sore for the next couple of days in a flu like way (and thankfully had a negative ‘Rona test). Something was off, and my body needed to rest, and that was ok. That is the listening. I didn’t land on the answer right away, but I knew it had something to say.  The goal is to have an ear pointed into your body to listen.

I heart my Heart Monitor

As a person healthily obsessed with moving, I love walking almost daily.  I wear a heart monitor to make sure when I am going uphill, I am walking fast enough to get some cardio in.  But while walking the same hill one morning, struggling a bit, my heart rate was 20 bpm higher than normal.  I got to the top of the hill, and turned around to go home.  A higher heart rate means the body had to work harder and inefficiently pumping blood - an important indication that I needed more rest and recovery.  So I listened and rested.

To Push or not to Push

Yes that is the question!  But the answer will always vary.  It’s hard to know when to push yourself for challenge and to build strength and when the body is tired and needs to take it easy.  It gets easier when you really observe the body’s performance in the moment and listen. I probably should have stopped the yoga class. It’s not in my nature to not finish what I start, so I just took it easy until the end because I knew it wasn't a good time to push.  Going inward to listen is an art form in itself.  It takes time, courage, and practice to do so.  It takes separation from ego, yet the honesty to go inside and access for yourself your body's needs at the moment. Taking the time to observe yourself in moments can fine tune that ear.  Are you really hungry, or just bored and like to eat?  Do you not want to take your walk today because you don’t want to take the time and effort to do so, or is your body needing rest?  When do you push, when do you brake?

Too much energy, too little activity - Push it!

There is a thought that too much energy created from eating food and not exercising to expend that energy can also be bad for the body, creating autoimmune diseases and diabetes. So in this instance, push is so important, even if you don’t feel like it.  If you haven’t moved your body in a couple days, time to take a walk at the least!

Strike that Balance

How do you not do too little or not do too much?  It’s a consistent practice of listening, ear to your body. There is no formula to know. Just start asking questions so you can assess for yourself. Take that ownership!  Was that workout just a little too much?  Not enough?  If you are working with a trainer, that communication is so important!  If you are working from videos, it is even more important to gauge your performance.  Was it too hard or easy?  Did my body get challenged and feel good?  Was I energetic or dragging? Experiment with your own body.  There is no standard or person that makes a perfect baseline.  Push to your edges but respect the boundaries. So many variables in each individual makes it hard to assess one way so do what feels right to you.