Hellooo and happy last day of September! Arguably the best month of the year and only 8 days after the official end of summer. Just because society tells me summer is over doesn’t mean I’ll start to slow down my fair share of ocean dips, sunset gazes, or outdoor activities. I refuse to retreat inside unless Karl the Fog says otherwise.
In other news, something that I’ve been picking up on recently throughout the yoga community is the phrase “listen to your body.” I find it obvious (yet ambiguous) when it comes to deciding how to navigate your own physical movement. I’ll only be five minutes into a class before a teacher will remind me to “listen to my body.” Admittedly, at the start of my very own classes, I also encourage everyone to “listen to their bodies” before taking on any movement in hopes they don’t interpret my suggestions as requirements. In an attempt to encourage others to have autonomy over their own practice, I felt compelled to analyze what “listening to your body” actually means in my own words and how we can apply its messaging far beyond the confines of a yoga mat.
So what does it mean? At its core, it can be defined as exercising our inherent ability to recognize and react to both physical and emotional signs that our bodies signal to us (think hunger, tiredness, sadness). As we know, ignoring or overriding these cues for too long will end up doing more harm than good - resulting in cranking up the volume on those internal alarm bells telling us to slow down or take rest. When we’re in harmony with our body’s signals, we’re able to move more intuitively and be better at honoring our basic human needs. Beyond the ability to properly take care of ourselves, listening to our bodies takes on an entirely new meaning when we think about it in terms of tapping into our intuition, or our sixth sense. Otherwise known as our gut or our deep, inner knowing. It’s the driving force that guides us down the right path in life when we’re in tune to its truest, deepest messages. Though it’s relatively easy to recognize, I fear it’s extremely challenging to stick with it. The scary truth of our intuition is that we may not like what it tells us. I’ve battled my intuition for most of my adult life, fighting tooth and nail to override its messages, signals, and warning signs. I hate to admit that I’ve spent a great deal of time exploring different techniques to prove my intuition wrong. I’ve discovered that my biggest weapon against my intuition is the ability to redirect my body’s feelings and warning signs into my brain for further evaluation. I’ll use everything in my power to rewrite reality in my own head for the sake of tricking myself back into a safer (but wildly delusional) state. The more I let my thoughts dictate and control my decision making, the better I am at silencing the warning signs sounding off from deep within. Our intuition is constantly reinforcing our reality, which I despise. I’ve learned that the further I drift away from acknowledging and recognizing my body’s deeply embedded signals, the more external validation I require in order to support the narrative I’ve created in my head. Presenting others with my thought-led theories and over-rationalizations in an attempt to convince myself otherwise from what I already know to be true.
I recently spoke with a psychic a few weeks back (ha, more on this another time) because, to no surprise, I’ve been having trouble trusting my own intuition. My thoughts have been at war with my inner-knowing because I’ve been refusing to accept reality. I was anxious to let this stranger do one of two things for me in our reading: 1. Validate the feelings I’ve been receiving from within my belly for months, or 2. Validate and support the delusional reality created by my thoughts. If (2) were to be true, then I could finally say with certainty that my gut had its wires crossed and my brain was right not to trust it! Another source of weaponry to combat what I already knew deep within. As expected, (ugh, another feeling that already existed inside me), she told me to get out of my head because THINKING IS TRASH (her words, not mine, but I’m fully adapting this into my vocabulary now.) She told me that it's common for humans to automatically use our ability to think as the first line of defense in questioning our intuition. We’re highly skilled at kicking our brains into overdrive to create a false sense of control over something we’re unsettled about. She told me that our intuition is “what is” and not “what needs convincing.” It’s our deep, inner knowing that acts as our unwavering and steady driving force. When we think about something we already know to be true, our intuition is the solid feeling in our gut that says “yes, that’s right.” It feels clear, calm, and connected and needs no help or reinforcement from our brains. The longer we spend in a state of thought-spiraling and rational rumination, the harder it becomes to find our way back to reality and our full sense of truth.
Our intuition is so powerful. The scariest part about it is that it never lies to us. That’s a scary realization. I am often terrified by its power and its truth, because most of the time I don't like what it’s telling me. It's been a lifelong battle figuring out how to interpret it, act on it, and fully trust it. How to not fear its power or ability, but rely on it to point me in the right direction. I read somewhere that for most of us, decisions need to make sense in the following places: our heads, our hearts, and lastly, our guts. The feelings from each entity need to be clear and connected in order to feel confident enough in our ability to make a trustworthy decision. We have to feel a resounding “yes” from all three deep within our bones without any additional thinking. There’s a huge difference between the intuitive truth and reaching a place where you’re so exhausted mentally and emotionally that you give in and convince yourself of what you want to be true. This is when we’ve fully committed to our delusional reality and refuse to see otherwise. We’ve all met these people, and we’ve all been these people. When I’m in this world, I’ll drag anyone down with me in my sad attempts to seek their validation and support. The people that act as my mirrors in life will be pushed as far away as possible. They are often the hardest ones to face.
Not to make this way more philosophical than it needs to be, but redefining “listening to your body” as a rediscovery of your sixth sense will allow you to connect deeper to a more truthful reality. The more we listen to our bodies with this intention, the better we feel. There have been times in my life where careers have only made sense in my head, relationships have only made sense in my heart, and moving across the country only made sense in my gut. As far as I can speak, the decisions I’ve made solely off my gut have propelled me into directions I could have never imagined - something that my risk-averse brain would have never been able to encourage on its own. As much as I’m still learning to trust my gut to navigate life’s ambiguity, I am still anxious about the future always being unknown. However, I’m anchoring myself to the truth that “listening to my body” will provide me with all the answers I’ll ever need. I encourage you to do the same. That’s all for now :)
Shannon
As promised!
This week’s playlist:
What’s been taking up my brain space:
This meme. Seems appropriate, no?
And Suki’s new album! The album name sounds like a great title for the film they’ll make about me one day.