It’s apparently clear to me that my body really does know what it needs and doesn’t. In this case, I was a block away from my home when my body set off signals before my brain could pick up on it. I had felt this before and tested my theory many times, always with curiosity and amusement. The human body fascinates me. The fact that it knows exactly where it is and when it’s time to, well, ‘go’ is incredible.
As delicate as one can be about bodily functions, this is what sparked my thinking. My morning ritual after I go for a run, cycle or some other form of exercise is to walk about 20 minutes to my favourite coffee shop. It’s a kind of recovery. It clears my mind, and I enjoy a morning coffee.
Not always, and yet sometimes as I’m walking back, I find myself noticing that about a long block before I’ve reached home my body is signalling that I need to go to the washroom. Ok, maybe a little too much information and yet it’s to illustrate a point.
It’s incredible to me how my body even knows that I’m almost home. And it’s not a coincidence, and not always because of the coffee. I’m sure coffee has a certain timing where it needs to be eliminated from the body, and yet it’s not clockwork.
Certainly, if I’m out and about not even close to home and I need to go, I’m on the lookout for a washroom. And yet even then, typically I’m kinda close to one. Apart from the times when I’m out for long trail runs with nothing available to me should I have to ‘go’ – so I figure it out. Our bodies also know when to hold off, probably realizing that there’s nothing in sight to solve what needs to be done.
Has it ever happened to you where you’re on a trip and it’s sometimes difficult to get into your ‘regular’ routine, and then POOF you get back home and PRESTO the plumbing is working just fine, thank you very much?
Then it hit me, apart from the fact that I realize as I get older how much more I talk about the importance of being “regular,” – if my body knows where I am and when it needs to do its thing, THEN WAIT, it must know other things?!
In Dr. Gabor Mate’s book, “When The Body Says No” it’s all about our body manifesting emotional pain through illness. Where the mind and body are not separable.
My bodies signal that it needs to be eliminated is just one small function of what my body can do. What about when we “feel” stress before our brain picks up on it? It can easily sneak up on us if we’re not paying attention. I imagine that happens a lot. Like anxiety, fear, worry all these emotions manifest in our bodies if gone unnoticed. Similarly, our gut instincts are our bodies way of saying; “You have the answer, just listen to the signals.”
Every time we think or say; “I have a feeling about …” We do. Our bodies also manifest our past experiences. It’s imprinted in our brains and yet it doesn’t have to be the current story we tell ourselves. We can lead our body to feel energized, fluid, calm, and present if we just listened for the response and/or triggers our thinking conjures up. Our bodies are talking to us constantly.
Just like the trigger that I’m close to home and need to eliminate my bodies waste, why should it stop there? Why am I not hearing what else my body is telling me? How about recognizing stress, fear, anxiety, and negativity in my body if it shows up and then looking for ways to eliminate those? By that I mean, recognize why I’m stressed, anxious, fearful and/or negative and where it’s landing in my body i.e., shoulders, neck, stomach, heart, head, etc. and then find ways to breathe in better coping mechanisms. Adjust my thinking to better serve me.
What I’m suggesting is to trust that your body knows what it needs. Then listen to it. Connect with your body and watch how (I hope) over time you start to adjust your life. Notice the decisions that you make, the things that you do, and how you handle situations.
Let your body be your guide.