Body Screams
Do you ever feel like your body is screaming? Like everything in you is sending a message that feels extremely urgent? Our bodies truly do communicate clearly to us and, like in any healthy relationship, we need to communicate back. Recently, when I sit down to do work that once brought me so much joy, I freeze. Like can’t move. Won’t move. My eyes get teary and my throat closes. “No.” is the full sentence from my body. I respect my body a lot, and have worked to build a trusting relationship with her. I’ve just sat at a cafe for 2 hours staring at a screen and begging myself to do what I need to do. And then I decided to switch - to write about this all too common experience and break it down for myself a bit, and hopefully for you as well.
Our bodies are full of stories from the experiences in our lives and the lives before us. Our bodies are not just the vessel that carries our organs, but they hold our spirits and souls. They feel energies and shifts before our minds can fully understand what is being communicated. But in this relationship, we have a choice. To listen or to shut it down, each decision building or breaking trust. Listening to your body doesn’t mean being controlled by it. It means being present enough to be aware. There definitely are times when the urgent messages need to be responded to with immediate action - extreme pain, sickness, hopelessness, and probably a long list of things. For some, answering the call is immediate. A message to change paths leads to quitting a job to travel the world, or stumbling upon “what you were always meant to do.” Those are the stories we love. Sometimes listening looks like acknowledging the message - “I hear you.” And then meeting your body where it needs to be met. Like right now, as I write this, my shoulders relax in a big way, and I can be in this. Below the LOUD “no” message there is a quieter ask to do the things I love. The things that fill me up. My body will jump up at 4:30 to get in a hill run or do a strength workout. The other day, I completely lost track of time while painting the hallway. Right now, a big shift doesn’t feel like the right option, and I’m allowed to speak back to my body. This message looks like acknowledging the feelings, sometimes sharing them with others or writing them, scheduling time to do the things that bring joy and rest to my body, and creating plans and processes for the future I want AND acting on them.
This part of life is very much a “practice what you preach” or (I prefer) “practice what you know” season. And that’s another reason for writing this. You might know in your mind exactly what to do or logic your way through a lot of complex things, but sometimes (oftentimes) the body knows a lot and can feel the shifts that haven’t yet reached our logical thinking. The work is in seeking to listen and understand where it is coming from. The questions I ask myself are:
1. Is this something deep rooted from a past experience? Is that experience or reality true for me right now?
2. If it is from a past experience that is no longer applicable, what does my younger self need from me to heal? What is a new story that I would like to live? What is one new experience I can create to embody a new story?
3. What is the underlying message? The one that’s not yelling. What do I need more of? Less of? How can I create what I need or remove what I don’t?
4. Does the response require a big action that changes everything, or can I make micro changes to get closer to the life I imagine?
5. What might my body be communicating that I don’t understand or know yet? How can I accept that I might not know for a long time (or ever!)?
This is what I am committed to practicing with vigor this week as I work to live the practice of listening to the messages in my body. I hope you join me and that this was supportive in any way.
Hugs,
Samantha
