“The truth is, being a healthy woman isn’t about getting on a scale or measuring your waistline — and we can’t afford to think that way. Instead, we need to start focusing on what matters—on how we feel, and how we feel about ourselves.” – Michelle Obama
Our body is a magnificent machine. It does trillions of things each and every second, all with minimal conscious thought from us. Sit still and just be in your body for a moment….think about all the blood and oxygen flowing to the organs and cells as needed, the inhaling and exhaling of air. All your senses working as they should…your eyes, seeing; your ears, hearing. It’s truly a miracle, our body. And yet, we mostly ignore this magnificence. Our focus, at least for most women, tends to be on the things our body isn’t….skinny enough, tan enough, wrinkle-free enough, strong enough, etc. We seem to only pay attention to our bodies in a negative way. (A topic for another day!)
But we MUST start paying attention!! Our bodies are sending us signals about our health. Every day. Little signals that we are, for the most part, ignoring. Unless it comes in the form of cues we can’t ignore, like discomfort or pain, we keep going about our daily lives. And there are more ways our bodies are trying to clue us in that there are potential imbalances. Some of these cues (and possible reasons behind them) are:
- headaches – possible dehydration, lack of sleep
- yawning – need to get oxygen and blood flowing through the body
- indigestion/burping – low stomach acid
- eczema – food intolerance/sensitivity
- frequent colds – gut flora imbalance
- sinus congestion – body trying to eliminate toxins
- fatigue – too much caffeine
- dark circles under the eyes – vitamin B deficiency
The list goes on and on. Our body is one big feedback loop. It is constantly trying to maintain balance and give us (and our health care providers) clues into what is happening so that we can help it restore it. Next time you get indigestion or a headache, instead of popping a pill to make it go away, take a moment and do a little internal research. Think to yourself… Do I need to drink some water? Do I need a nap? What did I eat that could be causing me to feel this way…so I can avoid it? As an example, one of the cues I’ve been able to tune into is, I get really tired after eating white rice. My body is telling me that it’s takes too much energy to process the rice, and it shows up as fatigue. So I avoid white rice. Brown doesn’t seem to have that effect, so I can still enjoy my Chipotle! {Wahoo!}
Our bodies are constantly giving us these little taps on the shoulder. When we don’t pay attention to these little taps things tend to get worse and we end up with bigger issues, we can’t ignore. The solution? Just start paying attention!
Light and Love,
♥k