Photo by Megan Oswalt
By: Lana Perry
In my 20’s, I never paid much attention to what my body was “saying” to me. Partially because I felt invincible, but also because it was a lot quieter back then. But I swear something happens when we turn 30 – our body starts to get much more talkative!
Whatever your age, learning how to respond to your body’s requests is the kind of wisdom you can embrace forever. Say you’re tired or feeling anxious…what is your body really trying to tell you? There is so much more to learn from those signals than simply thinking you need to get more sleep or calm down. The statements your body is making when you feel tired, anxious, stressed, blah, etc are actually requests for help. You owe it to your body to listen and take its requests seriously.
Here are some common things our body says, and some great ways to respond:
Your body says: “My energy level is low and I feel blah…”
Everyday culprits:
- Poor nutrition
- Lack of exercise
- Lack of AWESOME in your life
Better responses:
- The most basic way to increase our energy level and get rid of the blahs is to give your body better nutrients to work with which means better quality food per calorie. Nix the processed crap and stick with as many whole foods as close to their original state as possible. Drink way more water. Oh and lighten up on the meat consumption.
- Add exercise to get your blood pumping to all your organs, your brain and your happy-center (aka access more endorphins)
- Add zing to your life if you think it’s boring. Join a class or a club, look for a new job or career, go on a date, pick up a hobby, schedule travel, set a brunch date with your friends…don’t just sit there and complain, do something to enhance your quality of life.
Your body says: “I’m tired and stressed or anxious…”
Everyday culprits:
- Lacking quality sleep
- Pushing too hard
- External stress factors
Better responses:
- Get more rest and learn to actively relax and savor down-time. Protect yourself as much as possible, it plays more of a role in health than we realize because our body uses that time to renew its organs and restore.
- Learn better coping skills so that when you’re faced with overwhelm, hard times or a busy day, you know how to get through it all while still respecting your body. SLOW DOWN — from your breathing patterns, to how you move, to how you eat your food. Slow down.
- When it comes to stress, abolishing the source is always best whenever possible.
- Your body’s total functioning goes bizzerk when stressed thanks to the hormone Cortisol which gets pumped throughout your body when the fight-or-flight response is activated. Stress is one of the only things that’s present in nearly every patient with disease. Because this can wreck havoc on your system, bolstering it up with high quality vitamins is a smart move. THIS is the only brand I recommend, from personal experience: http://lanaperry.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sku=20271 (for some reason external links aren’t working right now, so there’s the copy/past — sorry about that.)
Your body says: “I’m feel off, something is functioning weird…”
Everyday culprits:
- Well…something is functioning weird, plain and simple. Never ignore this!
Better responses:
- Go to the appropriate medical establishment depending on the severity of what’s happening with you. Try not to get swallowed in worry from Internet research and speculation, but do take your body seriously.
- In addition to a Doctor’s visit and Rx, you might want to investigate alternative perspectives on health and medicine since there are lots of other ways to combat various dis-eases and ailments. A great Naturopath can be a lifesaver.
By listening to your body and responding to it appropriately, you begin to create a new kind of relationship with yourself that will serve you for a lifetime. Next time you feel tired, blah or you get a cold…take a deeper listen to what your body might really need, and watch how well it reacts to your care.
Often the problem is a larger lifestyle issue that needs to be addressed. I’m unofficially launching my Wellness Coaching practice (officially this Fall), so if you’re ready to start examining the things your body is saying and how it relates to your lifestyle and figuring out how you personally can be responding better to what your body is requesting – email me at lanaelizabeth@gmail.com and we can discuss!
