As you move the needle each day a little more toward achieving your goals, your efforts will be stymied if all parts of you aren’t contributing to the process. And while numerous sources serve as founts of information about what to do in order to take care of yourself, the best advice you can heed is more readily available — and likely more reliable — than anything you’ll find outside yourself.
Here are three ways you can utilize your body’s inherent wisdom to help fuel your passions.
Tune In
Your body is always streaming data. For example, if you’re accustomed burning the candle at both ends and don’t get enough sleep, a mixture of tired, brain-foggy and irritable may persistently nip at you. But how much sleep do you need to feel alert, or to function at your best? Or, in terms of your lifestyle, have you noticed which foods enhance your sense of well-being, and which ones make you feel sluggish or contribute to an energy dip?
You can glean a lot of data about what your body needs simply by being aware and noticing. Keep notes in an electronic log or written journal of what’s happening with you, both physically and in other areas, to help identify patterns, areas of challenge and potential solutions.
Experiment
How often have you received input from a coworker, friend or family member about some amazing thing they tried or did and then they want you to use or do it, too? Fact is, well-intentioned though the suggestion may be, we’re all compiled a little differently — and what worked for them may not work for you.
Similarly, the latest research or an expert opinion may offer education or help point the way toward a viable possibility for you, but the only way you will know if something will work for you is if you try it. Here, too, it’s helpful to pay attention to what your body tells you. For instance, if a new workout causes stress or strain on your body that seems excessive or unlikely to subside within a reasonable adjustment period, perhaps that form of exercise just isn’t for you.
Trust
The more you pay attention to the way your body communicates, responds to your experiments, and engages with your mind, spirit and emotions, the more deeply you will begin to trust its messages — regardless of what anyone might tell you to the contrary. Although it’s often wise to take in different types of information and consider alternative views, no one knows you better than you know yourself. And your internal knowing is worthy of your trust.
Your body knows what it needs, and it will tell you. The communication might come as a quiet internal nudge, a niggling sense you can’t shake or a thought that says this, not that. Whatever it looks, feels or sounds like, the more you learn to speak the language of your body, the better an ally it can be in your movement toward success.
Kristen Quirk is a transformational coach who helps professionals and spiritual seekers explore what it means to know themselves better, love themselves more and share from the heart. Kristen hosts the Being and Doing Now podcast and blog, and she is passionate about continually finding ways to connect more deeply with life, humans, animals and nature.
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