Your brain will lie to you, but your body will not. Your body always knows. Your body warns you when you are talking to someone suspicious, when you shouldn’t take the job, when you shouldn’t move in together, or when you absolutely should move to that city, or marry the guy.
It's possible (and common) to become disconnected from your body’s signals over time when you are in a role of putting other people or other demands in front of your own. A career in the military or in medicine includes training to specifically ignore your own body’s needs at any given time in order to focus on the greater goal at hand. When I was an intern in pediatrics, admitting 17 children to the hospital overnight, my own body’s needs took not just a backseat – they weren’t even in the car. It is necessary in some jobs and some circumstances to be able to rise above your own needs and desires in order to fulfill a greater mission.
The downside of this; however, is you may wake up one day totally disconnected from your own needs, desires, and body signals. Have you ever felt like life was living you? That you were living someone else’s life? Have you ever looked around and thought how did I get here? Was this what I wanted?
It is very much possible to get reacquainted with what you like, don’t like, want to do, desire, and want to head towards by simply getting reacquainted with your body signals.
Step 1: Set the intention. “I will be aware of my body and where it is guiding me.”
Step 2: Set aside some quiet time. This can be five minutes alone in your bedroom, it can be in the car when driving, it can be while making dinner or sitting in a meeting.
Step 3: Scan your body. Head to toe. What am I feeling? Recognize the sensations and name them. Even if you can only tell the difference between “hotter” or “colder” in terms of your affinity or comfort level with something, recognize it and trust it.
Step 4: Let your body signals guide you in future situations. Recognize that your body signals are there for a reason. They never lie and will not betray your true needs and desires. In fact, if ignored over long periods of time, the signals start to yell - becoming stronger and more dramatic resulting in chronic pain, inflammation, migraines, GI upset etc.
Our brains have a tendency to confound things. We like to see all angles. We see things through the lens of our culture, our family members, our bosses. We can justify all sorts of things. We can and should create pros and cons. But your body knows and will guide you. Be patient, become aware, and then listen to its gentle nudges.
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