Learning to “listen” to our bodies is a powerful skill that can help us live our healthiest lives possible. When put into practice, it can mean the difference between being healthy or sick.
Why We Have Forgotten
We live very differently than our ancestors did. Many of us live in crowded cities, perpetually rushing, sitting at desks under electric lights, and in front of computers for many hours every day. We eat when we can, usually while doing several other things, and don’t sleep enough to allow our bodies to rest and repair. We go to the gym to exercise instead of simply going outside. To know what time it is, we look at a clock on the wall or attached to our wrist instead of the sun’s position in the sky.Our ancestors, however, lived differently. The thought of ancient people may conjure images of harsh living conditions, grueling physical work, and a life devoid of pleasure. But more and more, we’re beginning to recognize that their lifestyles were far more conducive to health and well-being than our hectic modern ones.
Agrarian people lived a simpler life connected to the world they inhabited. But with the development of factory farms, automation, advances in technology, and the movement of people into big cities, we have disconnected ourselves from the natural world—a connection deeply embedded in all of us. This connection is the way we have survived for thousands of years.
Foods were eaten according to the seasons, reaping the benefits of whatever was growing at that particular time of year. It was a complete symbiosis of people and their surroundings, each feeding and supporting the other.
When the Body Speaks
The body offers us clues telling us when things are going well, something is needed, or things are not right. At first, these clues are subtle, but if not attended to, they become more pronounced until ultimately they can manifest as severe diseases in a last-ditch attempt to get our attention.Pain
Pain, for example, is a clue. Pain is the language the body uses to communicate with us. A migraine, stomachache, or a knot in your shoulder are all ways your body is trying to tell you something. It may be a clue about your diet, the quality of your sleep, or how much time you spend hunched over your computer. Many holistic disciplines also believe the body and emotions are intimately linked, and to treat pain, you must also treat the person on a deeper level. In Chinese medicine, certain emotions are linked to certain organs. Grief, for example, is linked to the lungs. There are even emotional pain maps, mapping out pain in your body and what it might be trying to say to you based on its location. For example, pain in the middle spine may indicate guilt and being stuck in the past.Intuition
Your “gut” is another clue. Neuroscience, the study of the nervous system, tells us that intuition or a “gut feeling” results from a lot of processing that happens in the brain and has evolved to ensure the brain is “prepared to deal with a current situation as optimally as possible.” In the West, we have been primarily taught to dismiss these feelings and rely instead on rational thought processes because they appear more reliable. In psychology, intuition is often explained as one of two types of thinking, the other being analytic reasoning. Intuitive thinking is described as fast, subconscious and automatic. Analytic reasoning is slow, deliberate, logical, and conscious. Science is beginning to discover that things like intuition are an important information delivery system. Because intuition happens below the level of our conscious awareness, it’s simply more difficult to understand.Attunement
Our hectic lives and constant stimulation—from caffeine to social media—leave our minds buzzing with thoughts. Sometimes we can be so absorbed in thinking and rushing we don’t even notice we’re hungry. If we want to better tune in to what our bodies are telling us, we need to tone down our mental activity. Meditation and other activities can calm our minds and give us a clearer experience of our bodies. That can mean noticing a tightness in our stomach or a tension in our neck. And these physical clues can also tell us what’s happening in our minds and hearts, whether it’s guilt over a selfish act, or fear about an upcoming deadline.We’re all born with a deep connection to our bodies and spirits. Moving away from more natural lifestyles of the past toward hectic modern ones has created a disconnect in this crucial communication system. The disconnect from nature leads to a disconnect from ourselves and ultimately, our ability to listen.
The good news is that we can reconnect and hone this skill with a bit of practice and awareness. Simple things can foster this listening in our lives. Spending time outside every day allows us to slow down, get back into our bodies, and be able to appreciate things such as a passing butterfly or the beauty of a flower.
An excellent way to start is to begin a conversation with yourself—a daily “checking in” to see how you are doing and what your body may be telling you. Another way is to take notice of clues such as pain and attend to them. Cultivating a relationship with yourself and your surroundings will help you hear everything your body is telling you.
