What does "Listen to your Body" even mean?

I know you’ve heard it and I know I've said it.

“You need to listen to your body, honor what it is trying to tell you.”

That’s all well and good but what does that actually mean? It can be hard for those have spent years actively ignoring the cues that our body gives us. 

Breaking it Down

Listening to your body means being aware of how your body is feeling, what your mind is thinking and the reactions you have to either of those. It’s being aware of how your body reacts to certain types of exercise and food.

It is not intuitively knowing what nutrients you need it is about listening to your body’s alarm systems. Only a few examples include:

• Hunger

• Energy level

• Pain

• Mental health

When you are hungry you need to eat. If you’re tired then you rest. If you're in pain you stop what you’re doing. This is breaking it down to the basics, but this is the idea.

When it comes to fitness and exercise this looks like changing the activity you were planning on doing. It means changing to intensity for changing energy levels. It’s resting when you need it and pushing yourself when you can. It means eating more if you're hungry and hydrating when you're thirsty.

Listening to you body may not be an innate skill you have. That doesn't mean it isn't able to be developed and cultivated.

Here are some tips on ways to start listening to your body:

• Make time for yourself - being alone can help with learning how decipher your different bodily cues.

• Keep a journal - I'm a big advocate for journaling in any format you choose. Reflection is huge in processing information.

• Do body scans throughout the day - (are holding tension anywhere in your body, are you tired, are you anxious, are you in pain?) Simple questions to get you looking at your body.

Listening to your body can be difficult when it feels like you have been ignoring or maybe even contradicting if for a long time. Disordered eating and a disoredered relationship with exercise are prime examples of that. Your body is not your enemy. Change may not happen today, but change will happen.