Listen to Your Body

Our body gives us signs when something is off.

One of the things I am most grateful for during my years of practicing Reiki is that my awareness of what is going on in my body has deepened. When I was young, if I would have pain in my arm, I could hardly pin-point where, let alone feel what the sensation what like. It wasn't until I was in college, forcing myself through a relationship that I knew from the start didn't serve me (or the other person), that I had a crash course in the body/mind connection. At some point during this long-distance relationship, I developed TMJ (my jaw would pop when opening it, and I could barely open my mouth to eat). It was causing me a fair amount of pain, and I wasn't able to eat many foods, because of the lack of range of motion.

I was able to go out to visit my then boyfriend at the time, and the TMJ got worse, I could barely open my mouth. Shortly after I got back, my mom set up an appointment for me to see a physical therapist to help me with the TMJ. To my good fortune, this therapist practiced CranioSacral Therapy (which works with the energy flow of the body). At the time, I knew nothing about it, nor holistic medicine, let alone intuition, or the body/mind connection. During this session, I started to feel chills flowing through my legs even though the practitioner was working at my head and neck. How curious, I thought. After the half hour session, I was able to open my mouth nearly all the way, and the range of motion in my neck was significantly improved. It was incredible! I felt so much better!

A month or so later, my then boyfriend and I broke up, and the rest of the tension in my jaw, neck, and other areas of my body started to faded away. It was at this time I finally realized that my body's wisdom was telling me that something was not right, that there was such a thing as intuition, and that when I ignore the signs my body gives me, that they will get stronger and stronger until I acknowledge them.

Now close to ten years later, having devoted much of my time to learning how to listen to this inner wisdom that I never knew I had, I can feel the subtle energy flowing through me. I can feel chills of recognition, truth, and love, and also the subtle pangs and shifts of energy when my thoughts or habits get too steeped in anger, judgment, self-pity, etc. They are like little signals that tell me, "Look here, something is not quite right. You are not in alignment with who you really are when you get caught in thoughts of jealousy, when you feel you are not worthy of love, or when you continue to feed that habit." It gives me a chance to acknowledge what is going on and then choose feed that which serves life. Sometimes the external circumstances need to change, but the vast majority of the time it is more about a shift in how I am perceiving my situation. I create my own pain or liberation to the degree that I am in harmony with the flow of life energy verses how much I try to force things to go the way I want or think they should go. Growing to understand this has been a saving grace.

We all have this ability to connect with the inner wisdom of our bodies and intuition. Perhaps you have been listening to your inner guidance for sometime, or perhaps you may be more like I was, stumbling through life not sure what path to follow. We all are where we are, and there is no right or wrong. At any moment you can choose to listen more deeply. For each of us, it may show up in unique ways. But the key is to know that you have a guide, and the more to choose to tune in, listen, and acknowledge, the more this wisdom will shows itself more clearly, and the more able you will be able to interpret its signals when they show up. It takes time, but it is well worth the investment in yourself.

As a culture, we don't often teach, let alone discuss how to deepen this connection with our body's wisdom, but there are several practices that will support this. Receiving or practicing Reiki and other forms of energy work will strengthen your body awareness, as well as meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, QiGong, and massage for example.

Do you have a connection to your body's wisdom? How does it speak to you? Share your comments here.

If you would like any support in understanding your body/mind connection, I would be happy to explore this with you in a session.