Learning How Your Body Talks To You

If you’ve read a few of my posts before you will probably know that I love banging on about the wisdom that our body holds. 1) Because IT DOES, and 2) how damn powerful do you feel just knowing that?! So much of my work is and will be surrounding how we can reclaim our power over our health and embody our lives. Because what’s the point in us being in this body if we don’t know how to fully appreciate and interact with it in all its glory? But how do we learn what our bodies are saying to us? Our bodies speak their own language – it will be bio individual for each of us. Hidden beliefs and trauma manifest in the body as discomfort or dis-ease to let you know what isn’t being let go of, or to help you shift stagnant energy. But once you begin to become fluent in your own ever evolving language, you will realise that there is nothing stopping you and you can begin to unlock your full potential. Your self love will also shoot through the roof because it will become clear how clever every cell of you is, and that your thoughts really do create your reality. Honestly, every day I am blown away by how our body JUST KNOWS. So how do you begin to cultivate your mind body connection dictionary to whip out at your disposal? Here are a few things I have found helpful in understanding myself a little better…

1. Become Aware. This isn’t new. It is said in so many self help manuals and spiritual practices that awareness is the first step to healing. This isn’t lies. In order to know what you are dealing with, you have to notice it. How do you become aware of yourself, I hear you cry? There are so many practices that you can find to become more aware of your body, your thoughts, and how they connect. Pre – spiritual awakening I spent a whole 21 years totally in my head with no real idea what I was feeling in my body. Things that help me expand my awareness are seated meditation, Pranayama (breath work), dance, yoga and being in nature and becoming aware of my surroundings (what you practice externally can help you notice more internally). But there are SO many more modalities that help with this – essentially any practice that helps you get out of the head and into the body. As you embark on your journey of becoming aware, it is so important to do so in a compassionate manner. The awareness towards yourself must be loving in order to create a safe space for your healing and transformation. A caterpillar doesn’t become a butterfly by being tossed about in a bowl of dishwater. It creates a beautiful, cosy chrysalis space for it’s metamorphosis. I must also say that once you become aware, you cannot become unaware again. Although this may seem terrifying and daunting at first, let me tell you that your expanded awareness will take you on the greatest adventure you have ever known. That is my total promise. Which leads me on to my next point…
2. Get Curious. To help yourself open up a compassionate space for your growth, get curious in your awareness. When you aren’t in a space of self love it’s SO hard to immediately jump up to that vibe straight away. Curiosity is a step on the ladder that will help take you there. As you become aware of a feeling in the body or a detrimental thought, sit with it, no matter how uncomfortable it feels, and become curious about getting to know WHY. Use non invasive language with statements like ‘Isn’t it interesting that my body responds that way’. You are learning about yourself, not interrogating yourself.
3. Notice Patterns. As you practice becoming curiously aware, just like a muscle, your awareness will expand. As it does, you may notice PATTERNS in the way your body responds to the wider world. These patterns are hugely helpful as they will form a bigger picture of what the belief or memory is that you are holding on to. You may notice correlations between how you are around certain people and your default setting in certain circumstances. You may also notice what activities or people bring you peace and truth, which is even more exciting. Patterns allow you to delve deeper into finding a root cause. Which brings us to…
4. Allowing for processing. Once patterns start to emerge, revelations may come. Things you’ve suppressed may arise. This is the ‘Oh, I do this BECAUSE..’ stage. This is where the big transformative work you’ve laid the foundations for starts to happen. And it’s SO important to hold space for yourself and let others hold space for you in order to process. This may be with things like personal journal prompts, practices of contemplation or talking with a health or life coach. For things especially sensitive, it may be advised to turn to a professional in the field that you feel appropriate, such as working with a therapist. Having a support network around you will help you to find a way of clearing and letting go of whatever it is that works for you.

One thing that really helped me on this journey was learning a little about the spiritual anatomy of the body and how it corresponds to the physical. This may or may not be something you want to look a little deeper into depending on how you feel about your spirituality, but I found it hugely beneficial. If you are familiar with the Chakra’s, you will know that these 7 main energy centres in the body govern different emotions and beliefs as well as physical body parts and can be in or out of balance depending on the overall health of your body. Knowing about the chakras a little more and what they are responsible for helped me make connections a little quicker. For example – my whole life I have always had a slight stick in my throat that I can’t shake. Knowing that the throat chakra – the centre for communication and expression in the body – governs this area, helped me work out that my negative beliefs surrounding speaking my truth were causing this reaction in my body. Two fantastic resources for this are a couple of books that I have mentioned previously on this blog, ‘Women’s Bodies Women’s Wisdom’ by Dr Christiane Northrup for a concise look at the Chakras and what they govern in the body and ‘Heal Your Body A-Z – The mental causes for physical illnesses and the way to overcome them’ by Louise Hay.

Knowing yourself and your body in this way will take you to a new level of appreciation for what your body can do and how it’s always looking out for you and giving you signs. I hope you enjoy falling love with your mind, your body and the beautiful connection that the two have.

With Love, Light & Best Wishes,

Ciara X