These words are dedicated to Monica.

Monica is the woman who saves me from myself – or more specifically, saves my body from the abuse I put it through.

She is my massage therapist, and I feel like she listens to my body better than I do sometimes, intuitively knowing exactly where I’ve been holding tension for way too long.

But I’m changing all that, as much as I love our visits. In fact, I look forward to the day when our time together is the treat it’s meant to be and not scheduled out of sheer necessity.

You see, our bodies are the most beautifully complex machines on earth.

But so often we take them for granted, paying little attention to its many intricacies and assuming it will do its job without our conscious awareness.

And for the most part, it does, working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep us balanced.

But what would happen if we consciously listened to our bodies consistently, and actually took action on the messages it shared?

Perhaps we would drink that glass of water before the thirst turned to dehydration (or a headache).

Or maybe we would stretch those muscles before they turned into knots from hunching over a keyboard for too long.

Or maybe we would turn off the TV when our eyelids first started getting heavy, rather than forcing them to stay open to finish the movie/TV show/news program that keeps us up at night.

Ok, perhaps, like me, you more consistently choose the latter, less “body conscious,” option in the above situations…not to worry. There is no better time (and really no other time), than NOW to begin creating conscious new habits to listen and attend to your body’s wants and needs.

Here are a few simple practices I invite you to try on with me as we begin listening more closely to the body talk.

 

Keep a Body Message Diary

This doesn’t have to be fancy – a simple notepad will do.

The goal here is to simply begin noticing what your body is telling you and jotting it down, listing the time of day, activity you were doing, and body’s message.

For example, one entry might look like this:

Time: 2 PM

Activity: Checking emails on laptop

Body Message: Stand up and stretch

Remember, for this first part, you might not actually take action on that message, and that’s totally ok.

Begin with creating awareness first, leaving a little blank space below each entry for step 2…

 

Honor your Excuses

If you didn’t take action on your body’s messages in that moment, then jot down why you didn’t in that space in your Body Message Diary above.

Note: these are usually the ego’s excuses, but are not to be dismissed until after you recognize and honor them.

Example: For the above entry, my excuse might be:

“If I stop to stretch, I won’t get through these emails today.”

Simply jot that down and be with it for a moment, before moving on to step 3.

 

Shine light on the excuse, replacing it with a stronger motivation

Our excuses reveal to us our fears, and by seeing our fears more clearly, we can either make peace with them, accepting what is, or choose to create change.

In the above example, my fear seems to be around a sense of “incompleteness” in my workday.

If I dig deeper, I might find that many of my emails don’t need to be actioned immediately (or sometimes at all).

By recognizing the over-importance I’ve given this one task (checking and responding to emails), I am now able to see more clearly the value of my body’s message to take a break a stretch.

My new motivation might look like this:

“I am a woman who honors my body’s need to stretch when I’m working at my computer, as it allows me to go through the rest of my day with more openness, flexibility, and awareness. It makes my muscles feel good and appreciated, and in turn, I feel good and appreciated.”

Take action on the insights

Over the next few days repeat Step 1, noticing the body’s messages, but this time begin to take action by allowing the motivation to “win out” over the excuses.

In time you will find that new habits are being created, and that listening to and taking action on your body’s needs is simply second nature.

I’d love to hear from you!

Tune in right now and share ONE action that your body is asking you to take in this moment!

Notice and share any excuses that come up for you, keeping you from listening to your body, then let us know what statement will motivate you to push through that excuse!

Sabrina Bolin is a compassionate guide whose mission in life is to be a vessel for love, and she currently manifests that mission through MyMiBoSo, her coaching practice focused on bringing intuitive awareness to the mind and body in order to create joy in the soul. www.MyMiBoSo.com

 

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