The Importance of Listening to Your Body

“Your body is a temple”, you know that quote? Well, many just laugh and to be fair, it is a little spiritual for my liking, but maybe we should consider that our bodies ARE temples that we need to cherish. This doesn’t mean that we sit down and go all yogi and spiritual, it’s more about listening to how your body is feeling and understanding what you need to do.

What do you do when you have a cut on your leg and see blood drizzling down your shin? You clean it up and probably get a plaster to cover the wound. What do you do when your bladder is full? You go for a wee! So why do we ignore other signs that our body is in need of a little tlc and rest?

As a society getting more active and trying to improve fitness, it’s easy to find ourselves overtraining and burning our bodies to the ground. Whether it be internal or external, our bodies are constantly letting us know what it needs and it’s our duty to listen.

That little niggle in your shin after that run, that’s your body telling you that your legs need a rest from the impact of your fast feet to the floor, but it’s easy for us to leave the sign and continue. In college, I ended up developing severe shin splints from too much dance training, HIIT workouts and running along the beach. This was something that could have been stopped if I had listened to my body, but naïve me wanted to keep up my training and not disappoint my teachers. Sometimes you have to take control, even if someone tells you to carry on, and understand that it is YOUR body that is struggling and YOU are the one that knows what it needs.

How about listening to other internal organs? This is something that many of us believe will pass away in a couple of hours or days, but what if it doesn’t? It is important to notice if something isn’t normal, such as irritable bowels or perhaps chest pains, it’s time to stop and listen. Once you discover a problem, it is not google that should be diagnosing us with a solution, it’s time to call a specialist and have professional advice given. That’s what doctors are there for, they train for years to be able to help those who are in need.

It’s not only physical signals that you should pay attention too, but also mental. The most common signal we ignore is how tired we are. We live busy lives, trying to balance a job, fitness, social life and me-time, but we forget to understand the importance of sleep. On average, it is said that getting 7-9 hours of sleep at night is beneficial for the body to be able to function throughout the day, everyone’s body is different so some may need more sleep and others less. However, most people are guilty of ignoring how exhausted their bodies are and continue to believe they have some sort of superpower that can allow them to continue working long hours, train 3-4 times a week and keep a smile on their face. There will come a time when your body will neglect that kettlebell you’re so used to swinging because it is weak, and the bags under your eyes become the size of suitcases. That is your body demanding you to REST. It’s okay to do so! Have a day away from the gym, go to bed an hour earlier, or even have a pyjama day (the best days).

I always preach about having balance with food, but you also need to have a balance with your body about how active and inactive it is. If you are feeling ill, don’t get up and run a 5K, you need to rest! If you’re throwing up and huddled over the toilet, that is your body screaming to see a doctor and get some medical advice. We are all human and we all want to carry on living each day, but if we don’t listen to how our body is feeling, then our lives will not become as adventurous or fun and they could possibly become shorter.

Remember, balance and moderation in EVERYTHING you do.

With Love,

Zoe

xx