Can you hear what your body is saying?
Here’s how to tap into your body’s whispers.
When I was pregnant with my first baby, I was fortunate to be able to run well into my second trimester. As someone who ran most of my life, I was even able to tackle a half-marathon in week 20 (side note: my doctor signed off), but a mere 8 weeks later, my body was done with running.
I attempted to tap into the competitive mindset my non-pregnant self would use to push myself forward but every time I tried, my low back, feet and eventually my sciatic nerve would be shouting at me to stop.
As any athlete can attest to, stopping the habit felt defeating, hard and frankly scary.
But I did. And for the first time - maybe ever - I actually listened to what my body was telling me.
It turns out, it was telling me to slow down.
In fact, I learned that what my body really liked at this time was walking. And strength training. And resting. When I stopped running, my back felt better and so did my feet. And I had more control over the pain from my sciatic nerve.
Often we don’t listen closely enough to what our bodies are telling us. We push through because that’s what we’re “supposed” to do or because we “know” we can.
But, what our bodies whisper to us initially often become shouts from them later. And, shouts usually mean rest and rehab.
The good news is that while my body was shouting, I actually found a new form of movement in walking that I still love 6+ years later. Don’t get me wrong, I still consider myself a runner, but I see walking and slowing down in a whole new (positive!) light now.
Throughout our lives, our bodies go through phases. Maybe it’s pregnancy, maybe it’s aging, or maybe it’s simply just a busy time of life. Regardless, if we listen close to the whispers, they’ll tell us exactly what they need.
