The Body's Whispers


I write this from my bed, head pounding and congested, tissues everywhere, clutching a hot water bottle, feeling very very sorry for myself.

Since I started taking my yoga practice more seriously, I rarely get sick. I said this just last week and the Universe went ‘oh really..? Let’s see about that…’ So it seems I’m not a machine, like everyone else I’m susceptible to the normal nasty Winter bug shiz that’s going round. Nobody likes to admit defeat.

I’m such an advocate for rest, for slowing things right down and listening to our bodies. Stillness, ease. But recently I watched in gentle horror as my plate slowly filled to bursting with stuff and I began to feel stifled with pressure. 

I landed a great teaching job at a prestigious studio and wanted to honour the opportunity, with that came stress and anxiety which helped to weaken my immune system. I also still had plenty of other work commitments and obligations because hey, a girls’ gotta eat. So I said a big fat yes to everything and as my alarm went off at 4am every morning I’d groan in frustration before forcing a smile and telling myself how fortunate I was to be so busy.

It’s so hard isn’t it? This life and how we build it full of jobs and tasks and deadlines and targets. How can we just drop them all when we feel under weather? It’s truly difficult, so we don’t. We ignore ourselves, we push through until our body insists we rest by making us ill.

How are you doing? I hope you’re feeling good and are finding your own work-life balance that supports you to rest and restore when you need to.

Right now, checking in, how does your body feel? Are there any areas of tension or soreness that are asking for your kindness and love?

How’s your mind?  Are you calm and centred mentally, or overwhelmed and chaotic? Maybe somewhere in between.

How does your heart feel? Open and light? Heavy or weary? Just feel.

Where’s your energy level at today?

Is there any part of you asking for rest?

Is there pressure, stress there?

How can you soften and create ease for yourself?

This is the practice of Yoga. Learning to connect deeply with ourselves each practice, each day, curiously and gently asking, how am I today? What do I need?

Nothing is more important than our health. I know when there’s rent to pay it’s not as easy as all that - ‘I feel slightly run down so I’ll take the week off and be still’. That’s not always realistic, I know.

But the practice of checking in and getting honest with ourselves and how we feel helps us decide when it’s important to cancel a plan,  make healthier food choices that support our immune system or say no to that extra glass of wine when we know that our body is screaming for hydration right now, not dehydration.

Learning to listen to ourselves and our bodies is one of the most empowering things we can do, and it’s especially important at this time of year as we move into the beautifully crazy months running up to Christmas.

Wishing you vibrant health x

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