LISTEN to your body
I am a strong believer that our bodies communicate with us at all times. The problem is most of us ignore this communication. I just read today a post on instagram about how we should push ourselves to get things done and it specifically was about if you feel too tired to do your workout get up anyway and push yourself to do it. I gotta be honest with you all. This is not the best thing to do. I tried that as that is what most fitness people encourage us to do. However, I was tired and not listening to my body and pushed myself into a panic attack which then started a cycle of anxiety that I had to go through in order to learn this truth. It was absolutely awful. It bothers me every time I see this as there are women everywhere who feel that they must force themselves to get up super early half asleep and do a hard workout in order to be healthy or to lose weight. This is so not true!!! We don't need to put ourselves through hell everyday so we resent our workouts and don't look forward to them. We suffer later on with no energy for our family as we used it all for our workouts. Working out should be something we look forward to. The workout itself should feel good to you and your body. Don't get me wrong as it is great to have goals for yourself to work out and eat healthy, but please be realistic and listen to your body. Don't starve yourself or try to workout on an empty stomach. It is not worth it if you pass out in the middle of working out. I am serious about this as I hear woman talk about it and some actually are proud of themselves for going through the hell to finish the workout.
I want you to know something. Life is not supposed to be hard. We need to get into the flow which does not require force. This can also pertain to forcing yourself to do that extra hour at work when you are exhausted or pushing yourself to finish chores when your body needs food. All these are examples of things that lead to illness or mental health issues. When our stomach is giving us signs of hunger, we need to take a break and have a healthy snack. Your not only feeding your body, but your brain as well. If your body is tired and you just don't feel up for the morning work out, skip it and stretch instead, maybe you need extra sleep and can go for a walk later. Your body will love you for allowing this and please don't feel guilty that you missed your workout. Beating ourselves up over not being able to follow the perfect schedule is unhealthy. We are human beings not robots and we have good days and bad. If anything we should love ourselves more and be easy on ourselves trusting our inner guidance. I realize there are times when pushing yourself may be warranted like in sports when you need to find that last ounce of energy to get to the finish line. I am not talking about those situations. I am referring to everyday life here. How we need to listen to our body that is trying to communicate with us. We are all different and just because one woman works out at 4 am like clock work everyday does not mean it is the best work out for you. I don't care if she is thin and looks the way you want to look, it still does not mean what she does will work for you. That is the thing here, we all need to find out what works best for us by digging deep and remembering who WE are. I believe that we all will thrive and reach our ideal weight and get healthy by not comparing ourselves with others and finding out what works best for our own body. We need to remember to take the recommendations of the health experts with a grain of salt as we need to find out what will work for us by listening to our body's symptoms and the feelings that come up. We need to experiment with our foods as well. We are all unique in our own way and we all have a different journey. I truly believe getting into the Universe's natural flow physically, mentally, and spiritually will keep us healthy and on the right track. It all starts with listening to the wisdom from within.
May you all become aware of the signals coming from deep within and find the quiet to listen, taking good care of your mind and body.
Love and peace always, Marcia
