Please… Don’t Be Afraid to Listen to Your Body!

It really upsets me how society has taught us to ignore our inner wisdom. 

Your body has been designed with the ability to heal itself.  It’s true.  In fact, I’ve just started reading a book by Dr. Andrew Weil, MD.  In Spontaneous Healing, Dr. Weil goes into great lengths to explain this principle.  I’ll write more about some of his findings in future posts, I’m sure. 

But for now, just think about the fact that simple things like scrapes, cuts, and blisters heal by themselves all the time.  You take it for granted, right?  You might wash the area and apply some ointment and a bandaid, but your body does the actual healing.

Sometimes the injury is more drastic.  Years ago we rushed my youngest daughter to the hospital with a huge split in her thigh after a playground accident.  There wasn’t a whole lot of bleeding, thank goodness!  But the skin had totally popped open in a sort of oval shaped window, revealing fat cells and other stuff that’s normally enclosed and not seen. 

I don’t recall the number of stitches that were needed.  The scar is over five inches long.  But that’s the point of telling this story.  There’s no hole in my daughter’s leg any more.  There’s only a scar.   The stitches held the skin together so her body could heal itself.  It’s amazing what our bodies can do when given the right conditions. 

Do you know how to give your body the right conditions so it can heal itself? 

Sometimes your body tries to tell you what to do, or what not to do.  Do you know how to listen to your body?  For example, pain can be a message.  Maybe you’ve been overdoing yourself with strenuous exercises.  The onset of pain could be a clue to slow down a little.  Symptoms are messages.

Or maybe your immune system is fighting a cold, and you just aren’t feeling much energy.  That’s because your body needs you to rest so the immune system can divert energy from your muscles into doing the healing work.

But society — at least in our Western culture — has taught us to ignore these signals.  Isn’t it true?  I’m sure this has happened to you.  Don’t you recall being made to feel guilty if you take a day or two off from work (or school) just to rest and recover?  Yes, I thought so.

I was scheduled to meet with a friend (I’ll call her ”Angela”) this morning.  But she called to cancel because she has been sick for the past few days.  Angela said she had felt a little better over the weekend, so she thought she could push herself to come… but she just wasn’t really feeling the energy to even get out of bed…

My friend didn’t want to cancel, and kept apologizing.  I kept telling her it was okay, and that she needed to take care of herself.  Meanwhile, I finally realized her main concern was about the possibility of being contagious.  She didn’t even stop to think about how she needed the rest so she could finish getting better!

So I told Angela what I’m telling you.  

Society has conditioned us to believe we must push ourselves no matter how we feel.  To believe that we should feel guilty if we want to stay in bed a few extra hours. 

Right?  Aren’t we “supposed to” be at work no matter how yucky we feel, as long as we’re not contagious?  Think about where you work.  Isn’t it seen as sort of a virtue for you to show up and give it your best effort, even if you’re totally dragging?

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying it’s okay to actually BE lazy, and just follow our feelings all the time.  What I am saying is this: 

You can learn to listen to what your body is telling you. 

• There are times when you need to just pick yourself up and get going. 
• There are also times when your body NEEDS extra rest so it can heal itself. 
• And you can learn to tell the difference.

So please… free yourself from the demands of society!  Try to listen to your body instead of to other folks and the TV commercials. 

Do you realize we’ve been kind of brainwashed by commercials?  If we feel less than perfect, we’re supposed to take some pill and get instant relief from those symptoms… and go on with our day as usual.  “Give your cold to ________” for example.  I bet you can fill in the blank!  (Hint: it’s the name of the drug.)

Well, when you do that, the cold isn’t gone.  Your body is still not well.  All you did was numb the symptoms so you could go on as if everything was fine.  Did you know that?

Meanwhile, your body is trying to heal itself and drive out that cold virus.  But you’re out there living life at your normal pace, because you muted the messages your body was trying to send you when you took that pill.  This uses up energy that could have been used by your immune system for the healing process.

I was fortunate to grow up with parents who understood this.  Good old-fashioned home remedies always include rest, increased fluid intake, staying warm enough, … did I mention rest?  Sometimes the biggest difference between a quick recovery and a long, drawn out illness is the simple principle of getting some extra rest as early in the illness as possible. 

• Don’t keep pushing yourself until you just can’t go any more! 
• Don’t wait until you feel really sick before you slow down. 
• Hear what your body is telling you and act accordingly. 
• Nip problems in the bud. 

You’ll find that an ounce of prevention, by acting early, really is worth a pound of cure.

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Tagged as: healing, illness prevention, illness recovery, natural health, rest