Tuning Into Body Intuition

It's likely that in the past week or so, you have been over-inundated by a constant and steady stream of advice, lists (and listicles!?), blogs, and motivational speeches of how to improve your life this year, and make it your best year ever.

There are lists for how to be healthier, happier, or lose weight; for how to find love, make your relationship perfect, be a better parent or lover or friend; how to get the job of your dreams, learn new skills, and be more creative; how to finally gain financial freedom and independence, and, of course, how to do all of these things all at once and live a life of perfect balance...  and, yes, even lists for how to keep your resolutions.

If you're feeling a little overwhelmed by all the advice, you're not alone.

So how to keep all those lists organized and in your mind?

It's simple: Don't.

You have an innate understanding of how to take care of yourself, your body, your mental and emotional health, and your happiness. The trick is in listening passively, receptively, to your deepest gut intuition. Not the intuition that says "Oh boy, no way do I want to go running today... it's too cold out," or "I think I need a second piece of that cake," but the intuition that responds to that little voice. The little feeling that follows. What you need to tune into is the silent gut reaction to your active brain's inner monologue, which, since it's nonverbal, can be hard to hear. That gut feeling has a lot of wisdom that is too often ignored. When you pay attention to your body's intuition, and actively learn from it, instead of repeating actions from habit, external influence, or emotional reaction, you will learn from your body what it most needs. You already know what you should eat and how much, how many projects you can take on simultaneously without feeling over-committed, and how much and in what ways you need to move. But that knowledge usually gets drowned out in noise. There is external noise: time commitments, pressure, social behavior etc., and internal noise. The internal noise is often the hardest to deal with, because it can be misinterpreted as being the call of the body's intuition. Your thoughts and brain activity however are often externally influenced, or influenced by emotion. Some of the thoughts that rise will be based on body intuition, and some will not. It's up to you to begin discerning the difference.

Once you do learn and begin listening, however, everything can change. Your body is very intelligent, and knows what it needs to take care of itself. And when your body is properly fueled, adequately rested, and physically stimulated in the ways that each individual's body calls out for uniquely? Every part of you will start coming into balance. Your happiness will be easier to hold. Your stress will be more easily dissipated. You will be able to make the decisions you need to do the best for yourself, and for your loved ones.

So instead of trying to juggle all those lists, keeping in mind the various steps and methods and tricks that will get you to your best body, your happiest, your most balanced... discard them all. Quiet your mind. Quiet the chatter and just listen to your body. Not what you think your body wants, not what your stress levels demand your body to consume... not anything articulated in words, just the innate wisdom of you.