Listening to the Intelligence of My Body

I’ve written about all of the messages my body has been sending me over the last few years many times (pain, healing, aching, chronic illness, etc). I learn a lot through this body, but it’s also really easy to ignore her when she is trying to talk to you. I feel like over the last month, I keep being presented with new opportunities to trust my body more. In my own faith tradition, I really believe that the Holy Spirit lives within each of us and speaks to us directly. For me, I often feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the messages that my body is sending me.

Have you ever been in a group of people, or in a particular space or in a relationship with someone where your body is sending you all kinds of signals (either positive or negative)? This might look like your heart rate rising, feeling calm, feeling like you should run away, feeling on edge, feeling at peace, etc. Have you ever noticed how your posture is in certain groups or relationships? It’s pretty easy to ignore things like this, but I really believe that our bodies communicate with us in real, tangible ways. I feel like this life is one big invitation for me to listen to what my body is saying. For me, this is often where I learn something I need to know first (before I intellectually know it or before my heart feels a certain way about something).

You could refer to these types of signs as moments of consolation and desolation. In my life, I am looking for moments of consolation to help me know that the path I am walking is the one I am meant to and the one set out for me. I’m also looking for moments of desolation to understand where I may be getting off track or in spaces that I am not meant to be. You might think about this process as a process of alignment — how am I aligning my life with the life that is in my highest good? How am I aligning my life with the life that God has for me? It’s amazing, but the body really knows.

Lately, I been having more moments of consolation where my body has been sending me signals to remind me that I am in the right place, walking in the right direction and in places and relationships that are healthy, whole and full of love and respect. I’ve learned that it is really difficult to make sense of these signals if we are not slowing down enough to pay attention, to spend time in quiet and do some reflection on what is happening in our lives.

I’m trying to live a life where I take seriously the information that my body is giving me everyday. Living with chronic illness can often mean that we look at our bodies like the enemy, working against us or not doing what we need them to do. I’ve started to reframe this idea and recognize that my body truly is on my side, constantly telling me when spaces and places and people are not meant for me. I’m grateful for this body, with all of her beauty, strength, pain and aches. All of it is working for me, not against me.