If we can capture messages at the whispers, wouldn’t that be the best time to make a change? We are usually sent messages that can prevent us from experiencing the kick in the pants, but do we listen? Are we too busy to even know it is a whisper?
Each of us has our own story of when we received a message telling us we need to pay attention to our health, take more time for ourselves or be reminded that if we do not slow down something may transpire to make us stop and take notice.
The critical moment of an epiphany, no matter what the experience is, is for us to hear it at the whisper – not wait for the sledgehammer. The sad truth is, we rarely heed the message. This critical moment, when it hear it, is known as a“wake-up call” it is the small stuff, the allergies, the digestive issues, migraines, water retention and the list goes on. When we begin to need medications, over the counter drugs or when we have feelings of being unsettled, anxious or angry… listen to your heart. Take a moment to breath and experience the practice of STOP. Hold your hand to heart and wait for the whisper.
Many times we uncover that the whispers arrive before being diagnosed with an illness or disease, an autoimmune imbalance, digestive issue or a come to Jesus moment in a doctor’s office, ER; we are forced in some way to stop and re-evaluate our lives. We should never wait for bells and whistles to go off blaring. A little flag flying or a light flashing is often the best time to sit up and hear the message.
I often think to myself, “why does it take trauma, tragedy, or illness for us to realize what is important in our lives?” – “Why do we not heed warnings, advice or guidance from others that have walked before us?”
I have this lingering question that has been posed to my staff in meetings “why do we need to have a painful stimulus to stimulate changing our behavior”? When we step through life, the majority of us do not stop to ask how we may prevent things from happening, we find ourselves asking how to get out of the situation or how to repair or fix it. If we allow ourselves to follow a path that we know may impact our health negatively; negative thought patterns, unhealthy eating habits, lack of exercising for our body, poor decision making for our brain (multitasking, screen time, stressful situations, poor sleep habits, alcohol) caregiving without caring for ourselves, unrealistic time constraints on our day to day schedules and the list is limitless… do we expect a different outcome?
Why do we think we will end up with a different result than everyone else who makes the same choices? Allow me to share another way, if we see people behaving this way in our lives and they end up with chronic pain, disease or illness, why do we emulate them and think it is not going to happen to us?
So how can we make the changes we so desperately need before we need them? Emulate people who are caring for themselves in a healthy way? Hmmmmm… what would that look like?
- Science shows that if we take time in the morning to care for ourselves, it will not only impact the remainder of our day, it shall be one less thing that takes up brain space or time in our busy lives as we start to step through our day and find more excuses as not to do it. When we do a workout, a yoga session or meditate first thing in the morning we actually have a ripple effect into our day where we feel ourselves stepping more softly, feeling more centered, having more energy.
2. Making a choice to feed and nourish ourselves versus eating to satisfy our cravings, is one of the best ways to look at our choices for food. Taking a moment to remember that: “what” we place into our bodies is not only going to build our bodies, it is going to contribute to our health or be our detriment to our health with creating disease. We have a choice. We can build a strong healthy body with foods that have energy in them, that are nutrient rich, life giving, vibrant whole foods that will give us strength, energy and build our brain, our cellular network, strengthen our immunity and bones OR we can build our bodies with food(s) devoid of nutrients, chemical laden, preservative filled, package in aluminum cans, in plastic containers, lifeless, fried in oil that contributes to free radicals that age us, food that is over-processed, GMO’s, snacks that have no nutritious value only high caloric values and build a body that has to struggle, becomes immune deficient, sugar intolerant, heart disease in waiting and increases inflammation.
Which would you like to live with? If you knew this right now, and many of you do, would you make better choices for the next food you place in your mouth?
Every 35 days our skin replaces itself. Your liver…about a month. Our bodies make these new cells from the food we eat. What we eat literally becomes us. We have a choice in what we are made of.
3. Moving our body is for many reasons, not just for weight maintenance. When we see a still pond with no fresh water entering it, verses a river flowing, we see the difference of being in motion, verses being sedentary. When we are sedentary it allows things to fester and grow; hence a still pond, bacteria and weeds start to overtake the pond. When we see a flowing river; fresh clear clean water that may contain forms of life like fish or vibrant algae, bulrushes and cattails, and freshwater animals including frogs, turtles and crayfish! There is a stark difference that can lend itself to an analogy of our bodies. When we have movement, we keep our body healthy, alive and clean and when we are sedentary we create an environment for things to accumulate like bacteria, disease and illness. By increasing our movement, along with water consumption, we will allow our bodies to flush toxins naturally and keep us not only feeling good but our skin will be clearer, vibrant and hydrated.
If we were to build a home, we would select the best supplies (ingredients), so that our home would be built with a solid foundation and withstand the test of elements and time. We need to rethink how we view our bodies as we tend to put off nourishing, nurturing and seek to practice “prevention” instead of repairing or reacting to what we have done to it. Every action we take has an equal action in return, that is the law of physics and also it applies to many other areas of our lives.
Just for today, think to yourself before you place that next morsel of food into your mouth; will this food give me good energy to build my body or will it deplete my life-force of energy because it has none of its own. When food is from our earth, such as veggies and fruits… it gives us life sustaining energy and when we select food from a package, from a can or from a plastic bag, how long has that food been in that container or immersed in preservatives to keep it edible? Make choices based upon how food will build your body and I am certain you will make better selections….
Okay, that is only 3 areas that we may start within our puzzle of wellness. There are a plethora more to complete the picture of health and well-being. Want to hear more? Stay tuned to our blog. There are five main pillars of wellness that are hailed as the secrets to well-being.
Be Well,
Dawn & the BodiScience team
