Some of us have this horrible habit of pushing ourselves to extremes, no matter how much our body begs for us to slow down. We live these busy lifestyles that can really take a toll on our bodies. While some people are totally unaware about how living this way can affect their bodies, others are fully aware and just keep pushing themselves, choosing to ignore what their bodies are trying to communicate with them. I've definitely had my moments where I deliberately chose to ignore my body and pushed myself a little bit too far.
You know those signs that you're getting sick? For me, my lymph nodes get swollen and my throat hurts. Sometimes, my ears ache and I get bad headaches. These symptoms can last a few days before I really start to be sick. I try as much to take these symptoms as signs that I need to start taking better care of myself. I try to evaluate how I've been living, how well I've been eating, how much sleep I've been getting and if I've been exercising enough. For a long time, I would never take a sick day from school or work. I would push through it and continue to work hard, while simultaneously not giving my body time to rest. I wouldn't necessarily try to go to bed early, hydrate and eat nourishing foods. Because of this, my colds would often last two to three weeks at a time. It was absolutely draining! Now, I am lucky enough to work for a company that encourages taking sick days and taking care of your body. My boss tells us that she would rather have us take a day or two to rest, to be able to recuperate faster and be back to normal quicker. It's so important to listen to our bodies when we start feeling those dreaded symptoms of a cold starting. Your body is telling you that you need to be drinking more water, eating better, and getting more rest. No more neglecting your health!
I tend to push myself when it comes to fitness... I'll push through pain, thinking that it's okay and there's nothing physically wrong with me. Just last week, I went to the gym and worked out my arms, shoulders and back. I may have pushed myself a little too hard... I hadn't focussed on my back muscles in a while and I tried to do things that I had been doing when I was really good about maintaining my workout routine and was stronger. Well surprise, surprise... I ended up hurting my back pretty bad. I didn't feel it right away, but for the next four days, it hurts to just put on my shoes or take off my pants. I felt so stiff and uncomfortable. Clearly, this was my bodies way of telling me I had gone too far and should perhaps try building myself back up to that point slowly. My body told me that I wasn't where I used to be, and maybe I should check myself before I keep hurting myself over and over.
When you go days and days without taking a mental pause, the exhaustion tends to catch up to you. After being up early, commuting to work, working 8 hours, and having plans after work, wether they be social, gym plans or whatnot, it's normal to feel tired. Then we come home, cook supper, try to do a few things, and end up going to bed much later than we should. And then the next day is the same. We keep our calendars packed with plans, and hardly ever give ourselves time to hit pause. Your body starts to ache, you start feeling sleepy at work, your brain isn't thinking straight... You're exhausted. Your body is trying to tell you to hit pause, say no to plans and just go to bed early. I know, it sucks to say no to things we'd like to do. But filling up your time and not giving yourself a chance to practice self care isn't doing your body any favours. It's not selfish to say no to just be alone and rest. Because that way, you are then better rested, healthier and happier, thus giving others the best version of yourself.
I think the moment that I first realized that my body could really "talk" to me was in my first year of university. I was living a stressful period, between starting university, family drama on one side, and the other side moving away, with boyfriend drama on top of everything else that was going on. My way of dealing with stress was basically to crisp up and basically hold my breath instead of just breathing through everything. Two things happened here. First, my jaw starting locking. There was a day where I couldn't close my molars together. It felt as though I was biting down on a pencil and couldn't go any further. My jaw hurt a lot and I didn't know why. I went to see the doctor and they told me I probably had TMJ Syndrome. Medicinenet.com says that TMJ symptom is caused by "injury to the teeth or jaw, misalignment of the teeth or jaw, teeth grinding or clenching, poor posture, stress, arthritis, and gum chewing." Mine was definitely related to stress and probably teeth clenching (caused by this stress). Symptoms include jaw pain, jaw clicking and popping, stiff or sore jaw muscles and/or locking of the jaw joint, among other things. All the symptoms are still things I notice myself feeling when I start getting stressed. That same year, I also started feeling intense shots of pain in my side, almost like a cramp from running times ten. I genuinely thought there was something physically wrong with me. Again, I saw my doctor. Trying to figure out the cause, I got blood work done as well as an x-ray and ultrasound. Nothing came back from these tests. My doctor then asked me if I was stressed out. I told her "I'm a first year university student. Of course I'm stressed!". She explained to me that our body communicates an overload of stress in many different ways for different people, and perhaps my bodies way of communicating stress was with these physical jolts of pain. Perhaps I needed to find ways of managing this stress. I found ways to manage my stress better and tried to worry less. With time, I became a much more level-headed and calm person, and the pain went away! Now, I sometimes do get these jaw pains or the jabbing feeling in my side. I now take that as my body telling me to calm down and just breathe. I'm too stressed and I need to take a step back. My body has a really mean way of telling me to calm down, but I also listen to it to avoid this kind of pain.
Our bodies have different ways of communicating things with us. We shouldn't ignore the ways it tells us that we are neglecting it. Thirsty? Drink water. Feeling sluggish? Again, water, and healthy foods. Tired? Sleep more and exercise. Stressed? Breathe and practice self-care. I've learned that there's no use in ignoring these signs. Life is never too busy to listen to our bodies and take care of it appropriately. After all, at the end of the day, your body is really all you have.