Recently my family had an unexpected (and unwanted) visitor in our house; the flu. For so many of us, this time of year is filled with sickness of all kinds. A piece of advice you commonly hear when you’re sick is, “go get some rest”. This bit of advice, connects well to the idea of listening to your body.

Listening to your body is a skill that everyone can acquire, but often does take some practice. We naturally learn some of the body’s common cues as we grow up; the stomach growling is your body asking for food; yawning is your body seeking sleep; goosebumps are your body’s way of alerting you to the cold; sickness can be a way of your body asking for rest.

But your body is complex and can share much more. The body is constantly giving you cues and then attempting to regulate based how you respond (or don’t respond) to those cues. Tuning into those cues requires you to be curious about the sensations happening in your body. Physical sensations, what we feel in our bodies, can also be connected to emotions. By taking time to notice the sensations and name the feelings associated with them, we can actually provide out brain with very helpful input because emotions are the body’s way of sending us messages. Imagine for a moment… you are walking up in front of a large crowd and have to make a speech. Everyone is staring at you. The room is silent. The crowd waits for you to speak. If you take a moment to imagine yourself standing in front of that crowd, how does your body respond? What physical sensations to do you imagine? Does your stomach sink? Do you start to feel hot or sweat? Do your cheeks start to flush? One incredible thing about the brain is that we can imagine something happening (like standing in front of a large crowd and giving a speech) and your body will respond as if it were actually happening.

Most of us would agree that standing in front of a large crowd would lead us to start feeling some level of anxiety. Sensations often associated with anxiety include: racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, sweating, and upset stomach. Noticing these sensations and connecting them to anxiety provides you with the opportunity to listen to what your body is trying to communicate. In the instance of having anxiety as you stand in front of a crowd, perhaps your body is telling you that this is out of the ordinary for you, and that you need to be very alert and aware of what’s happening around you. Listening to your body also builds an understanding for how the mind and body are connected which can alleviate any guilt or shame we feel regarding our emotional response to a situation. Because we know that emotions are the body’s way of communicating with us, it allows us to normalize all feelings.

So, the next time you experience an intense emotion, consider what physical sensations accompany it, and ask yourself, “what is my body trying to tell me?” And if you are experiencing sickness this week, like in our home, I encourage you to listen to your body- slow down, rest, and embrace a slower pace for a while.