I'm in a group named the Saturday Cycling Women.
A road bike crew of 10 of us ... we try to make it out for weekly rides in the summer.
One Saturday morning, it ended up being me and one other gal.
She mentioned she had just gotten back from traveling late the night before and had a sinus infection all week but wanted to ride.
We were 5 miles in when she stopped abruptly and said,
"I'm really dizzy, you go ahead, I need to turn back."
Her face was pale. She looked awful.
We made sure she was okay, turned around and rode home at a very slow pace.
It prompted a conversation together on the ride back about listening to our bodies.
She knew if she would've listened in ... her body was saying, "Not today, darlin'. You need to rest."
But she ignored it and pushed through instead.
Which launched into a conversation about self care and saying "no" and about how to listen to our body signals and honor the messages.
Then she asked ..."How did you learn to listen?"
>> Through every time I didn't listen.
I've learned the hard way through years of not listening...pushing beyond capacity that...
...it does not serve me when I don't listen.
It does not serve my physical, emotional or mental wellbeing...or a combination of all of them.
And it does not serve my family.
And every time I didn't listen and I pushed beyond capacity (and every time I still do)...
>> that's a valuable opportunity to choose to do it differently next time.
The problem is...
>>> We don't slow down enough to pay attention.
>>> We don't give ourselves space or permission to listen or do it differently next time.
It’s likely that, as most of us do, you’ve spent hours, days, weeks, months, years and even decades...
>> NOT listening.
Whether by...
... hustling, habitually rushing, over-scheduling...
... over-thinking, multi-tasking, over-stimulating, over-committing
... self-medicating, comparing, competing, judging
... tech-overloading
... our societal conditioning
... or a combination of anything of these things
All this has left very little available space for the most brilliant guides you have...
...your body and your heart ==> your built-in inner knowingness
Your body and your heart communicate with you always and when you listen in you receive so much wisdom:
I’m hungry and I desire something nourishing.
I’m full, I don’t want anymore food.
I’m satisfied, nourished and satisfied. I have everything I need from this meal.
I’m stuffed. Please stop.
I’m tired and I need to go to bed earlier.
My back hurts and I need to stretch, not run today.
Another invitation to add to the calendar? No, darlin', please say no. I need to rest and connect to my loved ones and to myself.
You get the gist.
So here are some questions for you.
Amidst the decisions you make about time and pace and food and saying yes and doing all the things you do...
Amidst your habitually rushing, over-scheduling, multi-tasking, self-medicating, running here and there...
Do you give yourself space and permission to listen to your body and your heart?
Are you listening to her?
Are you listening to her each day?
If not...
What are the consequences of you not listening?
What are your body and heart communicating?
Take a moment and listen.
What wisdom is there for you?
That’s my weekend wish for you…
xo, Jill
