Listen to what your body needs ...

Being in harmony with ourselves is a beautiful and supportive way to live. 

Your body knows what it needs.  Listen to what it's telling you.  Not just sometimes.  But in every moment, of every day.  

There's such a profound and significant shift for our wellbeing, when we support ourselves in this way.   

Not asking our 'to do list' or checking our 'calendar updates' for what we should be doing.  But asking ourselves and our bodies what we can best do, in every given moment, to support ourselves.  

We can choose to create our life in a way that our bodies guide us to.  Living in harmony within ourselves is a beautiful way to be.  

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When we place trust in our own needs, we can start to see past any perceived limitations.  And instead, we feel empowered  to make choices that are best for us, all the time. 

​Creating a life that's supportive, aligned and true.  

I don't know of a more supportive way to live these days.  It's such an empowering way to keep succeeeding and achieving, in all the ways we still choose.  Through whatever you might be living with, or however your body feels right now, or whatever's going on in your life.  Listening, trusting, and making choices from how our body speaks to us, just makes complete sense, as so much opens and shifts from here.  

I know this, as it's been this way for me.  It continues to be.  And I am so passionate about sharing and supporting others to feel empowered in this way too.  

I didn't always listen to my body the way I do now.  I used to have a very different definition of wellbeing in my own life.  As a past marathon runner, and high achiever, I pushed myself to my limit.  I would strive and exceed in all the ways I could in every aspect of my life.  I thrived on being busy and fitting everything in.  Success was very much about doing more and being more. 

Even as a Wellness Practitioner, a Counsellor and a Life Coach - as part of the health and wellness industry for so many years - I had this vision in my mind that wellbeing was about all of these 'busy' things.  Being able to do so much. 

It's a completely different place that I speak from today.  I've learnt so much about myself, what wellbeing truly means for me, and how my body knows what I need and the messages it brings.  And how listening to my body and what it needs is the most supportive way to live my life.  

Living with a health condition that I manage every day, meant changing the way I do things, in many ways.  Coming to terms with having been such a busy person and performing always at high level, to then having to slow down and accept different  ways of doing things, took patience, acceptance and a lot of self belief. 

But with time, the right support, and when I started listening to what my body was telling me, I realised I was able to understand that making changes and choices, was actually empowering and allowing me to create a life that felt far more aligned and true.  

I don't even have a diary or a calendar these days.  I do for client sessions.  I don't change appointments with coaching clients.  But with everything else, I listen to my body throughout the day, every day, as to what feels best.  I allow myself a lot of flexibility.  And the outcome is that instead of feeling like I'm not doing enough, I know that I am giving 100% of myself in such a quality way, with presence, to whatever it is I set my heart and mind to do.  

I love creating my life in this way.   I love the way this has felt with my business.  And I love the way I've been able to support myself with conscious choices in my life over the years and ongoing.  

Much of it is about listening and really becoming aware of your body and knowing intuitively what it needs.  And this comes over time, as our awareness grows. 

I ask myself throughout the day - What would feel most supportive right now? What is my body telling me? What is my body asking of me?  

Perhaps these questions and a few ways that I embrace this way of living, may feel supportive for you too.  

I listen to my body with work/ business and whatever creative project I might be working on.  It means that I am making conscious and intentional choices and the creativity flows.  

I listen to my body when I'm talking with clients, and with all kinds of people during the day.  Sometimes I feel a response to something in my body first, before anything else.  And that body sensation I have can speak so much to me about what I can say that's of most support.  

I do this with foods that I eat.  My body knows what it needs, and when I listen, the choices I make (whilst always healthy) just feel right and good.  I know if my body needs raw foods over cooked.  I know when my body needs leafy greens.  I know when my body feels depleted and I need to up the B12 and iron rich foods.  I know when my body needs more protein - and when it doesn't.  I know when my body needs more calming and nurturing foods.  I also know when my body needs food, I don't have set meal times, and I really listen to that. As a Nutritionist and Naturopath, I don't believe in a one way of eating or any diet that suits us all.  This is my definition of  intuitive eating.  Listening to our bodies means personalised care and support, and a truly holistic approach.  
 
I do this with sleep.  I don't use an alarm.  My body knows these days when I need to go to bed and when I need to wake.  When I am feeling most aligned, my body just adjusts naturally and I get the sleep I need.   I wake feeling rested.  I find that when I allow my body to guide me, and I accept the flexibility that's sometimes required in honouring this, then my energy levels are more stable and I don't feel fatigued or tired.  And if I do, I listen, and I change things, and I prioritise more rest. 

I do this with meditation.  Whilst I always meditate twice a day - I'm a Vedic meditation lover over the past years, and 20 minutes twice a day has been so healing and supportive for all aspects of wellbeing.  But I don't have set times as others might. I let my body choose a time in the morning and a time in the afternoon and this may change day to day.  But it always feels right when I listen to my body over anything else. 

And I do this social engagements and catching up with friends.  My body knows what feels best, when to say yes and when to say no, when to go along to something and when to leave.  My body also knows when to speak up and when to sit with silence.  It's amazing how in touch we can become with everything - around and within us - when we learn to listen to our needs.  And when we are willing to do so.  

It's about learning to listen to all the subtle and not so subtle signs, to become aware, to be willing to understand, to accept a different way of doing things, to let go of the way anyone else is doing something and just honouring ourselves, and keeping on going in the way that's right and true for us.  

And all of this, or just something of this, may resonate for all kinds of reasons in your life.  We are all such connected beings - physical, emotional, spiritual - there's not one part of us that is separate to another and our bodies really know how holistic we are. 

Living a life that acknowledges our whole being and all aspects of ourselves, in creating a life beyond limitation, and feeling empowered through anything and everything - this is such a beautiful embodiment of wellbeing. 

Living in harmony with ourselves is something I am passionate about others feeling and creating in their hearts and lives.  

And so I leave you with this question - What does your body need?  And are you listening, right now?  

I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

And if you'd like to know more about living in harmony with yourself, listening to your body, and creating your life in such an empowering and compassionate way, then I'd love to have a conversation with you and support you further.  

With love x
Katie 
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