Through my personal experience of ignoring warning signs from my body and the consequences that followed, I learned the importance of honoring and listening to my body’s feedback in order to maintain a healthy and harmonious relationship with it.

Several months ago, something happened to me that made me stop, reflect, and rewire. I had an injury that made me take another look at my relationship with my body.

You know, the moment I dare to think “I got it, I know it,” “been there done that” type of thing, I noticed that my mind closes up, my attention gets duller, and instead of conscious existence, I start running on autopilot driven by my tendencies. 

Knowledge and a clear understanding that I should focus on health (not the injury) on happiness (not sadness) somehow did not prevent me from moments of frustration, irritation, and even resentment. I have to be better at listening and honoring my body’s feedback in order to maintain a healthy and harmonious relationship with it. And I’m continuously working on it. 

Here is my video 🥳

So, what actually happened to me, you might wonder? 

It was a beautiful day; I went for a long walk on the beach (several miles long). It is my usual weekend walk to the island’s tip, where I love to sit on huge granite rocks and enjoy the vast view. It was great, all of it: the tender breeze and the sun, the whisper and warmth of the ocean, the soft sand… Yes, the sand. The sand at the shore felt different this day; it was exceedingly soft. I noticed that right away. My heel was sinking into it way too much. “It is not the first time I’m walking long distances barefoot; I should be fine.” – I squashed my doubts and proceeded to enjoy the walk.

I felt the soles of my feet uncomfortably overstretching; my body was sending me all the warning signals; I could slow down, sit down and enjoy meditation, or just take a nice long soak in the welcoming ocean waters. Maybe that is what most reasonable people would do. But instead, I proceeded with my plan to reach the peak of the island. And, as you would expect, I succeeded in reaching my goal.

My Relationship with My Body

You see, I’m really good at setting lofty goals for myself—nothing wrong with that, right? I’m thoroughly enjoying the process of getting there as well. What I’m not being good at lately is stopping and attentively listening to my body. As I dissolve in a creative process or activity, I have a gross tendency of putting my body on overdrive without giving it the necessary time to recover and refuel. I wonder if you’ve ever found yourself in a similar situation? 

If I would take this walk on the beach with you, and you would say something like: “Hey, Julia, my feet don’t feel comfortable.” I would absolutely pay attention to you and the way you feel. I would immediately find an alternative activity that makes both of us happy. But somehow, when it comes to my own body (that is supposed to be my best buddy), often I’m not responding in the same kind and attentive way. When it comes to physical activities, frequently, I’m like an annoying, pushy coach always nagging and testing its limits.

This time around, after I came home from the walk, my feet were hurting, but I wouldn’t slow down, as I had many more plans, you know. So I continued with all my routines, work, and other obligations while whispering to my body: “Wait a bit, I’ll just finish this, and then I’ll attend to you.” Then the next thing would come up, and the next, and the cycle continued. 

Well, my body had to stop me somehow, and it did. It wasn’t pretty. I couldn’t be on my feet for more than 10 minutes at a time, the pain was excruciating, and doctors’ order “you have to be off your feet” seemed incomprehensible, and recovery time from 6 to 12 months sounded unreal.

The windfall of emotions scooped me up. The way I communicate with the world and with you guys is very important to me, because I know that what I hold within is what I give to others. I had to step back, reflect, retrieve, reclaim my ground, and rekindle my relationship with my body. 

They say that the body is the temple for the soul, which is true. However, another view on the human body can be that it is a piece of incredible technology capable of receiving and processing an obscene amount of information. 

My body communicates with me constantly. It gives me feedback on outside situations and lets me know what’s happening internally. I think I’m getting better at listening to it and giving it loving care. For example, I spend a couple of minutes on a body scan several times daily. I close my eyes and listen to my body. How is it feeling right now? What is going on with my forehead, my shoulders, my elbows? What parts of my body are tense? Am I sitting comfortably, or maybe I need to get up and stretch a bit or do a little dance? The majority of the day I spend in front of the computer, so I do feel like my shoulders, eyes, and neck can use some more love. I need to include more upper body stretches during the day, for sure.

So here is where I am now. My feet are feeling much better. During the last four months, the most challenging part for me was to stay put. I’m getting back to the daily grind. But you know what I want to do? I just want to run; I want to feel the wind on my skin! I want to get out there and do things! Maaaan, I missed physical activity. The challenging part is to keep listening to my body and continue to be patient and loving towards it. 

I’m so excited to be back, share more videos, and hang out with you guys. During my break, we got more subscribers to the channel. It makes me so happy. I want to welcome all new friends, and I’m sending love to all of you! Thank you so much for all your support and love.

Thank you.

See you soon.

Be Alive 🌱,
❤ Love, Julia

👷‍♀️ MORE INTERNAL DIGGING ⚒️

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