So, you are listening to your body! Moving your body! Now PUT GOOD THINGS IN YOUR BODY! The 3rd of my 7 Essential Truths, part of my daily practice.
I don't know about you but I am sensitive! And while I love it on the one hand—I'm intuitive, feel things deeply, am easily moved, can pick up the slightest cues, etc., etc.—the other hand can be heavy. If I eat too much sugar/processed foods/alcohol, overindulge with healthy foods, or forget to eat, my mind/body/spirit system goes out of balance. I can get wacky, even wacko-doodle-do. I can feel sick, too high, low emotionally, low energy, irritable, unable to concentrate, and so forth. I had to thresh out the truth of my relationship with "garbage in, garbage out." I resisted (and sometimes still do, and pay for it) the fact that these things affect me, whether I like it or not. I made a decision: If I want to feel good and want my body/mind/spirit to function optimally, I take care to put only good things in it! If I don’t, I pay the price.
MY “TOMORROW ME" This would be a good time to introduce one of my favorite helpers: I call her my “tomorrow me." My tomorrow me helps me think through these kinds of choices. She helps me make future decisions rather than gloss over them, deny them, or downright ignore them. She helps me THINK IT THROUGH. She reminds me that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and if I want the good stuff I need to make good decisions! She helps set me up in advance for success. Rather than scrambling around cleaning up after my poor choices and/or beating myself up then vowing to get back on track (which can be an addictive pattern in itself), here’s an example of how I deal when she helps me.
I recently had friends in town; not just any friend, one of the best friends I have ever had. We don't get to see each other often, and when we do, whoooohooooo. The pattern used to be to put life “on hold" and get back to it after. This time, instead of throwing caution to the wind, which would be easy to do, my tomorrow me and I created a plan, setting myself up to succeed. This scenario looked like my 80/20 plan, which is a way of life, really, and leaves room for when things like this happen. I let myself indulge, but in ways that didn't harm me or send me too far off track. Like having some chocolate and some chips but staying the course—remembering to take my supplements, drink extra water, etc. And when I felt like I was missing out (“Look, everyone else is still drinking, eating crap, blah blah…”) I would self-inquire and ask myself what I really wanted. And would get more clarity on what I was feeling so I could give myself the healthy version of what I wanted or felt I needed! ‘Cause the truth is, I don't want to hurt myself or make myself feel bad.
INTUITIVE EATING Another tip I use is eating intuitively. The body always knows what it needs to stay in balance, and it took me a while to get used to stopping and asking myself, my body, what it wanted. I developed the habit and it serves me well! It’s simple. I start out with “Am I actually hungry? Or am I thirsty?” Next is “Do I want/need salty or savory, protein or carbohydrate?” It’s amazing, because my body always knows! It may take a few times to get the hang of it, but this is an awesome way to feed your temple and keep that balance I mentioned earlier! You can continue the dialogue all the way through: “Have I had enough? Who in me wants more?” etc. Sometimes I notice I want to be comforted, or am avoiding the truth about what’s going on, or am in the midst of making a poor choice for whatever reason. I remind myself that no matter what I eat I am going to get full, so I might as well feel good about my choices all the way around!
The results are consistent: put only good things in our bodies and we function better in every area! Bonus—we also inspire other people to make better choices, in a world filled with the temptation to fall asleep and forget how to take great care of ourselves. Besides…if we don't, who will?