NEW CASTLE —
What is my body telling me?
If you had asked me this question just a short time ago, my response would have been something along the lines of, "What do I care? It's my MIND that matters."
As a weak-bodied, strong-minded nerd of a child, I'd long ago learned to capitalize on the one strength I had: the ability to out-think virtually everyone around me. (Listen, don't think I'm being arrogant here. Let me have what I can, OK? I never had the body of an athlete, or the social skills of an A-lister or ... anything. I had my geeky little brain, and my books, and my quiet corner in which to absorb the information I needed to give me at least a little edge in the food chain.)
Because of this ideology, I spent most of my life feeding my brain while neglecting and belittling the importance of my body. After all, the body would never add up, so send in the fighter with the better odds, right?
That was before I started getting old.
Slowly but surely, my body started getting a little bit louder with the messages it had previously been whispering. "Feed me better food. Let me sleep a full night. Get this gallbladder outta here ... it's not pulling its weight anymore!"
Our bodies' most noticeable way of telling us something is wrong is pain. And there's no way to use your brain to justify your way out of THAT. (Looks like I had my money on the wrong fighter, huh?)
But in truth, you really can't separate one from the other. You can't have one thought, feeling, or sensation without both the mind and body. All experience has a physical component. Working on feedback loops, the brain and the body send signals back and forth to let us know what's going right and what's going wrong.
In some cases, that message is pain. OK, that's easy enough to notice. In others, though, the transmission is a tad quieter: the feeling of unease when you're around somebody shady, the lump in your throat or the onset of tears when receiving bad news, the flush of the cheeks that comes with embarrassment. These are examples of our body transmitting distress signals that our mind might not consciously be aware of.
So when you hear the advice, "Listen to your heart" or "Trust your gut" it's not a bunch of hogwash or witchery! Because of this structural mind/body connection, EVERY cell in your body knows when something is wrong, but the message is delivered via chemical reactions instead of words.
The key to accurately receiving these bodily bulletins is awareness. The brain, for all its value and wonderment, is a somewhat fickle friend, and will justify pretty much anything you want it to based on pre-conceived notions, biases, and even error.
The body is so much smarter than that.
Now, I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on how to tune into this awareness. This is a pretty new concept to me, and I'm really looking forward to diving into it. Some experts believe that even depression (a chemical imbalance in the brain) is part of this feedback cycle and can therefore be helped by giving yourself whatever it is the body is crying out for. Sounds like just the kind of challenge I'm looking for!)
In the meantime, I'll leave this to the experts again. If you're interested in learning more about mind/body awareness, Deepak Chopra is da bomb. Here's a sampling:
•Feel what you feel. Don't talk yourself into denial.
•Accept what you feel. Don't judge what's actually there.
•Be open to your body. It's always speaking. Be willing to listen.
•Trust your body. Every cell is on your side, which means you have billions of allies.
Lisa Madras
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About Lisa Madras: Lisa is the advertising dispatch at The News. She has agreed to blog about her personal pain in an effort to inspire others going through similar circumstances. She’ll share her thoughts each Monday.
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Lisa Madras: When you get old like me, it’s time to trust your gut
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