My body talks to me all the time. Sometimes, it seems to scream at me. “Feed me! Feed me! I want! I want!”, is what I often hear. I feed it what it screamed for and then unbelievably, it starts screaming at me again. This time using “words” like bloating, gas, overfull, upset, excess weight, my tummy hurts, not feeling good, etc. At times, my body seems to be terribly broken and miserably confused. Lately, I have begun to question whether I am really listening to my body. Well…I thought I was, but apparently, I don’t always understand it. So I have been learning that the real question is not about whether we are listening to our bodies, but rather, do we understand what our bodies are trying to communicate to us?
Our bodies seem to speak a different language than our minds which results in considerable difficulty understanding what they really need. The language our bodies use to communicate with us is commonly referred to as, “cravings”. It seems that we crave food (or so we think) for almost all of our needs – even beyond our physical need for food. We have all experienced times when we still desire food even though our stomachs are filled with all the tasty food we just ate. Times like these are when our bodies may be trying to tell us, through these cravings, that we need more nutrients. That whole bag of chips may have filled our stomachs but it had very little nutrients our bodies need so our bodies keep telling us to eat more in hopes we will listen AND understand and give it the nourishing food that they really need.
At other times, our bodies crave something more than physical food. Like a child who throws a temper tantrum seemingly to get their own way when, as parents, we know that the child really needs a nap because they are tired. Sadly, we so often use food as a drug, to medicate, to deaden what we are really feeling. Quite possibly we are bored and lacking something to stir a passion within us. Maybe we feel a deep sadness and are lonely and food seems to fill that emptiness. Perhaps it is much, much deeper and we feel that life is meaningless – we lack purpose or feel that our lives just don’t matter. Eating unconsciously (or even consciously) takes our minds off of the real need. Regardless of the many reasons, we eat not fully understanding our true needs and soon our bodies don’t feel so good. They aren’t running at optimal levels anymore. They start screaming at us again. Once again, our bodies are trying to wake us up – to get us to pay attention – to really understand.
Most of us typically respond by simply giving in and eating junk or we try to conquer our cravings. We try conquering our cravings by going on the latest diet, purchasing the latest diet pill or diet product, abstain from eating or over-exercise to make up for what we consumed and many combinations of all of these. We attempt to ignore what our bodies seem to be screaming at us for. However, by ignoring our bodies’ cries for help, our real needs go unmet yet again.
What would happen if the next time we had a “craving” for food, when we weren’t actually hungry or in need of it to nourish our cells, we chose not to either give in, ignore nor did we try to conquer? I wonder how different it would be if we would try sitting with the feeling for a few moments and ask ourselves what it is that we are really feeling – what it is that we really need. Maybe the problem is not whether we are listening to our bodies but that we need to speak the language our bodies speak to us so that we can understand.
Just as parents who learn to distinguish their child’s cries of hunger from cries of pain, we need to learn to know the difference in our own bodies’ cries of hunger versus pain. Our bodies are desperately trying to tell us something very important. Our bodies are crying for their very lives and sustenance from the depths of our souls. When we learn the language our bodies speak, we free ourselves from the power and control that food has over us. We use food appropriately to nourish our bodies and we find other healthy ways to soothe and nurture our other needs. I am personally continuing to learn how to understand the language of my body so that I can take care of all of its needs. I hope you will decide to do the same. If you would like help deciphering what your body may be telling you, feel free to contact me. We all could use someone to aid us in asking the questions that will help us to understand.
Our bodies seem to speak a different language than our minds which results in considerable difficulty understanding what they really need. The language our bodies use to communicate with us is commonly referred to as, “cravings”. It seems that we crave food (or so we think) for almost all of our needs – even beyond our physical need for food. We have all experienced times when we still desire food even though our stomachs are filled with all the tasty food we just ate. Times like these are when our bodies may be trying to tell us, through these cravings, that we need more nutrients. That whole bag of chips may have filled our stomachs but it had very little nutrients our bodies need so our bodies keep telling us to eat more in hopes we will listen AND understand and give it the nourishing food that they really need.
At other times, our bodies crave something more than physical food. Like a child who throws a temper tantrum seemingly to get their own way when, as parents, we know that the child really needs a nap because they are tired. Sadly, we so often use food as a drug, to medicate, to deaden what we are really feeling. Quite possibly we are bored and lacking something to stir a passion within us. Maybe we feel a deep sadness and are lonely and food seems to fill that emptiness. Perhaps it is much, much deeper and we feel that life is meaningless – we lack purpose or feel that our lives just don’t matter. Eating unconsciously (or even consciously) takes our minds off of the real need. Regardless of the many reasons, we eat not fully understanding our true needs and soon our bodies don’t feel so good. They aren’t running at optimal levels anymore. They start screaming at us again. Once again, our bodies are trying to wake us up – to get us to pay attention – to really understand.
Most of us typically respond by simply giving in and eating junk or we try to conquer our cravings. We try conquering our cravings by going on the latest diet, purchasing the latest diet pill or diet product, abstain from eating or over-exercise to make up for what we consumed and many combinations of all of these. We attempt to ignore what our bodies seem to be screaming at us for. However, by ignoring our bodies’ cries for help, our real needs go unmet yet again.
What would happen if the next time we had a “craving” for food, when we weren’t actually hungry or in need of it to nourish our cells, we chose not to either give in, ignore nor did we try to conquer? I wonder how different it would be if we would try sitting with the feeling for a few moments and ask ourselves what it is that we are really feeling – what it is that we really need. Maybe the problem is not whether we are listening to our bodies but that we need to speak the language our bodies speak to us so that we can understand.
Just as parents who learn to distinguish their child’s cries of hunger from cries of pain, we need to learn to know the difference in our own bodies’ cries of hunger versus pain. Our bodies are desperately trying to tell us something very important. Our bodies are crying for their very lives and sustenance from the depths of our souls. When we learn the language our bodies speak, we free ourselves from the power and control that food has over us. We use food appropriately to nourish our bodies and we find other healthy ways to soothe and nurture our other needs. I am personally continuing to learn how to understand the language of my body so that I can take care of all of its needs. I hope you will decide to do the same. If you would like help deciphering what your body may be telling you, feel free to contact me. We all could use someone to aid us in asking the questions that will help us to understand.
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