LISTEN TO YOUR INNER CUES

In teaching yoga classes, I often instruct my students to listen to their body for the inner cues; when to begin a pose, if and when to move deeper into a pose, and when to come out of the pose. We talk quite a bit too, about taking the practice of yoga off the mat and applying it to every day life. I remind them to use breath work to dial down tension and relieve fatigue, to align their posture and use strong muscles in daily tasks, and to quiet their minds and turn their focus inward for relaxation at the end of the day. But how does listening for an inner cue apply beyond the yoga mat?

With the rising cost of insurance, the escalating number of uninsured and the increase of stress related disease in America, we all have to begin taking a more active role in staying healthy. The more in tune we become to the subtle signals of our bodies, and the more we heed these cues, the closer we come to achieving wellbeing, or homeostasis – the state in which all functions and areas of the body are performing at an optimal level. Without homeostasis we are experiencing some level of disease.

Look closely at the word disease. Likely it conjures up all manner of uncomfortable reactions; cancer is a disease, diabetes is a disease, and let's not forget heart disease, lung disease . . . the dreaded list goes on.

If you break the word down into it's syllables you get dis – ease. Suddenly, some of the gruesome power of the word is diminished. In this context, it becomes understandable that all major and life threatening diseases begin with a simple dis – ease of the body. If we can fine tune our listening to pick up on those first cues, we can take the steps necessary to stop the progression to more serious and sometimes fatal conditions. How often do we wait until it's too late, before we listen to our bodies?

Consider the possibility that when we refuse to listen, our bodies force us to take notice. Consider further that perhaps this doesn't always manifest in disease. Take the case of a young woman I know quite well, working four different part time jobs trying to get ahead, and struggling to maintain a challenging relationship on her already over-booked schedule. Little ailments began presenting, and with too many jobs but no health insurance, medical bills only put more weight on her already burdened shoulders. Friend's cautioned her to slow down, doctors urged her to take it easy, recommending yoga or other mind-body practice to control her stress. She maintained that she could handle it, that she had no other choice.

And then she crushed her finger in a work accident and all four jobs came to a screeching halt. After reconstructive surgery and with a pin protruding from the finger tip, she can't handle much of anything right now.

Take a moment to think of your own persistent aches and pains. A client of mine describes playing tug of war with her partner for the last 24 years. Is it any wonder her physical complaints include neck and shoulder pain?
Is back pain plaguing you? What burden are you carrying that perhaps needs to be put down, or at least shared by another? Recurring bouts of laryngitis or other throat or mouth ailments? What words are you choking back that need to be spoken out loud?

In the April, 2004 edition of Prevention Magazine, Joan Borysenko, PhD, relates the story of her serious skin rash that turned out to be a dysfunction of her immune system. Reasoning that the skin and immune system are boundaries separating us from the outside world and defending against invaders, she decided to examine her emotional and behavioral boundaries. “A friend called me a human buffet – for inviting everyone to come in and have a bite,” she says in her article, Listen To Your Body. “The rash was an intuitive neon sign that said, close the buffet line or risk serious physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual illness.”

I don't suggest that we all throw away our doctor's phone numbers and start diagnosing and treating ourselves. Like Dr. Borysenko, I strongly recommend that you always seek appropriate medical advice. It's just not as simple as making the mind-body connection between what ails you and what's going on in your life. Even if you do listen to your cues and make the right connection, you'll likely still need medical help in many cases. But sharpening your intuition and answering your body's call can be a valuable tool in your arsenal to fight dis-ease and achieve health and wellbeing in body, mind and spirit.

Don't wait until your body forces you to listen; until you are already ravaged by disease.  Listen to your inner cues and you'll be well on your way to staying healthy, wealthy and wise.

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