Listen to the Whisper.

“Your body is like the quiet talker with the most important thing to say” – TheRandomVibez.com

The other morning I woke up early with the intention of getting in a 45 minute “Power Endurance” spin ride. But, as I sat in bed sipping my coffee and journaling, I realized just how tired I was. The day prior I had gone on a run and completed a 45 minute long weight circuit. It had been a few days since I’d allowed my body a break from exercise. BUT, my training calendar had me cycling and my next rest day still a few days out. I wrestled between what I felt my body was asking for and what my mind was convincing me I should do. 

Just last week I wrote about physical limitations – the limitations we put upon our bodies and what they’re capable of. I set two lofty goals – to run a marathon and compete in the Leadville 100 in 2023. I created a color coded training plan and have started the process of training. 

I have a history with arduous training regimens and competitive sport. In high-school and college I averaged 40 miles a week, clocking the majority of those miles at below a 7 minute pace. And when the going got tough, I got tougher. It didn’t matter if I woke up tired or if a twinge had developed deep within my muscle fiber. I had a practice to show up for or a race to compete in, and it felt shameful to sit these out. That was for the weak. And I felt the need to prove, again and again, that I wasn’t weak. 

With time though, the mileage (and poor nourishment) caught up to me. In high-school, my senior year, I was unable to finish a race. My body simply refused to go on, slowly shutting down on me. In college, I developed a stress fracture in my Ischium that sidelined me for 6 months. Even now, whenever I try to ramp up my mileage or increase the intensity of my workouts, I wind up getting injured – slowing my progress. I have a tendency to do too much too soon, and I am excellent at pushing past the discomfort. I can ignore the signals that my body sends. A blessing and a curse. 

I want this time to be different. I want to get into the best shape of my life over the course of this next year. I want to challenge myself and push against the edge of what I believe I am capable of. AND I want to do it in a way that demonstrates love and respect for my body. I want to listen to my body when she speaks; moving her towards greater strength while optimizing her health. 

There are many benefits when it comes to mastering the language of the body, developing that ability to tune in and recognize the signals and cues she sends your way. Injury prevention being one. Knowing when to rest and when to push allows your body to adapt to challenges and grow stronger, faster, or more flexible as a result. When we are injured, progress stalls, but if we can avoid injury through proper training, we can continue forward in our pursuit of new physical milestones. Listening to our bodies allows for us to achieve and then maintain our optimal health. It is from this place that we flourish and exceed those limits we may have previously set. 

It can be challenging to listen to the cues of our body, especially when these cues go against that persistent voice in our head telling us otherwise. Differentiating between mind and body is something that I continue to struggle with. Here are a few practices that I find are helping me to better hear what it is that my body needs. 

Slow Down

To hear my body, first and foremost, I must slow down. When I am doing multiple things at once, moving through my day in a frenzied state, I am not able to hear the subtle cues of my body. In fact, chronic busyness is a way that many people disconnect from their bodies so that they don’t have to listen. After all, we may not like what we hear. To help myself slow down, I try to begin and end my day with a short meditation – just three to five minutes where all I do is breathe in and out. Mindfulness is another strategy that I employ to maintain inner connectivity. This means bringing my “head back to where my feet are”…practicing presence. Finally, yoga has that “slowing down” effect on me. When I move through the poses of a yoga sequence, aligning breath and movement, I move back into the body and take note of its current state, asking for guidance around what my body needs from me. 

Journaling

I come back to journaling again and again. It is a critical component to my overall wellbeing. Through journaling I pick up on trends I might have otherwise overlooked. If I am starting each morning’s journal entry with “I am tired” or “I am worn out and sore”, then there’s a good chance that I need some rest. If I notice that I am picking apart my body’s appearance in my journal pages, then this indicates a need to re-evaluate the mindset that I am bringing into my workouts. For me, journaling is a gateway within. 

Response to Exercise

I think it is valuable to take note of how your body is responding to exercise. Are you getting stronger, able to lift heavier weights? Are you running faster or farther? Are you feeling more energized in your day to day? With the right amount of training, your answer would be yes. But, when you’re overtraining and under resting, your body isn’t able to fully recover and you may notice that your progress plateaus. The effects of rigorous workouts leave you feeling depleted long after the workout has concluded. Evaluating how my body is responding to exercise helps me to understand when to push harder verses when it is time to pull back. 

Observe How You Respond to Stress

When my body is overly tired, my reaction to stressful situations is much more intense. I may cry more easily, pick an unnecessary fight with a loved one, or have a total meltdown at the slightest of inconveniences. Overtraining is fatigue inducing. And this fatigue can affect our mental state. If we let our body rest when rest is what it needs, we often find we are better able to handle the stressful events that life throws our way. 

The other day, when my training plan had me cycling, but my body was asking for rest, I chose rest. It wasn’t easy for me to do and I felt guilty about my final decision. And yet, the next day I awoke feeling so much more rested and ready to continue training, with a run in the morning and pilates in the evening. 

I want to row stronger, faster and be able to endure longer distances in a run or on the bike. I want to challenge myself and push past the limits that I have created. I don’t want to hurt myself in the process though. I want to show love and respect to this body that is helping to make these dreams of mine possible. 

Whether or not you are undergoing an intense training regimen, an ability to listen to your body will serve you. To assist you in this journey inward, I have put together a couple journal reflection prompts:

• If my body could write me a message, what would it say?
• How might honoring the needs of my body serve me? 

Take some time this week to consider these questions. We get one body, and our relationship with this body will affect all other areas of our life. Keep in mind the following words of wisdom, “Listen to your body when it whispers, so that you don’t have to hear it scream.”