Trust Your Body – It’s Smarter Than You Are

“Listen to your body” is something that yoga teachers, including myself, say all the time in class. Some students seem to take it in – usually the ones that have existing injuries – some just let it go straight over their heads and they might be the ones that are in risk of hurting themselves or causing long-term damage!

So what exactly do yoga teachers mean by this?

They mean that you need to take responsibility for your body! They mean that you have to decide how deep to go in a yoga pose. They mean that you have to decide what to do an what not to do.

I think that we generally don’t listen to our bodies enough. It’s go, go, go all time. When we don’t feel well we ask literally anyone for advice – doctors, our parents, neighbours, Facebook and Google… instead of first of all slowing down and taking the time to listen to our bodies and find out what they want to tell us.

This is easier said than done of course! As I’m writing this I’ve got a streaming cold and haven’t really stopped to listen to my body to be honest. I have taken some painkillers as I need to get through the day but deep down what I should actually be doing is slow down, rest and drink a lot of fluids (I find that most of the time that I’m unwell it’s due to dehydration!)

To be able to listen to your body you need one thing first of all: TRUST

You need to be able to trust your body and I know this is something that most of us are struggling with. It’s so much easier to go to the doctor’s and effectively give the responsibility to someone else!

So why don’t we trust our bodies? Have they deceived us at some stage? Are they not trust worthy?

The most important thing that I’ve learned during my pregnancies and giving birth was that I can trust my body. It’s amazing! It has produced two wonderful children! How much more proof do you need?

Maybe you have had a different experience of course and there are times when I forget that I can actually trust my body.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go to see your GP if you are worried about something by the way. I’m saying that so many answers can be found by ourselves if we pay enough attention. I’m saying go to the GP (who might just give you paracetamol if you live in the UK but that’s another story) and THEN ask yourself what your body is trying to tell you!

Have you been doing too much or too little of something?

Have you had enough sleep lately?

Do you drink enough water?

Do you eat the right food?

The same thing goes when you are at a yoga class. The teacher can only tell you what they have experienced in their own practice. A good teacher will have had training in anatomy of course and will be able to tell you how to do yoga poses safely without injuring yourself. They will also be able to give you alternatives in case that you find that a yoga pose doesn’t work for you but you need to tell them that that’s the case!

Ultimately they don’t know what is really going on in your body – you are the person who knows best! Who are they to say you should be able to do this or that. Who are they to say what you should be feeling inside your body!

I always try to make it very clear to my students that what I’m teaching is my experience with my own body. I want them to get interested in to what’s happening inside their bodies when they do yoga. I want them to take responsibility for themselves – not to avoid getting sued (!) but because I know from experience that the best solutions for any problems that I’ve had have come from myself and nobody else. 

So next time you go to a yoga class, try closing your eyes in some of the poses that you do. Even if it’s just for a couple of breaths. Slow down, listen and notice what is going on inside your body. It might be telling you something important…