Ignoring the signs that our body is giving us is all too easy.

It gives us teeny tiny hints numerous times throughout the day but most of the time we’re too busy to recognize what’s really going on. Thirst, hunger, bowel movements, dry skin, sleepiness, headaches, low energy – these are all signs that something is probably missing from our daily diet or life in some way.

Before I really checked in with my body, I suffered from a number of different health issues, the biggest one being urinary tract infections. They were the ‘go to’ signal for me that something was off balance. At the time though, I didn’t really have the knowledge or understanding of what was going on – I felt it coming on, I drank a ton of water, I went to see the doctor, they prescribed antibiotics and off I went. No one, most importantly me, dove further into it until I was seriously hospitalized for a kidney infection many years later.

I am not a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, I’m just seriously passionate about what I choose to put in my body. After focusing on it for over two years I can now recognize what makes my body feel good and what doesn’t (although I will say pregnancy has altered that quite a bit). I recently read an interesting article on Aviva Romm’s blog that talked a lot about our mind body connection and how some of us aren’t really in tune with what our bodies are telling us. In her article she mentioned a few reasons why we might ‘ignore’ ourselves:

–       Not recognizing that our body is telling us something important

–       Not trusting what our body is telling us

–       Being too busy to listen or respond to the messages

–       Not wanting to hear the truth about what our body is telling us

Do any of you ignore what your body ( or head/heart ) is telling you? It’s a totally normal thing to do, because most of the time, when we’ve felt like this and recognized that something might be wrong, we go into the doctor’s office and we’re told that nothing is going on. It might just be a ‘bug’ that’s going around, it might just be whatever is stressing you out at the moment. Those answers are all too easy to get, and at some point, if you’re listening hard enough, you’ll know that it isn’t the answer you want or deserve. You’ll get frustrated and you’ll want to know and just plain understand more. 

Aviva makes an amazing point – “What if our doctor’s asked us – so what do you think this symptom is telling you right now?” Because let’s be honest. Most of us know what things are stressing us out, most of us know what’s really going on in our heads but sometimes, we just choose to ignore those things because it’s easier and less complicated and we don’t have to dive into it all. When someone poses the question directly to you, you have the time to think and to say what you’re really thinking, without judgement or feeling like the answer is silly. I’m of the belief that most of the time it isn’t a ‘bug’ or a ‘virus’ ( although, of course there are a lot of instances where this is exactly the case ) but that maybe you’re run down, that you’re doing too much, that you’re not taking enough time to sit down and take a minute to go to the bathroom, to drink enough water throughout the day, or to simply eat nourishing meals that will keep you feeling strong and healthy. 

I don’t have a solution as to how to fix this but I can happily suggest a place to start. You have to want to listen to your body, you have to learn to love and trust your own body, you have to really get to know yourself so that on a bad day you can do your very best at helping yourself. Sometimes the best place to start is with a new practitioner – someone you feel comfortable with and can really open up to. Someone with the expertise to take all you know about you, and turn that into an action plan. A plan filled with so much goodness, positivity and real things that will help you to get to where you want to be in the long run. 

I’m really excited about a dreamy new practitioner, Nicole, who I will be introducing on the blog in the next few weeks. She’s a Holistic Nutritionist specializing in infertility and pregnancy and has a ton of amazing insight and knowledge to share. Stay tuned!

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A BABY MAKING SMOOTHIE RECIPE 

Ingredients

2 cups of (home made) nut milk 
2 cups filtered water
2 handfuls of dark leafy greens ( spinach, kale, chard, beet greens ) 
1/2 avocado 
2 tbsp raw almond butter
2 tsp chia seeds
1/2 frozen banana 
1/2 cup mixed berries 
 

Add all ingredients to your blender and taste. You may need to add more liquid depending on how thick it gets from the avocado/banana. 

*Recipe altered from A NOURISHED LIFE