I remember this moment vividly, even though it was 2012.
I was volunteering at the Alzheimer’s Walk giving mini Reiki sessions to the participants.
I was in severe pain and had been for probably a week and a half. I could barely stand upright to give this lovely woman her Reiki session.
I ignored it. I was busy. Running a business, teaching Jazzercise classes, volunteering, doing…I don’t know…life stuff.
Two days after this photo was taken, the pain literally brought me to my knees.
And yet I STILL wasn’t running off to get it checked out.
I finished teaching a class (eight years ago this week) and when all the customers had left I sat down on the stage doubled over. One of my associates who as still there, said “You’d better see a Dr.”
I said, “Nah, I’m fine, I have to teach again tonight. She said she’d teach and I should go (thank you Peggy, I’m forever grateful).
I did. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I ended up having an “identifiable gelatinous mass that had wrapped around my ovary, my colon, embedded itself through my pelvis and down my leg.”
It was a 5 ½ hour emergency surgery, a 15 inch incision, and put me completely out of commission for three months. I had additional complications leading to another surgery the following year and to this day have residual effects.
The first thing I remember upon waking was my mother’s voice saying, “Who’s going to tell her.”
I had not listened to my body.
There were signs. There were red flags. I ignored them. My body whispered louder. And louder. I was in chronic pain, exhausted and working far too many hours. Then because I wasn’t listening, it hit me over the head and stopped me in my tracks.
Listening to your body is no joke.
Emotions, trauma, fears, passions, beliefs, old stories, they all dwell in our bodies.
Our bodies are one of our best sources of informations.
Stop reading for a moment and take a full deep breath.
What is your body telling you?
What does it need, crave, desire?
We can only live in an optimal rhythm if we take time to tune in and listen.
This was one of the hardest lessons I’ve ever had to learn, and I continue to struggle with it and re-learn it regularly. Like any habit, it takes practice.
How can you listen to your body today?
Be well,