The Great Disconnect

Amidst each Yoga class I teach I remind the participants to listen to their breath and let it guide them, and to listen to their body. This is about you and your personal practice, it is not about someone else or about competition. It is about connecting your mind to your body. Finding that balance within.

In general there is a huge disconnect. Most people listen to either their mind or their body in each situation. You may recognize both and see which direction they each push you but we commonly just follow one. When we connect these two we find ourselves in a better space, one where we are making clearer and more concise decisions. This connect is something I have studied and I strongly believe in finding that balance in our lives. But I cant always do it.

So here I am still in bed. Today was supposed to be my epic beach day, a day I was stoked for. But my body won even though my mind had another idea entirely. My ears are aching, my head throbs, my body aches and I feel weak. The pressure under my cheek bones and eyes is suffocating and I am exhausted. Apparently since I had chosen to ignore the messages my body was sending it decided to send a bigger message, one I couldnt miss. It was like a slap in the face saying "hello, since you neglected to slow down or boost your immune system you now will suffer." Thank you for the memo.

As I listen to the rain I find myself thinking. And I think of the hypocrite within. I emphasize the importance of this connection within ourselves and I totally missed the boat. I got so caught up in not drowning in my life and all of the little things I missed the big picture of my health. I could have told you a week ago I was feeling exhausted and run down, I could have told you several days ago I wasnt feeling awesome and kept getting headaches. I could have told you 36 hours ago that I was achey and exhausted and my ears hurt. But instead I told my body to get over it because I had things to do. My bad. So i am re-evaluating and trying to just go with the sick day and get back to life tomorrow. I am being much more aware of my body though and listening to all of its moanings, whether subtle or not. And my mind is still rocking it. Perhaps after another day I will be back in balance. That would be nice.