Mindful Breathing Thought Leader: Nancy Candea
We are getting ready for a shift in season—the last days of summer and anticipation of getting our lives more organized around fall activities.
“Like a neglected child, it is now having a full-blown tantrum.”
Listen To What Your Body Needs:
As a fitness professional, I know that many people set up their fitness routines in September and then refresh them in January. I encourage you to really listen to what your body needs this year. Not what you did or didn’t do last year. Not what you think you have time for, but what your body needs. I know first hand, and from many clients I have worked with, that even the busiest single mom or business owner will be happier and more productive if she takes care of herself first! And this is even more important in the second half of life!
Here is an excerpt from my book PRESENT on listening to your body:
Our bodies are communicating with us. In our younger years, we might have ignored our IBS, headaches, sinus infections, and bronchitis. But our body is now sick and tired of being sick and tired. Like a neglected child, it is now having a full-blown tantrum.
Are You Going To Listen?
“If we don’t consciously relax, our muscles hold on to tension, making us feel achy and tired.”
Our body is made to build things, farm, walk, take care of families—not sit around for hours. When we don’t keep these bones, muscles, and connective tissue strong and flexible, our body feels stiff, and our joints complain.
When we don’t do the work to heal from injuries, our body expresses its disappointment by getting stiffer and shutting down. If we don’t provide the proper nutrients, our body functions like a car running on bad gas. If we don’t consciously relax, our muscles hold on to tension, making us feel achy and tired. Plain and simple: Are you going to listen? Are you going to act on the subtle and not-so-subtle cues that your body gives you?
Contemplation: What Is Your Body Telling You?
Sit comfortably in a supportive chair:
- Notice if any part of your body feels healthy. Describe the feeling to yourself. Ask if there is anything this part of your body wants to tell you.
- Notice if any part of your body feels dull, painful, or tense. Describe it to yourself. Ask if there is anything this part of your body needs.
- Moreover, notice if any part of your body feels numb. Describe the sensation in greater detail. Ask it if there is anything that it needs.
Contemplation like this can help us become more intuitive about our body and the next steps for health and happiness.
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About the Author:
Nancy Candea is a life coach and yoga therapist who helps women make peace with their past, find self-acceptance, and step wholeheartedly into their purpose. Nancy, who specializes in yoga therapy for trauma, addiction, and chronic pain, has led trainings and retreats in Greece, Uganda, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, upcountry Hawaii, Detroit, and Newark.
She created 2017’s social justice summit on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. She has brought her personal trainings to the Boulder Women’s Shelter and to seven-figure households. Nancy’s articles have been featured in Elephant Journal and Purpose Fairy. Check out her freebies at NancyCandea.com.
