The truth behind this statement stays very close to my heart. It reminds me the importance of listening and trusting my body and live life as it unfolds instead of getting stuck in my head with beliefs that our minds create based on the societal norms and the limits of the human perception. I used to get all wrapped up in my body image. I was too worried about being perfect, I forgot to listen to my body and lived a life filled with guilt, anxiety and shame throughout my childhood and adolescent years. My body was all in my head.

I grew up in a culture where commenting someone on their body weight comes as natural as saying hello. Believe it or not, we usually greet people by saying how much weight they have gained or lost since our last encounter. Growing up in a third world country where many people struggle to access adequate nutrition, having a fuller body is associated with wealth and prosperity. For an underweight girl who was always hungry, and ate multiple large meals and high calorie snacks throughout the day, it was a real struggle for me to find a healthy alignment between my body image and how I was feeling. No matter how much food I consumed, I was not able to gain any weight or muscle mass. I dreaded family and social gatherings as I spent a lot of time worrying about how people might see me as a malnutrition, underweight girl with a weak and frail physique. 

I spent many years trying to understand why I couldn’t maintain a healthy weight. My parents tried to help in the best ways they could. They put me through a series of medical tests and blood work to find out if there were any illnesses or sicknesses that I was going through. At that time, tests performed to determine the underlying cause of abnormal thyroid hormone levels were not readily available in my country. I would later find out that it was most likely my hyperthyroidism that was causing my abnormally high metabolism and all the other symptoms that went along with it such as lowered immunity, weight loss, anxiety, agitation and insomnia. My mother tried to fix my underweight issue by hiring a personal trainer for me at age 12. I spent many hours working out at the local health club in pursuit of gaining weight and muscle mass. I still remember that most of my favorite and fond memories of me growing up in Burma were at the health club with my mom.

For the next several decades following my adolescent years, my weight fluctuated as I believe I went back and forth between hypo and hyperthyroidism without actually being diagnosed or treated by a medical professional. When I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my first pregnancy, I was introduced to the world of autoimmune diseases. I was still refusing to listen to my body at that time as my focus was on how my body looked, not about how my body felt. I ignored all the signals that my body was sending for the longest time. About 8 months after my second daughter was born, I started losing weight drastically again. I was also experiencing heart palpitations, hand tremors, anxiety and insomnia. I felt like I was an energizer bunny stuck on an ‘ON’ button and I was hungry ALL the time. Once again, I ignored all these signs that my body was sending out and told myself that it was the nursing and colic baby causing all these symptoms. It wasn’t until a doctor friend at a social gathering pointed out a large goiter on my neck that I finally decided to go in to see a doctor. When I walked into the doctor office, my heart rate was 140 bpm sitting down. I was in shock when my doctor told me that I was running a marathon while sitting down and my body was about to go into a thyroid storm any moment.

These experiences taught me a very important lesson. I can no longer ignore the connection between my mind and my body. I started a journey to heal my body while listening and respecting its needs. I started by taking time to assess how my body responds to things like exercise and the food I eat. I stopped worrying about my body image and learned that our bodies and minds are meant to be a whole. I also learned that it is common for our minds to get into fight or flight mode as we encounter stressful or painful situations. We tend to stay in the state of denial to escape from our current stressful or uncomfortable situation by numbing or distracting ourselves under the false believe that unawareness will help us cope with the situation. In reality, having awareness and staying in tune with yourself can not only detect early symptoms of an illness or a serious disease, it can also prevent and heal your body from injury and pain.

Here’s a few simple tips on how to start listening to your body.

• Awareness: Start by listening to your body. One of the most basic ways to listen to your body is by grounding yourself in your body. Simply feel your body’s sensations whenever you’ve been distracted or put into a stressful situation and practice a few deep belly breaths. This practice will allow yourself a few minutes to check-in with how you are feeling and give yourself an opportunity to make more intuitive decisions.
• Compassion: Take note of how your body responds to stressful situations without any judgement. Having a good knowledge of your body’s limitations will help maintain compassion towards yourself as you work through life’s challenges. To give you a simple example, it is okay to adjust your workout for the day based on how you feel without feeling guilty about your decision to make it an easier day.
• Respect:  Your body is always speaking so be willing to listen and learn. Don’t talk yourself into denial. Respect what your body wants to do. Whenever I am faced with a difficult decision, I simply find a quiet place to sit down and ask myself a question to observe whether a certain decision gives me a feeling of lightness or heaviness in my body.

Are you listening to your body? How do you feel right now? Do you feel in tune with yourself and aware of the messages that your body is sending you?

If this message resonates with you, please leave a comment or send me a personal message. I would love to hear from you!

May you find the best way to listen and replenish your body by giving what it needs most.

Hmone