Clenching my jaw, I gripped the steering wheel of my car tightly as I maneuvered through dense Atlanta traffic. Stomach tight, feeling lightheaded; and telling myself – you’re almost home Onye’ just keep going. Palpitations picking up frequency and shortness of breath happening all at once, I pull in the parking lot of my apartment complex and take a deep exhale as I put the car in park. I’m so tired I can’t even move from the car. So, I sit there. In silence and stare into space until I get the courage to move one limb at a time to get to my front door and sit on my couch to do the same thing.

This was me drained and numb to my needs.

In a world that’s constantly distracting us, pushing us for more, our bodies are constantly speaking to us. “That’s too much, I’m tired, I hated that meal, we need more water, we hate him,” and so much more. How did we get to this point? Glorifying exhaustion and the expense of ourselves and being out of touch with our most precious gift - our bodies. Our first home, temples, and prized possession.

I often talk about this platform being a journey back home because we are constantly being encouraged to step away and be out of touch with our bodies and we need to get back in touch before things get serious. So, let’s begin this journey. It’s crucial because you will know when not only something is going wrong, but when you are alright. Wellness is the new baseline. Not some hundred-yard dash that feels unachievable.

The first thing I did to become more self-aware in my body was slow down. In any area that I could control I did. For me this looked like not eating in the car while driving so I could actually taste and digest my food. It’s kind of hard to be in tune with your body when you’re fighting through traffic and shoving food down your throat.

For my breakfast in the mornings, I actually sit down and enjoy my meal. I stopped having 2 screens at a time. No scrolling if my tv was on. Pick one and be present.

Check in with my body after meals

After I eat a meal, about 20 minutes after, I’ll check in with myself. How’s my energy? Do I feel sleepy? Gassy? Bloated? Satisfied? Tired? Grounded? etc. These are great questions because they lead to great discoveries about yourself. This was how I discovered that my body hates cauliflower. I’d be bloated for 3 days after eating it no matter how it was prepared. This is how you learn you.

No committing before I thought about it

I used to be a people pleaser. So of course I could be everywhere at all times. But simply stopping yourself and saying “I’ll let you know by” gives your body and mind the chance to process the request. You may really want to, but because you took the time to ask yourself how you felt about the commitment, it didn’t fit. These are very simple steps to begin the process so when bigger things arise, you will be better in tune with yourself to articulate what you need, even if it’s just from yourself. Master yourself.

What areas of your life are you wanting to build more awareness in right now? After tonight’s meal, run through some of those questions I mentioned. This will be a good time to practice.

Image source: vwalakte

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