What Does it Mean to Listen to Yourself?

At YCC we often talk about the power and benefits of listening to yourself.

What does that mean and how can you do it?

We’re not talking about listening to the constant chatter running in the background. And, we are definitely not speaking about all the what-ifs, shoulda-coulda-woulda, or scenario playing you have going on in your head.

We are talking about listening to your heart and body – not your head.

Most of us have learned to rely on our heads. We’ve been taught to use our brain’s logic to work through problems and deal with challenges.

Even if our heart and body are screaming for us to do something different, we usually let logic rule.

There are plenty of studies and groups espousing the wisdom of our bodies and more research is underway to further attest to its power. HeartMath (www.heartmath.com/) is one such group spearheading this kind of work.

How do you start listening to yourself?

First, it’s about trust. You trust your head because it has gotten you to where you are now. Suddenly shifting from using logic to going with a hunch or gut feel can be scary.

A good place to start to build trust in yourself is by listening to the more obvious messages and then practicing again and again.

A nice example is to pay attention to your thinking about when you decide to eat. Do you eat when the clock tells you to, or do you listen to your body and eat when you’re hungry?

How about when you sleep? Do you take a nap when you’re tired? Do you stay up late or get out of bed early because you don’t feel sleepy?

If you ignore what your body tells you, it’s because you don’t trust yourself. Without that trust, you are also going to ignore all the other insights, inspirations, and eureka moments your body wants to tell you about.

As you start to pay attention and rely on what your body tells you, you’ll become more aware of the wisdom in your heart that is already available to you.

Next time you find yourself following a pattern of logic/behavior that you’ve done many times before, notice if your body is sending you a different message. It’s little nudges like this that enable you to make the shifts to live more of the life you want.