Listen to your body!

Throughout the first trimester of my pregnancy, the doctor told me that there are virtually three main reasons for why I would feel sick and dizzy sometimes: low sugar level, poor blood circulation or not enough oxygen. These factors are critical for the baby’s development, and at that early stage of pregnancy, my body was like an emergency room; everything should be provided within the briefest delay as the life of a little creature was at stake.

Therefore, my body would send strong signals through nausea and vomiting as a warning for me to the urge need to react; whether by eating snacks high in carbs and natural sugar, working out, or simply by going out and inhaling deeply some fresh air. And it worked at every time. By listening carefully to my body and acting accordingly, my dizziness would instantly fade away.

If my body was in a high alert state during pregnancy, it still functions the same way on the normal days though with a certain level of moderation. While the fetus development can’t tolerate any delay in providing the necessary components to a complete and healthy growth, our body gives us, as mature people, some time to make things right without too much drama. Mild warnings are sent at first; it can be a temporary stomachache, a headache, sadness, dullness…however if we ignore the meaning of these signals and try to make them disappear by taking painkillers, antidepressant pills… the unsatisfied need will persevere, and the body will release even more severe signals of distress, that’s when you’ll find yourself setting in a waiting room at a doctor’s or a psychiatrist’s office wondering what the hell is wrong with me!

It’s insane how industries have mastered the technique of symptoms camouflage while the only technique worth mastering is that of how to listen attentively to your body and answer to its call. In order to maximize their profit and promote their endless products, these companies would try their best to convince you that ‘the only way out of your sick and miserable life is by taking our medicines, drugs and beauty products. Just stick with whatever fucked up lifestyle you are having right now and our magic solutions will do the rest for you!’ Furthermore, this kind of industries thrives simply because the symptoms will persist no matter how hard we try to conceal them. Unlike us, our body is extremely clever; it sophisticated system won’t be fooled by a bunch of chemicals that hides its warning signals away. If something is wrong, it has to be fixed not shrouded, end of the story!

There are several symptoms related to the physical health that can be an obvious alarm to regulate your bad habits. I used for example to have constant stomachaches and burns, I was told that I was born with a sensitive and sick stomach, so I took tons of medicines to ease the pain but the pain never goes away. I’ve learnt with time that I’m the only responsible to blame; my digestive system was actually warning me about the unhealthy food I was tucking in, and the way I was eating like mixing food that shouldn’t be mixed, fried food, spices, sugar… once I’ve adjusted my diet and adopted good eating habits; lot of veggies, lot of fruits, less meat, less diary, less sugar, not drinking right after meals, not eating late at night…my stomach recovered shortly after and all problems disappeared.

I also suffered from a dry skin especially noticeable on my cracked lips, I tried all kind of moisturizers and softening lip balms that I had always carried in my bag. Then I discovered that the real cause behind is simply dehydration, I wasn’t getting enough water into my system and dryness was the natural consequence. Thusly I started drinking water the correct way; before meals and first thing in the morning, my skin blossomed and was glowing like never before.

Those are just a few examples amongst plenty of other issues. In general, all physical symptoms should be taken seriously. We usually need help to figure out what exactly is wrong with our body and how to act adequately. However, with the abundance of available information on the internet nowadays, it won’t be that hard to encounter the problem and follow the proper recommendation. You just have to be willing and ready to change the harmful habits and shake off the inertia and passivity that block you from having a healthy and strong body.   

A final common symptom is a well-known mental health issue that needs thoroughly to be mentioned: Depression*. A detrimental lifestyle leads your body to unleash a sharp cue in order to warn you that something is not quite right. That extreme sadness and hollow can be awful. However, you should take it as an indication to take a step back and process to figure out what’s missing; is it the job that you hate and makes you feel worthless? Do you feel like living with no purpose and no genuine fulfillment? Is it a toxic relationship or maybe you don’t spend enough time with the loved ones? Is it the junk values you’ve been filled with, hence driving you to cram the void with money while there are more valuable things worth investing your energy on? Are you forgetting yourself, lost in the daily routines, and not getting out to the wild nature to seek some fresh air? Were you traumatized as child? Are you stuck by your inherited believes that lay deep inside your subconscious mind preventing you thus from creating the awesome life you deserve...?

Spotting the root of the problem requires a great sense of self-awareness. It’s about finding your inner truth and embracing it. Who you are at your core and what do you want in this life? Lot of people ignore this very crucial answer about themselves, plainly because we tend to flow with the current and identify ourselves and our dreams precisely as the society defines them for us.

 Nevertheless, depression would drastically abate once you give your broken soul the appropriate cure. It can be done by following your heart and your ambitions, doing more of what you love, having audacity and determination to go against the current and expose your weakness as well as your strength to the world, cherishing the ones you love, acknowledging and releasing the childhood abuse, questioning anything that doesn’t make sense to you, doing right by yourself and the people around you, nourishing your spirituality…

Pursuing a happy and healthy life is a long life journey. Just be persistent on fighting for what really matters to you. Love, give, forgive and enjoy every breath you take, every gentle wind softly caressing your skin and every look at the open blue sky. It’s all about learning how to live and be rather than how to survive and endure.

*Inspired from: Lost Connections by Johann Hari.