How do we get ourselves to understand what the healthy decision is for our own bodies?
This is the question that keeps me awake at night (okay, not literally, but it has been on my mind a lot recently).
The key here is “our own bodies.” When it comes to understanding healthy decisions, in general, the process is fairly straight forward: go pick up some books, watch a youtube video, or do a google search to find information regarding what a healthy decision is.
The process that is understanding what actually works for your own body – that is a different question entirely, one that I believe to be a major obstacle facing most individuals in the modern world.
What is holding us back?
Part of the problem seems to be that us modern humans have become disconnected from our bodies, choosing instead to live inside our heads day in and day out.
While living inside the human mind comes with some wonderful experiences (learning from others, solving difficult problems, enjoying different forms of entertainment), there are problems that arise when we do it all the time.
One such problem – we lose the ability to listen to our bodies and, in turn, fail to make decisions that support the intricate needs of our bodies.
Instead, we opt for approaches focused on a 2-step approach: learning information that others tell us is right (eat this diet; exercise with this routine) and implementing this information as specific action (they said do this exact thing so I will do this exact thing).
Then, when it comes to results, we use criteria that others have deemed important (you should look this way; you should weigh this much).
Here’s the thing – it’s not that we need to ditch this method of learning and implementation. It’s useful to read what others have to say and try it out.
The important piece here is, if we want to achieve a life supported by a healthy body, we need more, and it starts with being able to understand clearly whether what we are doing is healthy or unhealthy for our own bodies.
That’s the key here – what is healthy for our own body? Not for anyone else’s, and certainly not for you based on what others tell you.
Of course, this isn’t an easy goal. It’s not something that I can give you a solution to that will solve the problem overnight. Rather, I like to think of it as a skill developed over time as we get in tune with our bodies, understanding how to listen to what they have to say.
The fastest way to get in tune with your body
If you really want to get in tune with your body, here’s what to do:
Put your hiking shoes on, get in your car, and go find a mountain. Pick one that’s in your skill range but definitely out of your comfort zone. It helps if there’s some good exposure – some risk involved if something goes wrong. Something like this one I did this morning:
If you do this, here’s what you’ll go through.
As you’re scrambling along an exposed ridge, you’ll be looking for places to place your feet (and hands, if necessary). This you’ll be doing consciously – you’ll be making informed judgments based on what you believe to be the safest surfaces. This course of action will guide most of your placements.
And then, on occasion, something will happen – that hand placement that you thought would be perfect – well, it turns out you actually grabbed the hold just to the right of it.
Choose that solid rock that looked perfect for a foot – nope, actually, that foot is headed to the one behind it is where your foot lands.
Decide on a path forward and take a few steps only to realize… Woah, nope, you’re headed this other way.
At least, this is what I have found to be the case throughout my many mountain climbing endeavors.
As I’m making my way along a tricky course, I find myself consistently in this dance with my body. I’m always looking forward at the next series of moves as I regularly adjust based on strong signals I get from inside of me to do so.
These strong signals that arise from inside ourselves – these are what we need to be able to tune into if we are going to make decisions that support our own bodies.
Moreover, this dance between making conscious, calculated decisions and making decisions based on what the body wants – this is what we must learn if we are going to make choices that are the healthiest possible.
Learning the dance
When it comes to making important decisions, we like to think it through. This is useful – our conscious minds have an extraordinary ability to take in information, hold it as it accesses stored information, and process it all as a decision is made as to what action should be taken to achieve a desired goal.
However, when it comes to the decisions that really matter (e.g. staying alive), something else happens: your body is going to take charge.
There’s an important reason for this. And, it happens to be a very simple one:
Because your body knows what to do to keep itself alive.
The thing is, the human body is well designed to keep living. This is one piece of the most basic principle of biology: to be a living being, that form must be able to 1: survive and 2: reproduce.
Ignoring the reproduction piece and continuing with the importance of understanding how capable the body is of keeping itself alive and well…
I bring this up because we have done a fantastic job of separating ourselves from this phenomenon. By distancing ourselves from our bodies, we lose the ability to appreciate how much the body does for us.
And, the fact of the matter is, it does a whole lot.
How much?
Well, let me put it this way: if I were to make a pie chart of all the processes your subconscious mind/body make and all the processes you (consciously) make, the slice of pie that is conscious you probably wouldn’t even be visible to the naked eye. Sure, we make judgment calls based on conscious decision making all day long, but when it comes to what’s really running the show, it’s your body doing the work, keeping you alive as you go about your day doing the things that (hopefully) bring value to your life.
And, when it comes to what’s most important, your body is going to make the call.
Let’s move forward making important decisions that are in the best interest of our own bodies. We do this by developing the skill that is tuning into the needs and desires of our own bodies.
And, once again, to develop this skill I suggest that you go find yourself a mountain (or something that challenges you physically and mentally). The important point is that you take yourself out of your safe space and add some pressure.
No, nothing stupid – don’t put yourself in any real danger. Instead, choose something with higher consequence but low risk (this mean that if something happens, the consequences are bad, but the chance of that happening is so low that we could effectively say that it won’t happen).
“Ok, Katie, sounds all cool and whatnot – I’d LOVE to go experience some rad climb out in nature, but I can’t go do that right now. What else can I do?”
I’m glad you asked. Here’s another option for you.
Yoga
First, go find yourself a pretty mat. (Yes, a mat that brings you joy is an important piece to this. Trust me, it’s from direct experience).
Head to YouTube and find yourself a yoga sequence that appeals to you and works for your skill level.
Now do the sequence. The whole thing. All 30 or so minutes of it.
And then, repeat, all week long.
As for exactly what you’ll find, I’ll leave that for you to discover. What I will say is that it is close to the same thing as you would’ve found on the mountain – a dance between you and your body; a stream of communication as you learn what your body needs while you push it to do more.
This is the communication that is necessary if you are going to make your way through life making healthy decisions – those being the type of decisions that support your own body as it takes on the absurdly complex task that is keeping you alive and well.