Day 854 - Being embodied - https://golifelog.com/posts/being-embodied-1683161832185
I was a competitive sportsperson in school. All my life in school till early adulthood, I believed in mind over body. Great quality to have for sports and grades, but brought to extremes, the downside is that I became pretty disembodied.
And that disembodiment is the root of my chronic stress, burnouts, acute to chronic health conditions right now.
Lately I've been trying to learn to be more embodied, specifically in exericse, diet and sleep.
The first big epiphany: After decades of being disembodied, it’s not easy to listen to the body because I’ve wired myself to ignore the whispers the body sends me, until it becomes screams (in the form of acute/chronic health conditions). I simply didn’t have the capacity and capability to listen, so it’s hard to use the body as an indicator how to act at first, not because body is unreliable but my listening was unreliable.
So in the beginning, trying to be embodied gives mixed signals, and seem like the whole "listen to your body" advice is ineffective. If the connection between your mind and body is a relationship, there just isn't much trust at the start.
That's why having rules and structure in the beginning helps. Like when I started on keto, I followed the rules strictly. Now after more than 3 years, I'm getting the hang of intuitive eating, of catching and trusting what the body tells me. Similarly for sleep - after 3 years of sleep biohacking, I'm starting to know when I need more rest and naps.
Gradually, then suddenly.
And that disembodiment is the root of my chronic stress, burnouts, acute to chronic health conditions right now.
Lately I've been trying to learn to be more embodied, specifically in exericse, diet and sleep.
The first big epiphany: After decades of being disembodied, it’s not easy to listen to the body because I’ve wired myself to ignore the whispers the body sends me, until it becomes screams (in the form of acute/chronic health conditions). I simply didn’t have the capacity and capability to listen, so it’s hard to use the body as an indicator how to act at first, not because body is unreliable but my listening was unreliable.
So in the beginning, trying to be embodied gives mixed signals, and seem like the whole "listen to your body" advice is ineffective. If the connection between your mind and body is a relationship, there just isn't much trust at the start.
That's why having rules and structure in the beginning helps. Like when I started on keto, I followed the rules strictly. Now after more than 3 years, I'm getting the hang of intuitive eating, of catching and trusting what the body tells me. Similarly for sleep - after 3 years of sleep biohacking, I'm starting to know when I need more rest and naps.
Gradually, then suddenly.