When I do presentations or lead workshops, I ask people at the start to honor their body’s impulses and take care of what their body needs.

And I say specifically, if you need to pee, please leave the room and go pee.

I usually get a lot of chuckles, and a few startled faces. It does get attention – which is good – because it’s important.

So you might be asking, why is this important?

And what does not holding my pee have to do with my nervous system?

Here’s the thing…

Respecting and honoring our bodies is an essential part of having a healthy nervous system.

We humans – especially strong, smart, ambitious people doing good work out in the world and caring about other humans – tend to ignore our bodies so we can get the job done.

We’ve learned over the years to shut down our bodies, minds and hearts in a variety of ways.

So we hold our pee.

We sit for hours in front of a computer, with tension in our jaws and necks, when our bodies want (and need) to move.

Or we're "on" for the entire workday, taking care of patients (or clients, or students), and don't take a break.

We stay up late, working, or scrolling on social media, when our bodies want (and need) to rest.

We skip meals because we have back to back meetings or people to take care of – and ignore our hunger cues.

And then we might scramble and grab the nearest high carb thing to satisfy the hunger and exhaustion in the moment.

And in learning well to ignore our own needs, we’ve created a kind of “override” of our body’s signals, so we don’t hear the signals after ignoring them for so long.

Or the signals don’t come any longer.

Why does this matter?

Because our nervous systems are designed to work in support of not only our survival, but our well-being, connection and longevity.

When we keep doing the override, we don’t hear the body's signals.

Those signals that the body naturally gives us to bring us back to a state of well-being.

Or to get out of danger when we need to leave a scene.

So ignoring our bodies cues can lead to dysfunction, which then leaves our nervous systems less capable of supporting us in the ways they need to support us…

What opens up when I do listen?

When we learn to listen to the body (and stop practicing the override), it can give us all kinds of information that serves us – everything from helping to make important decisions, to learning what steps are needed to support our physical and emotional health, to learning to access our intuition, and a whole lot of valuable things that can be life-changing.

One of my clients I’ve worked with a long time and who knows body listening on the basic and more advanced levels, recently told me that her healing practice that week was listening to when she needed to pee, and then doing it.

She said “it sounds so simple, but it’s actually been really helpful in bringing me back to my body, and being able to hear its messages about a lot of other things.”

Body Listening - it's a practice

Body listening is a practice I love to teach in my programs and with clients.

And while we go much deeper than just learning to pee when we need to pee (wink), it’s actually a great first step.

Tuning into what your body is asking, doing what it’s asking, and then repeating this process can be key to unlocking your capacity to partner with your body in healing (more on that in another newsletter).

And this helps your nervous system function better, so it can take care of you - in hard moments and in moments of love and connection!

Let's practice...

For now, I encourage you to pause and listen to what your body’s asking for.

Choose a really simple thing to focus on for a week.

Some examples...

- Peeing when you need to pee

- Moving and stretching when you start feeling the urge to move while at your computer or in a meeting

- Drinking water before (and when) you’re thirsty

- Listening to the anxiety arising and taking some deep breaths to pause and BE with it rather than shoving it down (or pretending it's not there).

I know it sounds too simple, but I encourage you to practice it – whatever your one thing is – and notice what shifts in your awareness.

Start simple to be able to go deep.

I’d love to hear how this goes for you.

Know someone who needs this?

Know someone who predictably ignores what their body needs? Maybe in big ways?

Perhaps when they ignore the signals it even affects you?

Please forward this to them.

More to come on body listening…

For now, many good wishes for tuning in and listening to your beautiful body.

And of course, remember that when you do your self-care in the form of body listening, and when you take care of your needs, that ripples out – to your kids, partner, teams, colleagues, clients/ patients.

The world needs you well.

With love and blessings,

Kelly

P.S. For space to practice body listening and other deep self-nourishment in community, please join for one of our monthly retreats.

Our next Radical Self-Care Community Retreat is Sunday, February 13, from 10-12:30 MST. You can register HERE – theme will include healing by touching into and sourcing from the energetics of love (in ways you may not have explored before...).

Please share this invitation with others who could use some healing, community and space to do self-care with accountability.

Kelly Lubeck, MPH, RYT