What Is Your Body Whispering To You?

In the last few months, I’ve needed water.

And when I say I’ve needed water, I don’t mean that I've been excessively thirsty. I mean I’ve had a need to immerse myself in water. Like a calling, an urge, a desire to be in, on or under water. Almost a whisper from my body that that is where it needs me to be.

Being a ‘nature’ child, I’ve always been around water. I’d spend hours of my day as a child swimming in the ocean. I’ve always needed to be around the sea and have been especially soothed by its mere presence. Even in my busy life these days, I always make sure I take the ocean route on long drives home from work, holidays are always at seaside towns and of course, lunch with friends is always better with a view of the beach or river.

But I’ve never felt the need to be underwater. Not until this year.

Maybe it’s because I didn’t take much time off work to recharge and reset over the summer holidays. Maybe it’s unprocessed grief from loved ones who have passed recently. Maybe it's an excessive workload that sometimes is a little hard to keep up with. Maybe it’s because of ongoing demands on my time from too many hats I wear. Maybe it’s perimenopause knocking at the door and my body temperature giving me a prelude of what’s to come. Maybe it’s the never-ending pandemic uncertainty. Maybe it’s simply because this summer was so damn hot.

Maybe it’s because of all of it. Maybe it’s because of none of it.

Whatever the reason, I need to be under water. A lot. And once I’ve resisted the urge and taken that swim; I’ve felt calmer, healthier and more content. Needless to say, the rest of the day has been more positive as a result of immersing myself mindfully in water and cooling myself down. This ‘calling’ has now led to a well-established ritual that is now part of my daily routine. And I’m all the better for it.

But if we were honest with ourselves and slowed down a little, it's likely we would all notice that our body is whispering something to us. And I don’t mean just in words, but in a more silent ‘inner knowing’ sort of communication. Telling us it needs us to behave a little differently, so that we can function better. And if we’d only stop and listen, we’d get the valuable information from ourselves about we need to be doing to soothe ourselves when we’re not feeling at our best.

Maybe your endless fatigue is telling you to slow down. Maybe your sleeplessness is telling you to have a conversation with your boss about your ridiculous workload. Maybe your irritability is telling you to stop with the third glass of wine in the evenings. Maybe your stiffness and aching body is telling you to move your body more. Maybe your unhappiness is telling you to start changing some aspects of your life. Maybe the feelings of dread you keep experiencing are telling you to get some help from a psychologist and learn some tools to manage your anxiety. Maybe your sluggishness is telling you to get outside and spend more time in nature. Maybe your heavy and aching shoulders are telling you to start saying no.

We might not be able to change or control everything that is happening in the world, but we can certainly take some steps ourselves to change the way we feel.

What is your body whispering to you?