Following on from ‘Messages from the Body to the Mind about Food’, here are more revealing ‘body-knows’ stories and how the funny but wise messages continue …
Eating Chilli – Bucket loads!
In 2010, whilst living in a country rental property, I became very ill from a couple of rat-borne diseases, which resulted in lots of ambulance trips, powerful antibiotics, heart and kidney damage, and time admiring the walls of many Emergency Departments. The doctor gave me three possible actions for dealing with extreme debilitating nausea from the antibiotics:
1) Do nothing and suffer
2) Take anti-nausea drugs and put up with more side effects, or
3) Eat all day
Great choices! My doctor and I came to the same decision together that the least harm would come from eating all day. It worked to stop the nausea, but combined with the lack of exercise due to illness, I put on about 9 kg of fat. As my health improved though, this extra weight did not want to shift.
Then in April 2014, whilst at a Universal Medicine Retreat, suddenly my body said: “Give me chilli – LOTS of chilli, please!” I’d always loved chilli but only in tiny amounts as I’m very sensitive to small amounts of things. Suddenly I was eating chilli – ‘bucket loads’ in fact – without ill effects and my body was utterly joyful about it. My eating (lots of) chilli went on for a few weeks, then the off-switch message from my body engaged, and although afterwards I felt to regularly consume more chilli than I had before, it just wasn’t in ‘bucket loads’!
Halving My Meal Portion Sizes …
The other message from my body when I got home from the Universal Medicine retreat was, “Eat half what you normally eat”. I don’t eat much normally and the less time I spend in the kitchen the happier I am, so I can get on with ‘more important’ things. Aside from that I just generally don’t eat a lot or in large portions. So halving what I already eat? Outrageous!
I ignored this message from my body and went ahead and ate my normal-sized small meal of safe, simple, nutrient-rich foods.
Oh the discomfort!! – awake almost all night with a painful, distended stomach! So I decided I would listen to my body and when I halved my meal portion sizes I felt much more comfortable. Not only that, my body brought my weight back to what it knew was healthy for it, without my dieting or imposing some target on it. For me, the meal portion size message is particularly to be obeyed in the evening. If I go to bed having eaten even a bit too much, the results are disastrous!
My Vinegar Pain Message …
Pain has often been the signal for me to drop various other foods too. It is an interesting message from the body and personally, I don’t like switching it off with painkillers if at all possible.
To me, that’s like turning off my smoke alarm and ignoring the fire in the roof.
Pain for me is there in the first instance to tell me that something is wrong and that I need to find out what’s going on and then take action.
I manage for as long as I can without painkillers whilst finding out what the pain is about and then, if it’s still intense and or ongoing, I do relieve it with medication.
Recently I got another message from my body which involved pain and vinegar … I used to love vinegar, I mean really LOVE it – especially salt and vinegar chips, my grandma’s amazing pickled onions, my Russian father-in-law’s awesome dill pickles, tangy mayo, salad dressings with balsamic, etc. Then one day I noticed that if I ate vinegar I was in pain in my stomach shortly after. Every time. And it got worse. Being a ‘science head’, I checked that the problem was actually the vinegar, and yes it was.
I liked to have balsamic vinegar in my salad dressings and I knew that all the other ingredients in the salad were ‘safe’ foods for me – just plain veggies. Only the vinegar was in question, as it seemed to be the common factor when I experienced pain upon eating. Made without vinegar – no pain; made with vinegar – pain; made without vinegar – no pain. I did a few trials both ways with otherwise the same ingredients to be sure. My body knew! No more vinegar for me!
The Sugar Meter …
The next ‘body knows’ story is a classic too. Years and years ago, I noticed that if I’d eaten something with a huge amount of sugar in it, meaning sucrose from sugar cane, a few days later I would get a tiny ulcer on my tongue. Whoopy doo … well no, not trivial – the pain from that tiny ulcer was unbelievable and went on for 3 days. So in the past when contemplating some yummy sugar-laden enticement, like golden syrup dumplings, or a block of chocolate, etc., I would be faced with a choice: a few minutes of sensual pleasure followed by 3 days of oral agony, or say no to the treat. I usually listened to the message from the body and said no.
But as the years have gone by the ‘sugar meter’ on my tongue has become more and more sensitive. At first it was only extreme amounts of sucrose that shot the dial and the pain up into the ‘red’. Then smaller amounts did it and the ulcer formed a bit quicker. From taking a few days, it was now forming within a day of a big sugar hit. It really stopped me eating those sugary delights.
This process went on, until the ulcer would form within minutes of eating even a small amount of sucrose.
As a biologist I marvelled at how quickly a piece of intact, healthy tongue tissue could rear up into an enduring, red, painful welt in response to a little bit of one chemical.
But the body’s reaction to sugar didn’t stop there. As my sensitivity has increased, I have also found that there are certain unprocessed raw foods in my diet that my body reacts to and that I can no longer eat. Sometimes I get a slight ulcer from eating things that apparently have no sugar in them. Evidently my sugar meter is also a lie detector, revealing sugar in foods when it is not even listed on the packaging!
The Body Truly Knows …
The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take. I now know to not ignore or override the messages from the body, however they come. First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!
By Dianne Trussell, BSc Honours; 16 years in Biological & Medical Research & Teaching
Further Reading:
On the Topic of Food and Diet
Making Healthy Food Choices: Stop Connect Feel
The Truth About That Apple and Me
I think we have to take our hats off to our inventive ways that we have produced foods and liquids that keep us a million miles from the truth of who we are by stimulating our bodies so that we cannot feel the divine essence we all come from.
Wow what an amazing blog showing us all how wise our bodies are and how much we can over ride it, just so that we can have a sweet sensation in our mouth for those few seconds before it is swallowed.
It’s interesting how clear our body speaks. The more we follow its messages, the clearer we listen to them
The body holds an ancient wisdom the mind will do its best to avoid.
There’s a lot of grump that goes on about food intolerances from other people who eat whatever they want without being aware of any effects. The grump comes from not understanding the reason behind the food restriction but whenever I explain that when I eat something, the body does x,y,z. Then there’s an understanding and no grump about it.
The more I explore my connection to my body the more I feel it has a wisdom and intelligence, and it communicates from this very directly if I am open to listening. It’s very humbling and awe inspiring at the same time.
The more I trust my body and feel what it wants the more life unfolds in wondrous ways.
I love this, lately I have gone back to loving garlic, for the last two years I have not cared for it where as right now I can not get enough.
Listening to the bodies needs means we take our self empowerment back.
Dianne, this is really interesting; ‘Pain for me is there in the first instance to tell me that something is wrong and that I need to find out what’s going on and then take action.’ I can feel that so often we try and get rid of the pain with tablets rather than seeing the pain as a message from our body and discovering what message our body is giving to us.
Our body is an amazing and accurate science lab.
And it is always honest.
It’s great to read this because I’m currently suffering from something I’ve eaten and my body is speaking very loudly, so much so that I can’t ignore it. So, a process of elimination it is for me over the next few weeks.
There are so many ways our bodies communicate with us. Another example I remember is when I made home-made granola with fresh fruit and soya cream, and ate this for 3 days in a row for break-fast. Directly after eating, I had the most intense hot flush that was so uncomfortable. I knew it was not the granola, or the fruit, it had to be the soya cream. On the fourth day I used almond milk instead and I had no hot flush…. a simple experiment with no hot flush!
Our bodies do know exactly what will support us at any given time including when we are ill. I was a vegetarian for some 14 years, but when ill, I got the message to start eating meat, and I did, and I found my body loved chicken and lamb and my body was truly satisfied afterwards – and I am happy I listened because eating meat again was a great support for all the harsh treatment I had to receive!
“As a biologist I marvelled at how quickly a piece of intact, healthy tongue tissue could rear up into an enduring, red, painful welt in response to a little bit of one chemical” – absolutely Diane, it shows the level of sensitivity the body has and the extent to which we so often ignore this [sensitivity of ourselves].
So true Linda, it is like a vicious circle. If we do not care about our bodies we will not listen to it either and Vice Versa.
What we learn from our body is so much more sustainable than that what we learn from our head.
Our bodies are incredibly wise, and could teach us much if we are open to listening to them.
In my recent travelling, I found that my body is very clever in explaining what I could eat and not when I was in foreign countries with for me unknown food traditions. But to let me be very playful in my trial and error exercise. Very lovely to feel this holding support of my body.
Our body does truly know, it is extremely wise and so supportive of us if we choose to listen and honour what is being conveyed, ‘The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take.’
I was recently with one of my teenage grandsons who was not feeling very well, sharing with him how I have discovered, often the hard way, that my body is my best friend and always talking to me. A couple of hours later he said he wanted something to eat; not sweet and not savoury but sour. When I asked him what he felt his body wanted he said, a lemon. So, I squeezed half a lemon into a glass of water and with the first swallow I saw his shoulders drop and his whole body, which had been very tense, relax. It was absolutely amazing to witness his body’s response; it was definitely talking very clearly and how wonderful he listened.
I agree Fiona, sometimes we get in a routine of eating the same thing and cooking in the same way due to it being convenient and time saving and then we find meal times dull and boring. How can food be boring when we listen to what our body is asking for in the way of support and nourishment?
I have found too that while I am attending a Universal Medicine Retreat, workshop, presentation or even during a session with an Esoteric practitioner that messages seem to come to me loud and clear – beautiful markers to feel in my body supporting me to learn to distinguish the difference between messages/thoughts that enter the mind and the messages being communicated from my body.
Our bodies are an amazing barometer of what is not true if we are only willing to listen – I have noticed that my throat feels like it is closing up when I eat certain foods which is a sure sign that I need to stop eating whatever it is, being stubborn I usually have to test it out a few times before I concede that it is now off the menu but my body certainly thanks me when I choose to listen to it.
Our bodies are really wise, and know exactly what is needed in each situation, perhaps it would be wise of us to listen.
I have tried my best to shut down and override that sensitivity that we all have, but sooner or later those choices catch up with us and the body speaks to us very loudly. The more choices we make to take deep care of ourselves, the more amazing we feel- cared for, deeply loved and cherished- just what we’ve all wanted and all from within – and the more anything that isn’t of that same quality really stands out. I once would have winced at the thought of taking care of myself – just so unnecessary when there is so much to do! – but now I feel that compromising and sacrificing my body isn’t worth it in terms of the quality of what I do and how connected I feel to myself and others in that less cared for state.
Dianne, reading your article I can feel how so often we choose our diet from our parents, from reading books and following advice – rather than from what feels ok and not ok in our bodies. What really stands out in this article, is that our bodies know what foods we need and so to listen to our bodies and observe how they respond to certain foods feels key.
Dianne, I really enjoyed reading this article. I love that your experiment with different foods and how they feel in your body. This feels like a great way to choose what to have and what not to have – very simple and clear.
Listening to our bodies is the most loving thing one can do, deepening that relationship helps to deepen all other relationships.
I loved what you shared Dianne, if we have a listening ear the body is sharing so much to us all of the time, I remember when I used to eat sugar and milk together in a dessert my tummy would get bloated, a horrible feeling, so that was the end of sugar and milk, I have recently been noticing how the size of my meals effect my body and even though I am quite thin I feel I don’t need larger meals to try to put on weight any more. I like the feeling of a lighter body rather than feeling heavy.
And this isn’t just with food, the body knows what job is needed, when and how to sleep or speak, how to dress and pretty much everything else in life.
So true no need to agonise about making decisions – just ask the body…
Lately I have been having a food craving for chicory, I had never even brought this type of vegetable before but since trying it at a Universal Medicine Retreat I have not been able to get enough!
Interestingly I was late on my period this month and when reading about chicory one of the benefits was it helped bring on late periods.
Love it how when we listen we do know.
Sometimes I can eat a meal and I know it has hit the spot, it feels really lovely eating it and I feel really lovely after it – as opposed to some meals where I know deep down what I am eating is not what my body requires and therefore the after effect is definaitly not so hot.
I love the way you are so observant and responsive to your body- that is inspiring.
“Evidently my sugar meter is also a lie detector, revealing sugar in foods when it is not even listed on the packaging!” I love that, our body is a lie detector especially for the lies we tell ourselves too. We say we can eat that little bit of something but our body will always share what is true and what is not.
This is a great sharing – how your body just knows what it needs. What a joy it is to actually listen to our bodies and honour what they ask us. It just makes sense to listen and respond. Whenever I do, I am confirmed by how i feel.
We can’t go wrong when we listen to what our body wants – it knows far more then our mind ever will.
It is very inspiring to read how science can be so personal.
And all around the world people’s bodies are speaking louder and louder and louder… Eventually all of these voices will combine together into an unavoidable declaration that says enough, you have to listen to the human body… it knows exactly what to do, and how to heal
I am loving the fact I am listening more and more to by body, at the moment my body is asking that I to do more exercise which I am and I must say I am hugely feeling the benefits of this. Life can be super simple when we listen and honour our inner wise voice.
So true Dianne about how our body knows what it needs way more than the desires coming from our heads. I have always had an instantaneous reaction to eating vinegar that entailed me getting sharp painful cramps in my stomach, but I used to ignore this when eating vinegar with french fries and things like pickles. Also, I noticed that when I would eat fruit like banana or mango I would get an awful headache right away and this has now evolved into getting headaches from even fruits like berries (which I used to eat tons of at a time). What this shows me is that as I have said yes to feeling the natural stillness and essence inside of me on a more regular basis, my body has shown me that eating anything with sugar in it takes me away from feeling that stillness.
Yes our bodies are very wise and when we listen they speak very clearly. For the record my body also loves chilli.
We live with our body 24/7 and when we start to listen it really sets us on a true path as long as we do not listen to our mind that usually wants to over-ride what our body is tell us.
Just because we live with a gag over our bodies metaphorical mouth, we think it has nothing to say. But as soon as we just loosen up it’s revealed that it’s constantly speaking to us about all sorts of things that it feels aren’t right. Just because we turn the volume down we like to think everything is ok – it is not.
It is so true Dianne that the more we listen to and honor the messages from our body the greater our awareness is of what choices truly support us to live with the utmost vitality, well-being and joy, all of which we are naturally born to live.
Our body does know and with such a glorious exposition of the depth of our bodies’ awareness, we cannot help but celebrate such entertaining writing and also our amazing bodies 🙂
Our sensitivity is a great tool. By virtue of our living way we need only attune ourselves back to it and out of the blur of numbness we have adopted in its place. Great examples Dianne!
I love reading how clear your body communicates to you and how you listen – I’m not so great on the listening and get it big time when I’m in pain especially when I am menstruating. That’s when my body says, hey you’ve been super hard on yourself and this is where that hardness gets felt. I was up with a lot of physical pain that when I went deeper I could feel it was the pain of overriding what I feel during the month and not honouring the sacredness of being a woman.
“Pain for me is there in the first instance to tell me that something is wrong and that I need to find out what’s going on and then take action.” I’m in pain now and once you do nominate why you are feeling the pain, the emotion and mental thoughts lift. It’s worth gold to feel the pain and be honest about what the pain stems from. It’s a given you will know because the choice Is in your body.
Recently I came to understand the power that I have given my taste buds over my lifetime. I lost the sense of taste for two weeks and in that time, I really saw how much I had been eating for taste and not truly for the nourishment of my body – although over the last 15 years that has been a much higher consideration. The first couple of days I kept trying to find something that I could taste but then accepting the futility of that exercise finally acknowledged that I was being presented a huge lesson but that it was up to me to learn it or not. I choose to do so and spent the next 10-12 days focussing solely on the nourishment and not the taste and by the time it began to slowly return it was definitely of much less importance that it had been. A wonderful lesson from my body that was really appreciated.
I wasn’t well recently and my body asked for more chilly than normal and cucumber, it was incredibly supportive during this time, then my body asked for less as I recovered and it balanced out and I now eat my usual amount. It’s true Dianne, the body knows.. if we listen.
This is really cool, I love the way you always experiment and study your body so much. It is something I can feel that I need to do more of.
What stands out in this piece is the sensitivity that you are applying to each part of your diet, so you will modify the amount and the frequency of each food in response to your body’s messages.
It’s so true. The body knows. And sometimes we think we can get away with eating things we know are harmful, but ultimately the body will show us in one way or another.
Always as you have shared Rebecca, our body will deliver the truth as long as we are open to listen.
Even when we don’t listen our body will still deliver the truth!
Lately I have been making myself bone broth and oh my I feel good after this, I can literally feel my body celebrating that it has been fed something so nourishing and so delicious.
Dianne great sharing, listen to our body it does know. Stop and feel, play and experiment and give the body a chance to tell us what it does and does not like. I love the lightness in how you play with your experience. I also now give myself the space to feel and listen to the message from my body.
Our body is a brilliant scientist that comes with no preconceived outcomes.
As we grow in our awareness and care for ourselves we probably all have situations like this that arise when foods we have loved are just being rejected by our body’s wisdom. The body has a great way of showing us how to live optimally in it….we just have to obey its not so subtle messages.
Is funny that unless the food reaction is a big enough one for us, then we tend to ignore what’s not good for us through continuing to eat that way, or certain food. I recall having IBS and being in crippling pain out of breath though did not put that down to certain foods per se, because i would get the IBS attacks when nothing was eaten.. except now and reflecting back i did ‘binge eat’ the emotions of the disharmony or upset happening around me at the time. Our bodies digest everything and as a result we digest those foods that correspond to that particular ‘digestion’.
Love what you have shared Dianne, about your experiences of the body knows, all our bodies know what is going on but are we willing to listen and heed what it is sharing, sometimes I do and other times I am too caught up in my head which try to override what my body is sharing.
It’s quite simple if we listen to our bodies, our life flows, our purpose is clear and we are driven first and foremost from our heart, disregard our bodies messages and life becomes a strain, a push and a drive away from the very health we need as foundation.
As always, your articles provide reflection for us of what is possible when we truly listen to our bodies
We can never ignore any discomfort in our body be that physical or emotional pain – and if it cannot be healed ourselves we should always seek medical assistance for the support our body needs.
When we ignore the body’s very clear messages, we say no to an intelligence that is there to support us fully in our physicality. We might not always like its messages and the responsibility they engender for our own health – but as always, the choice is ours.
Great to read this again Dianne and explore the science of “the body knows”. I currently have a tongue ulcer which is very unusual for me, so great timing to read of your experiences and explore what my body is communicating.
I love your clear examples Dianne and it is so true that the body does know what it needs/doesn’t need at any time if we are only willing to listen to it and act on the message. So often we choose to override it and then suffer the consequences.
What you have shown here Dianne is the basics of a true loving relationship with food and that is to have honesty with how the food is affecting us. Too often we override our bodies messages for the apparent craving or investment in having a particular food.
What a great term Joshua, “a true loving relationship with food”.
I love chillies and I love that these days I am able to listen to my body more and more for it is certainly a body of wisdom and listening to her brings a whole new quality, ease and richness to my life.
The body know without doubt and how quickly do we plant the seed of doubt and choose to numb rather than feel what is truly going on.
There is no doubt that our bodies are the greatest indicators of what truly serves our well-being. Even if we override our whole-body intelligence it continues to alert us to the fact that what we are choosing is not supporting us, to the point that we are made to stop. That is dedication, true loyalty and the greatest friend any of us could ever ask for. So I do pay more attention now, and as a result I can honestly say that I experience far greater quality of health and well-being along with a far greater quality of connection to my body and being.
The more I hear people’s life stories, like yours here Dianne the clearer it is that listening to your body makes complete sense as a way to live. Yet my experience is, like a super stern parent I ignore and repress what my body has to say. ‘Not right now’ I think and tell it to come back next week. But the thing is, if we don’t get it the first time, our body has to repeat its message in an even bigger way. Then it just becomes a matter of how much we are willing to ignore pain.
I can feel my body is also asking me to halve my portions especially since for the last week I had increased my portions as i was having a challenging week at work, and just kept eating more! Come Friday, I had this tightness in my stomach and ate very little that day, which did ease the tension I had been feeling in my stomach area. But the awareness I gained was how I use food that is I overeat so as to dull my awareness and to take the edge of what is there to feel! ouch!
This approach is hugely empowering and I for one now understand that nutritional advise can only go so far, it’s my body that knows what it needs. Reading this again I know I have felt such simplicity when I do listen rather than ignore the signals and eat something that causes an adverse reaction. Plaintain chips are yummy but gum ulcers are not! The more I listen the more acute the reaction becomes, some foods I have to only think about eating to get a tension in my jaw.
The more we feel, the more we feel – and what might not have seemed so sweet one day can easily taste very sweet down the track. The body knows and we just need to get out of the way.
What this reveals is that, if we choose to, we can have an extraordinarily accurate barometer always there to fine tune our bodies and our energy…. Surely this is worth a book and a series of seminars to educate the general public that this is possible.
As always Dianne opens up the doorway to a world that is so in tune, where the possibilities of fine-tuning our life are limitless…. And its is simply fascinating!
“To me, that’s like turning off my smoke alarm and ignoring the fire in the roof”. This is such a great analogy, which makes so much sense. I always notice pain killer advertisements promote the use of their tablets so you can get back to what you were doing. To me this is insane. If you have a sore back, you need to know its sore and treat it delicately so you don’t do more harm whilst numb from tablets.
Most of us tend to look at life as ‘random’ experiences. Feeling vital and clear,
or not feeling well, being tired and irritable, bloated, achy… so much gets dismissed as one of those things, or blamed on the day of the week, external events or a fact of life. Great examples inviting us to pay more attention to the wisdom and insights so readily offered by our body.
Lately I have been absolutely loving lemongrass as a drink, I have it very strong and when I drink it I can feel my body responding gratefully.
We have many healing herbs and foods on this planet, enough for us all, we just need to say no to the foods that do the opposite and do not support us and in many cases harm us.
I worked in a health food store and there is so much information about healing foods and herbs but ultimately the body knows what it needs. Looking for hormonal support I was suggested Maca but my throat would close up and I would feel sick in my stomach. Science doesn’t have all the answers when each of us are unique. Listening to our bodies we become our own researcher and dietician.
I love coming back and reading your blogs Dianne, I suffered for years with heart burn but didn’t exclude the foods and beverages that caused it, what a dummy! After learning to listen to my body I never have heart burn unless I don’t listen to it. Yesterday I was in the supermarket and they had these delicious big fat crinkle cut hot chips and I was offered one to try, me being me I thought what the hell, but after just one bite of only one chip my throat felt like it was closing up and I knew from that, these chips weren’t for me. I couldn’t have had a clearer sign than that that these chips were not going to do me any good.
A great confirmation of your livingness and self-love Kevin and of all your refinements to your diet in letting food go that no longer supports or nourishes the body which resulted in so easily knowing those chips were not for your body.
I’ve just had some experiences whereby my body was really showing me how I have been living and my choices. I was talking on too much from those around me and allowing myself to get caught up in a lot of drama and I ended up with an ear infection in my left ear. When I really surrendered into my body, the wisdom I received was that, it was a clearing from how I’d been taking on the drama of others, what I was choosing to listen to. So it has been a valuable lesson around what I choose to listen to and take on.
We are so used to looking to another for the guidance on what to eat, or how to take care of ourselves. We look for the authority from someone who has studied nutrition, or is a doctor, but there is an inner authority that knows all about our body. It manages to create miracles every day, like healing an ulcer, or creating an ulcer. It really does know if we are willing to listen.
I loved reading your blog Dianne as always, your openness to trust and honour what you body is telling you is amazing and so simple, it just is plain common sense.
Boy does the body know what it does and does not need to nurture and grow the vitality. We only have to feel the levels of exhaustion or dullness we have when we choose foods that tantalise the taste buds but leave us regretting each mouthful later. What I love about this blog is how we make excuses as to why we have to eat other foods, build a like for it even though the body makes it clear that it is not true in any shape or form or push on the band wagon of health a certain foods offers us, based on research and current trends of “the it foods to eat.”
‘I now know to not ignore or override the messages from the body, however they come. First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!’ Thanks again, I find your approach truly inspiring, there is a genuine interest and love for you and your body, that’s why you truly act on what your body is sharing with you. This is what a true relationship with the body feels like.
“The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say.” Our bodies are so amazing – we may listen to their messages – but do we act on them?
What more do we need than everything our body shows us and gives us constantly.
‘I now know not to override messages from my body, however they come.’ Yes I agree Dianne. I find I don’t have even to understand at the time I get the message, but the reason becomes abundantly clear later on. If I ignore the message I find later out why I should have honoured it.
Listening to the body’s messages is a very wise way to live. Taking the time to test out different foods and other choices give us enormous support in life in finding out what truly works for us and what doesn’t. This process provides a true foundation to learn.
I do even know times when my body already shows me how some food will feel in my body before I eat them and mostly I have to admit that my body was right as exactly that feeling that what shown to me before is now there, sitting in my body and in fact is diminishing my way of being. To me it is a constant learning to get used to listen to the body and to accept its precision and to let go the temptations fed through the eyes and the other four senses.
I love the clear signs offered by the body here. How often do people just rush off to the medicine cabinet to alleviate the discomfort of the signals without looking to see the actual message? It is easy to mentally equate the possibility of ceasing an action we are used to as deprivation and want to find a way round it. But having had a go at listening and honouring such messages from my body I know that they are actually immensely loving, supportive and empowering – and I would say absolutely the body sure does know an astounding amount.
It is for us all to get honest about the way our body responds to what we eat.. It is our choice to respond or ignore the all knowing body.
How can we question our own bodies, when they show us time and time again everything that is needed.
‘First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! ‘ What a beautiful way to make food choices.
I love coming back to this blog as it is a lovely reminder that our bodies are forever refining and sending us messages. What you have expressed here Dianne sums it up beautifully;
“First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!
Our body is always so loud and clear, I remember from as young as I can remember that it was either, YES or NO. Didn’t have chilli until I was a teenager but vinegar NO , sugar NO but got adjusted and addicted and would just eat it all the time, but then started to cut down when I was 17 and then totally felt erratic when I had it, very unstable and the choice to be more still and steady was a YES and that’s when sugar was a big NO
The level of detail in which you have observed your body, what you eat and how it affects you is awesome! Plain awesome and what life is all about ….. science!! Most people would not do this and would probably dismiss the idea, but this fashion just isn’t working!
In listening to your body it has become an incredible guide for you. It’s pretty simple really. Amazing how it takes a true scientist to prove the simplicity of this truth. If anyone can do this it means we all must have a bit of a scientist within us that knows the truth of how it really is for us. We just need to listen to it, as you do. Thank you Dianne.
This is a great article to unwrap some of the things that go on in front of our eyes and yet we ignore them. I love this one in relation to pain killers, “To me, that’s like turning off my smoke alarm and ignoring the fire in the roof.” While I am not saying not to take pain killers nor is it a sign of failure or anything like that but it’s important we treat them with care and respect. Take them but bring more awareness to what has happened or what is going on and don’t just look for the pain to be taken away without looking deeper. As the article is saying most of time our body is bringing or giving us messages on what it needs or how we are treating it. It’s great to be looking at the body more and more and looking past it as just being a function.
It is incredible to see the detail in which our body communicates. When we listen more and more, our sensitivity grows.
I can say I have been a bit more headstrong than you were and ignored very clear messages of my body although always very interested in what it had to say, I did not always stick with its messages. This has changed and I am also no longer on any regime, I give myself the space to experiment and to be honest about the outcomes which my body is so patiently and lovingly sharing with me.
Over the course of my life I have also listened to my body and given up foods dependent on the messages/symptoms I receive. After giving up cane sugar I remember at a later date eating white rice and my body showed me it dissolved in my body feeling the same way as if I had eaten sugar. Being a balsamic vinegar fan one day my body also showed me “no more” – I usually do one or two more experiments and get the same response – the body is very definite and consistent, when it’s time for a food to go it’s time!
I find that listening to my body when I am ill is absolutely wonderful. I also find if I choose to listen at other times I avoid a lot of health issues in the first place.
incredible. You’re a living breathing science experiment Dianne. I immediately went into comparison and thought to myself ‘ I wish I got messages like that’, but the truth is, I do, I just ignore them a lot of the time and they just look different to yours, that’s it. We all get the messages, because that’s what bodies do, that’s their one job.
Yes indeed the body does know and it communicates very loudly. I have noticed I can go for one food like celery, only to discover I was getting itchy ears, strange you may say but celery and it’s dampness was the culprit, and I found it easy to give up something I was quite addicted to, just goes to show the length my body will go to to, letting me feel and see the consequences of a food that no longer supports me.
It is fascinating to read about the ways our bodies can communicate to us, and that when we listen and take action the condition can ease off, but often we tend to push and push even when we know something isn’t good for us, wanting our own way at the expense of the body.
A great blog Dianne, and so fundamental to us all. The problem being that most of us do know when we eat something that does not agree with our body, but we override it for the ‘sensual pleasure’, myself included. But the more I really listen to my body, and then actually take action on what it is telling me, the more I realise and appreciate how amazing it is at letting me know what will support it and what won’t. And the difference in how I feel is striking.
I know I eat too much in the evenings. My tummy gets uncomfortable and I get bloated upon waking. I know I get tired towards evening and I sense an overwhelming feeling in my body when the children come home from school. To look at and address these issues I feel would certainly support me in my food choices in the evening and therefore help prevent a tight and uncomfortable abdomen.
“It’s true – the body knows!” Yes indeed. We may try to deny it, ignore it or override it – but our body does know best – and so do we deep down. So many of us have chosen the short term gain – pleasure – but suffer the long term pain – until we realise we really do have a choice to say no, regardless of the temptation the said food or drink may pose.
“First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown!” That is so key, we have to be open to listening to what our bodies are saying, if we aren’t then, there isn’t the option to really change what is being shown.
Yes, the choice to listen is great, then the effort made to understand (often it is obvious, sometimes it isn’t) and then to act on our new awareness is a very enjoyable process.
I agree we need to listen closely to our bodies and also agree that it does bring to us what it needs. But what if we aren’t connected to our bodies 24/7 would that mean at those times we are not connected there are no messages? Does the message stop because we loose connection? Or do the messages still come from the body but we change who we listen to? So from what is presented in this article we can see that the body sends messages to us constantly and the body like us wouldn’t deliberately do something harming to itself and so how when the messages come all the time, how would we do something that harms the body? In the loss of connection to it, another message would take it’s place that sounds the same but would have a difference feeling. What I am saying is we can look at all of our choices and see the good and the bad ones and so that we want more of the good ones and less of the bad ones but this ‘look’ is at a level where much has already been chosen. It all comes down to energy and the first choice is the energy we align to, food is just the end product of energy and so if you take it down to a choice of foods then you don’t really know who’s speaking. Always bring it out to energy and really you can never go wrong, you can only learn a feeling.
The Body Knows, and a great reminder whenever we find ourselves in a challenging situation and feeling overwhelmed as all that is required is a consistent connection within and trust of the many ways our bodies are in constant communication for what is best required for our own evolution.
I like the idea of my body to be a lie detector and actually I know it is. In my mind I try to convince myself that I do need or can eat certain foods for one or another reason, but my body knows truth and easily reveals the actual results of my choices and does not lie as it has not reason to do so.
The body knows is a great title for this blog as you then go in to share very practical examples of your lived experience of how your body supported you and communicated to you exactly what you needed. A super delightful blog to read and I can feel a super support for all that read it.
These are great examples how our bodies indeed know and we also know that we (our bodies) know but we try to get away with what we ‘like’ to do instead of doing what we know is true for us.
Just as our body react towards foods that do not support us, it also does the same with thoughts and emotions that do not support us, instantly and every time!
I continue to be in awe of what my body does share with me. I sometimes don’t want listen, because I am being stubborn or not wanting to accept the next level of responsibility that is on offer. That happens a lot. But I am learning that it is also a process, a process of love, building that love within, holding that and then living from there.
The other day I had what I have begun to call a Dianne Trussell moment, I was about to cook dinner and had the ingredients for some sort of prawn chilli when I was in impulsed to eat some raw green chilli followed by some raw garlic, not something I would usually do, but they seemed to taste pretty good together so I repeated the process three or four times until I knew it was time to stop. I don’t know why but it appeared my body just needed a concentrated dose of these two substances. Perhaps it was trying to help shift a cold that I had been trying to shake.
Wow. Thank you, Dianne. I can really feel how I have been choosing to ignore all the little messages from my body. I do remember how my stomach ached, how something made me sluggish, bloated, heavy after or even during eating some food – and I have often countered it by eating even more of the same in order to, I don’t know – assimilate? Numb? In any case, complete disregard. It’s totally crazy. What is so bad about totally surrendering to my own body’s messages?
It’s great how you share and how simpleyou express how our bodies do tell us what is going on. When we listen to our bodies and follow it’s messages the greater our bodies feel. It’s when we ignore the messages and indulge in food, we are continuously adding harm. So really it comes down to choice, what are we choosing for ourselves.
It is a wise person who listens to the innate wisdom of their body.
Great message in this blog Dianne, that being, it is only when we commit to being more of the love and light that we so naturally are can listen to the divine messages that our bodies reveal.
It is so true Dianne! Our bodies are in fact a lie detector, always revealing the truth as they are Divinely designed to. All we need to do is listen and surrender to being guided by this universal superlative intelligence.
I am going through a period where I know what I need to eat but am using my will to dull and bring down the light that is naturally residing in my body. I know I can’t get away with that sort of abuse essentially, great to read your sharing on listening!
Our body is our personal science lab that always gives the true result, we just have to learn to read the reports.
Our bodies communicate all of the time, it is for us to stop and choose to connect , listen and be obedient to what is being clearly shown to make adjustments in our lives.
Our body as a lie detector, great and it makes so much sense. And how good have we become at overriding the messages from the body in favour of our ‘comfort foods’ or ‘get me through the day staples’. Does that mean we eat from our emotions rather than from the physical body?
When I consider my body as a lie detector, this makes me wonder how often I turn down the volume so I can get away with my own stuff rather than having to be accountable to the greatest and most authoritative voice in my life.
For me this is a surest way to know about life and yet I still feel this tension with following it’s instructions. Even though I know that my body is always completely loving and caring and supportive towards myself and everyone else equally I make choices that go against this loving support. But what I have been coming to at my own pace is that the judgement towards myself for not living to all the road signs I have been given is still playing the same game of not listening to the messages from the body. And there are still situations in life I hold back in due to the belief that if I do go this way I’ll stand out and be attacked. But it’s like I am then left with the choice – abuse and ignore my bodies innately loving and harmonious messages and live in misery or live in accordance to that love, be attacked and know how to withhold myself even in the face of all of that which is trying to tell me to live life in self-abuse….
Thank you Dianne, I like your food examples and agree with how much our body knows what is good or not good for us. This would be a brilliant science project in school to observe one’s body and note the different reactions certain foods are causing in our body, our emotional state, our whole well-being and even our movements and coordination. Here are all sciences combined then, the biological, chemical and physical aspect and I am sure mathematically you could explore it too.
The body does indeed know Dianne and I am inspired by your listening skills. I love this succinct simple analysis;
“First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!”
Great to hear a live and very honest conversation between you and your body – proving all we need to do is listen as we do know perfectly well what is needed.
You have outlined a true diet Dianne… our bodies know exactly what is true for us at any point in time, we just have to have enough clarity in the connection we have with ourselves to discern a true impulse from a craving. This is easily picked afterwards as you shared, the consequence is obvious so long as our starting point is feeling clear, energetic and well.
The human predilection for pleasurable physical sensation is one of our biggest minefields and prevents us from considering that which we ingest as nourishment. Rather we use food as reward, entertainment, indulgence, to fill a void, for energy when we’re exhausted and so on… for everything but what it was designed for!
We’re all natural scientists capable of discerning and experimenting in the same way as Dianne – if only we’d put on our virtual lab coats and make a note of what our bodies are telling us!
I do agree Dianne, the body knows and is much more intelligent than my mind that likes to override that what my body tells, only for its own pleasure and at the expense of my body.
It is amazing that the body does know what it needs and signals powerful messages to communicate. The part we need to play is to respond to the messages rather than override them. In the overriding I have found my body has to shout louder and more intensely to be heard.
“The Body Truly Knows …” so true Dianne, rereading your blog again just confirms it again, listening to the body is so liberating as all these pains can finally not be there anymore the more we listen and adapt to what our body is telling us. Love it.
It is so true that the body does knows and that we only need to listen to receive its endless wisdom. Unfortunately as an humanity we have become great at overriding our body and instead falling for the lies that our mind can spin the lies that say alcohol will help, and that salt and sugar are the answer to our discontent.
Thank you Dianne for reminding us that our body really does talk very loudly if we choose to listen to it, and honour what it says. For me it is accepting that the body is the marker of truth and not our head or intelligence, and when we honour this we start to live feeling more energised and vital.
The body really does know what it needs or what it wants, it is just about whether or not we have the awareness and willingness to listen. There is much that we can learn and continually unfold with ourselves and our own development as people, but we are allowing our wants and desires to take over, not what is best for us and our health through the wisdom of the body.
Dianne its a greater reminder that the real answers are already with us in our bodies, whilst we can google any topic I love how without having to think about it the body is telling us, we just have to allow ourselves to listen and be aware.
It is really quite simple we can choose to listen to our inner knowing and our bodies messages to us or we can ignore them and face the consequences.
The question is …. When is Dianne Trussel going to have her own TV show… a modern day Julius Sumner Miller
Replacing ‘why is it so?” with “Why it is so!!’
I totally agree Dianne with your statement ‘the body knows’, life becomes amazingly simple and true when we make the choice to listen to the messages our body is constantly communicating to us.
Listening to our body is vital is we want true health, my body quickly gives me signs if I have eaten something that does not agree, I can then choose to override these signs disregarding and abusing myself further or I can listen and honour what my body is actually telling me.
Our body sends us so many messages and if we simply listen to it and act following them it is actually very simple to apply them to life. I found the complication can come in when we do not want to feel great and be responsible in life. Then simply not making an adjustment can create so much discomfort in our lives which if it goes undetected can grow into having a big issue, that only started with not wanting to feel great in the first place!
Daily I am learning about myself more about me and my relationship with food, I have started to notice the energy I cook in greatly effects the meal. When eating out a restaurants I find it super important to discern what energy the food has been cooked in.
This is great. They way you listen to the messages from your body, is offering me inspiration. I often overeat and will feel discomfort, or will eat something and then feel pain in my digestive system, but I have this tendency to forget about the pain once it’s gone and will then go and do it all over again. Because the pain is not excruciating, I can feel that it hasn’t been enough to stop me. There’s a real arrogance and total lack of caring when I choose to forget that the last time I ate something or overate, that I felt pretty rubbish for a while. There’s a ‘so what?’ attitude in there. One that doesn’t care that by choosing to do the same thing again and again, I am actually affecting everyone else. Its incredibly uncomfortable to be honest about this. But the truth is I don’t want to live this way so I have to be honest in order to see the harm I am doing to myself and others, so the choice to stop this harm becomes the only choice.
Just read your blog again Dianne – I love it and am very much tuned into my body as it tells me all the time and mostly very quickly if it liked what it received or if it was a bit ‘hard work’ to deal with. Thankfully these moments are rather rare these days, mostly it happens when a food has to fall away and I have to receive that message first.
Hello Dianne and my eye was caught by the photos of the chillies this morning. I read your article that covers more then just chillies and relate to this, “Pain for me is there in the first instance to tell me that something is wrong and that I need to find out what’s going on and then take action.” A lot of the time we will ignore the pain and hope that it goes away, almost like we are ashamed to admit what is going on. More and more, even at the slightest pain I am bringing awareness to what is going on. It may need a change of posture, of routine, of speaking and I do my best to make that change. Pain isn’t normal nor is it just a thing to live with, it’s a warning of something else and an early detection system for us, thank you Dianne.
The importance of listening to our body and what it is telling us is loud and clear from this sharing thank you briliant . How often do we overeat or eat for the taste only and our body feels the effects and lets us know loudly.
“So I decided I would listen to my body and when I halved my meal portion sizes I felt much more comfortable. Not only that, my body brought my weight back to what it knew was healthy for it, without my dieting or imposing some target on it. For me, the meal portion size message is particularly to be obeyed in the evening. If I go to bed having eaten even a bit too much, the results are disastrous!” so true and simple .
The body does know and I am lovingly listening to mine more and more. I loved how you shared how we can use simple and practical science with things like how foods affect us for our wellbeing. Everyone is a scientist! I have been wanting to get ‘The sugar film’ as someone has done something similar to you with sugar but a bit more extreme to make people aware, planning to have a viewing with my nephews .. though somehow I don’t feel they will rush to see it ?
It’s a very powerful experience to begin to look at what we eat and why we are eating it. I have had a tendency to overeat (which has been quite long standing). It’s been pretty exposing to uncover the level of expertise I have in this area. The skill that I use to eat certain foods to numb or medicate how I am feeling. Eating and our choices in food is definitely not the innocent experience that we think it is.
I love how you have made it about food and how the body feels or responds or reacts to certain foods. The Gold standard for food allergies and intolerances is really about how a person’s body feels, rather than a test and test results that says all is clear or not. Sometimes we wait for a test result to come back to say we cannot consume a food any longer, and yet if/when the test result comes back to say all is clear we may continue to consume the food even if it does not suit us. Diane what you present is such a simple and effective (and cheap) approach where you gauge from the body what is needed and what suits it or not.
It is interesting how the body sends messages to tell us something is not right and if we don’t listen to the subtle messages they get louder and louder until we have pain or become ill. I have noticed with food that the first message is usually in the mouth. If I eat something the body no longer requires there is a sharp sensation in my mouth and on my tongue or on my lips, but if I continue to over ride this then I will get a pain in my stomach. We often put this down to allergies or sensitivities and try to cure it or overcome it, when a simple illumination of the food would suffice.
I love coming back to this blog, because listening to the body is a constant daily choice and it is one thing that we can get distracted from doing very easily. I am so much better at listening to my body than every before, but if I am not feeling connected with myself, or eat too much, feeling like numbing myself so to not feel something, this immediately impacts my ability to deeply feel and listen to what my body is saying. So it is key that in order to listen to what the ‘body knows’, we have to make choices to no numb and distract from the body, and listen.
Choosing to listen to my body has refined over the years but for a while now I have had the same messages come up over and over and over again. Clearly there is more to listen to but as I felt today – it means admitting that I have been given this message many many times and ignored it when I could of listened sooner. But here’s the thing, the body doesn’t judge nor condemn or criticise me for not having listened, it simply keeps calling out patiently and consistently until I choose to listen. Only the mind judges and is harsh and goes nowhere until our health declines to such a point that we are forced to listen. The more I choose to listen the more I learn that listening is no big deal, brings far more understanding and lightness and is the much simpler path than fighting and resisting what isn’t going away until I listen.
More and more I am finding I am having to refine my food. My portion sizes have reduced, I struggle to eat 3 meals a day, often I am down to two sometimes even one. I am finding I am drinking more water, which I find very supportive. I feel my body needs more water than food. The days when I don’t listen to my body I feel awful and tired. When I stay connected and listen, I feel the joy within me. My mind is clear and feel more alert and alive.
The body does truly know what feels right or good for it to eat yet we spend much of our time finding ways to disregard this knowing – such an exquisite inbuilt support for each human being – and instead defer to the latest fast, fad or fashionable food fare until one day we choose to listen and become a convert to our own knowing, never wrong, fully reliable and always having our best interests at heart.
I truly love you scientific approach Dianne, and that is great as we can all learn form that. I have also learned that my body is the marker of truth but to me the challenge lies more adhering to what my body tells me as I have habits that make me eat the wrong foods over and over again while I know they are not supportive to me.
Just to think that every body knows what is needed yet so many of us prefer to give our power away, numb our self so we cannot receive the messages or ignore what the body innately knows! It is mind boggling.
I love it Dianne, you write with such clarity… the body is astounding I agree, and I see that increasing sensitivity you’re describing all the time in clients as their bodies become lighter and clearer. I never understood why some people don’t react to foods that other people do, when allergy or food sensitivity (whatever that really is) is not a factor. What l’ve come to understand through Universal Medicine and it’s teachings and presentations, is that what we can tolerate by way of food is very much based on our level of awareness and clarity within the body. It has gradually made perfect sense to me… thanks for sharing… a great story.
Thank you Dianne, you have made it very clear that our bodies are living, walking, divinely designed units and if we care to tune into our bodies we know exactly what to eat and what not to eat. . . yet we usually have to come to some kind of crisis before we are prepared to listen. So why is it that we do not listen when things have yet to get to a crisis? Is the moment of delight in our mouths when eating that overrides all else? Or is it that we are creatures of habit? Or is it that we are not prepared to take responsibility even if it costs us our health or even our life? Or is it that we have built up such a tolerance to something that is considered poison to the body that the body has had to give up with the warning signals and go into survival mode? . . . interesting really to consider. .
Great examples Dianne of just how accurately our body reflects what is the true diet for us and how much we should eat for optimum benefit. My body thanks me when I listen but I still have a tendency to be overruled by ideals and beliefs particularly about how much I need to eat and, for example, worry about being hungry at work if I do not eat a hearty breakfast. The more I release these false beliefs the more I allow my body to support me in whatever I am doing.
Ignoring the symptoms of our body and what it is telling us is ‘like turning off my smoke alarm and ignoring the fire in the roof.’ Brilliant analogy Dianne.
Yes our bodies so know what it is we are doing and lovingly (or what doesn’t feel so lovingly) tells us what we are doing or not doing for us. I have recently been feeling very very tired, I was looking at my food, going what am I eating, I was looking at my work, what and how am I when at work. Neither had really changed, quite the opposite I had been refining and work was actually going really well. But what I got to feel more deeply was how was I when I was having conversations with people, was I truly with myself, or was I expending too much energy during these conversations, so therefore being depleted. This was exactly it. So I am just focusing right now on looking more deeply at, does this conversation require my energy? or not? This is a new way of working for me, so will keep you posted.
Our bodies are amazing they tell us in such detail what is going on. Learning to listen to our body has to be number one priority if we want to have true quality of life.
Thank you Dianne, I loved another one of your great articles, showing the amazing wisdom the body holds for us. I have been one to not pay much attention until the body calls out loudly. These days I am tuning in more to how I feel after eating so as to only give my body what is truly nourishing.
Dianne I love this following sentences as is so wonderful short and sweet and says it all for me: “First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown!”
The body does truly know what is best for us. However, it is a process usually of getting to know our bodies and understanding what it is telling us. We are so used to not listening, that most of the time it takes time, awareness and action to change patterns that have been with us for a very long time.
Diane – I absolutely love how you have shared your experiences on food and your body’s responses/reactions! This is so helpful as it shows that we all have the ability to tune into the body and really look at why something is happening. There is nothing wrong with experimenting and saying wow – if I have this food, this is what happens – in this way we learn and hence we can actually make the wise choices to stop consuming the culprits or eat foods that our body actually needs at that point in time. Thank you!
Your sharing with us Dianne is so inspiring and today reading this my attention was brought to you sharing “Pain has often been the signal for me to drop various foods”. Feeling into this I realise that signal from my body I so easily overrule with excuses when deeply I know that this is another avoidance technique I can add to the many others for me to avoid, avoiding something that is harming and I’m indulging in a ‘need’ and my mind is willing for me to carry on with such harming behaviour to this amazing body of mine. Tip – do not overrule such wise feelings from the body. Pain is a ‘shout’ and I need to listen and take action. Duly noted. 🙂
I totally relate to this, particularly regarding the tongue ulcers! As I was reigning in my chocolate eating a few years ago, I noticed that I would have almost instant ulcers if I ate it. Your article is a lovely reminder of the subtle messages that our bodies so cleverly send us all of the time, and when we stop to notice, it is easy to hear what it is saying. Thankyou!
Dianne has introduced a whole new topic, and even if it is not new, she has brought it to greater depths. I now listen to my body with far more care and attention than I did before, partly because of the support from Dianne’s blogs.
Just imagine if Dianne was in charge of science in education in our school system … what a world of wonder would be revealed to our children and what a different world it would be.
Oh Chris, you are really onto something here! Let’s all vote for Dianne to be the national director of science education not just in schools but also in universities where our teachers and researchers are receiving their training!! Years ago working in a big supermarket I was told that soft drinks and confectionery were two leading items that people purchased so the shelves had to be always full so that no sales were missed through lack of supply. It says how much people rely on sugar and no doubt other substances that may be common to these items. As Diane has shown in her blog; we all have different foods that our bodies do/don’t like. Identifying what’s what just requires us to be willing to turn on our ‘sensitivity meters’ so we are receiving the messages our bodies are sending us.
Yes, I am also refining my diet at the moment and this is a constant process. And true, we really don’t need that much. I know very well what I should and should not eat and how much, but at times I find it very challenging to listen to my body….The beauty is that I feel it straight away when I do listen as I feel so light and lovely and my body just moves in a natural flow.
Wonderful Dianne, I love following sentences: “The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take.” For me that is a very freeing thing to do as it made me responsible and gave all my power back to me – how liberating is that.
“I did a few trials both ways with otherwise the same ingredients to be sure. My body knew!” I love your scientific approach to food and what does and does not work for your body. I can sometimes be very strict when I notice a reaction on a food but making it a little experiment and playfully seeing the results of the test in ‘pain/discomfort’ or ‘no pain/discomfort’ is something I am going to experiment with. Knowing that it is for my own benefit to stop eating certain foods and I will only feel better without some of them. Instead of seeing it as a nuisance or sacrifice I have to make.
Dianne – I love re-reading this and the very clear message your body was giving you.
I know in the past I always fought with what and how much I should eat rather than how I truly feel.
But recently after getting pregnant, my body was telling me to cut my food in half. I thought this was crazy, aren’t I supposed to be eating for two?
Well I felt sick until I honoured this, and when I did, wow what a difference. I could feel much more of what was going on, I had more energy and generally felt fantastic. So it goes to show that our bodies know what we need and it is just a case of listening. I am still going through my pregnancy and my foods continue to change, but I have learnt to honour that and lead with my body and really nurture what it is telling me – so I am just loving my pregnancy and new way of listening.
” I now know to not ignore or override the messages from the body, however they come” This is great Dianne surely this would be of great benefit to society if we were all taught this at school!
Very true Gill, the body is very clever and it never ceases to amaze me just how wise it is and is talking to us all the time. It is just whether we are willing and wanting to listen. I know for me, I have at times had to almost have the metaphoric smack over the head, for me to stop and listen to my body. It is an ongoing daily commitment and connection with stop, listen and feel where my body is at and what it is saying to me.
The body does truly know, when you are trying to get away with something it will share that with you, you just have to have the awareness to be listening.
Raegan that is true our body knows everything and if we are not aware to listening to what he is telling us right in the moment he will keep it for us and increase his “talking” until we cannot ignore him anymore. It is not possible to play a game with the body he is always cleverer than we.
Thank you Dianne for this reminder to listen and trust our own bodies. The body holds so much wisdom. The more we ignore the messages from our own bodies the more we will see illness and disease rates go up.
Meal proportions and listening to messages from my body has been an interesting experiment as of late, and what I have noticed is that there is a definite process that I have to go through from becoming aware of something to actually changing the way I live. It may take a few days or even weeks to finally be able to put to rest a certain behaviour that is not supportive anymore. But I am finding that with patience and loving support from myself, this process can be smooth and without any self judgement. This ultimately is leading to a lived way that has been founded on love for myself. So, when I address the meal proportions now, it is with a different intention, even though things are not perfect and probably never will be, there at the very least is the intent to love who I am.
100% agree Dianne, there are many foods that started to drop away naturally from my menu just by listening to my body. What was confirming and supported me was the fact that the debilitating symptoms I had been experiencing prior to dropping the particular food, completely disappeared. We talk about natural medicine and to me this is natural medicine mixed with a big dose of love and listening to the body.
Interesting how my body does just know what it needs and will speak to me loud and clear all day. However, what the spirit is knowing of who lives inside of my body is something different, even though my spirit knows that it is eternal and that this body will eventually die, my body knows that it is a part of something greater than itself, my body knows that it is a part of the universe. Whereas my spirit only thinks of itself. So, when I reach for that food to dull my senses, to numb myself away – it is my spirit saying to the universe, ‘it’s all about me just now and you do not matter’. Blunt and direct but true. I have done this many many times, and will probably continue to do so for some time more. But that is not important just now. What is important is the awareness that is built upon each time I make that choice and that I do not let any opportunities go by unlearnt from. So life can evolve and me along with it.
The body just knows, it truly does. It is whether or not we are wanting to listen to it or not. I know for me, I have spent most of my life not wanting to be in my body least of all listen to it. I abused it from a very early age with a range of things, alcohol, drugs, disregarding self talk, many things. Now is a very different story, I have learned through becoming more aware of how I live and detailed choices that I make each and every day. This is an ongoing unfolding, one that is not just 1 day you have got it and from then on its easy sailing. It is a constant choice to listen to what my body is saying, the benefits however are immeasurable.
You are such an inspiration Dianne, the way in which your body “talks’ to you, you listen and then act accordingly. I love reading your blogs and learning from the process that naturally seems to flow for you. You obviously make very wise and insightful choices.
I love the way you listen to your body, and I love the messages that sends, and the wonderful thing is that we are all absolutely capable of having this same amazing sensitivity.
“The body knows” and that it simply does. This statement alone says enormous amounts as how often do we think from our heads and say “we don’t know” when as your experiences attest to Dianne, we actually have a body that does know. I am learning the best way to live is that from the wisdom of the body, always attuning more and more to living in a way where I can listen to it all of the time.
The body does know and how wonderful it is to listen to it and to not let the mind kick in. I have noticed that I am eating less over the last week and my mind (ofcourse) has an opinion about it. To truly listen to the body and not let the mind interfere is a challenge at times, but the body loves it.
So awesome Dianne, I love reading your stories and discoveries with the body. I particularly loved your quote at the end ‘First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown!’. This seemingly simple 3 step process can indeed be this simple, but we do need to be willing to take the choice to do what we are being shown by our body. We can listen, hear then ignore – but as you say the body will always tell us in one way or another. Learning to listen, and then committing to following through with our body’s signals is the true path to self-nurturing and self-love.
It just goes to show how accurate the body is in determining whats good for us and what isn’t.
It is amazing the detail our body can tell us – which really is not surprising as it of course knows what is supportive and loving for it to continue doing all the things it so magically does on a daily basis. We are not taught that it has this wisdom however, or how to listen to it as we grow up (general speaking). By enabling our children and young people to learn to listen to their bodies from young, we have the key to not developing many of the diseases that envelop humanity today.
Every time I read your blogs Dianne, I am filled with joy about the way you explore your life as a scientist. And I feel the importance of it for all of us to learn from because our minds are not always ready to directly connect to our bodies and feel what is good for us or not and therefore the scientific approach is a great way to overcome this. The way you approach the vinegar and the sugar intake is as clear that we cannot ignore these facts that are presented to us. Thank you Dianne for your dedication an willingness to share your experiences with all of us.
When I eat sugar I feel exhausted and drained and then irrational after that. My moods change and I lose focus and am a lot less productive.
It stimulates my nervous system to a very uncomfortable buzzing throughout my body and that takes 2 days to settle and I also loose focus Nicole. My body really doesn’t like sugar.
Now when I eat something that is not right I may get physical symptoms real quick like a small blister in the mouth or feel bloated. I am learning to really appreciate these messages and to say thank you to my body for showing me.
I would have loved you as my science teacher Diane, I appreciate the way you make science simple and easy to understand. I can feel the love and joy you have for science – this is very inspiring for me as I am studying science at present and it can get quite serious and heady at times and you have found a way to make it light and playful – thank you.
Yeah Anna, image ‘Miss Trussell’ teaching us all about how the body knows, with experiments and weekly diaries and discussions. It would be soooo cool!
Well it can be all of us as we are here doing the observations & discussions, where there have been some ‘corker’ sharings of the ways our bodies talk to us!
Very true and its wonderful Dianne, but I’m feeling the benefits of it being integrated and systemised for ALL the children at schools who may not be on this blog but who need to know that ‘the body knows’
Agree Dianne our body always tells the truth – however I can’t always say I listen! Which is interesting really…. how crazy is it to eat something when you know it will cause a reaction in your body. Your blog is a beautiful reminder to stop and listen to the wisdom of the body for it will always tell us what to choose.
Sometimes I will think about eating something and my body will give me a message that tells me how it is going to feel instantly like when I think about eating oranges or a fruit that might be too sweet I get a pain in my stomach.
The body so knows.
This is so true Natalie, yesterday I was cooking and when I went to use a particular herb I felt my body recoil but I ignored it and instead put plenty in the food. Hours later after eating the food I could feel how the herb had affected me. It is amazing but when we listen and take action on what our bodies our telling us we learn so much. It really is a case of choosing to evolve or choosing to stay stagnate.
Learning to listen to the body is one of the most important things we can ever learn. It has always been speaking to us, it is just a matter of whether we are wanting to listen, instead override for a multitude of reasons, not wanting to feel where we are at, not deal with something that has come up, or both. But it is the wisdom of the body that is truly amazing, just have to learn to listen.
Yes Raegan, the body is amazing… Its like the link or the interface between the inner knowing and the external environment we live in. It is like the battleground where choices are played out… choices of lifestyle, cultural, ideals and beliefs. Seeing it this way, we can understand how, connecting to our body through what self care truly means, (to connect, to be with, bring awareness) is where true health begins
Such an interesting and imperative truth – that our body is where all our choices are played out Johanne. This should be taught to us as children so we understand how to care for our bodies and stay connected to their messages in a way that truly supports us to be ourselves and to live in respect and harmony with what our bodies are telling us is true for us. That would certainly be an addition to school curriculums that would be a real game-changer for the health of humanity.
I really love reading how you trust your body and honour its messages with such playfulness and absoluteness. It is a great reminder and inspiration for me every time I notice any kind of override has taken place. Thank you, Dianne.
Thank you Dianne- gosh I just absolutely adore how you make science everyday language and super relatable and understandable. This is a true scientist- in the simplicity of how everything is connected and works, rather than the complexity that science can be. I have never heard a scientist give back like you do- and it is to the worlds benefit – as we discover and realise that we are in fact all our own mini scientists! We are scientists of life!
I love your stories and it is true how sensitive we really are, and when we stop numbing ourselves it can be heard clearly for the messages are always there- our body never stops communicating to us. I’m not a fan of sugar as I actually hate feeling racy, anxious and in hyperdrive- I get exhausted and actually do not crave it. When we stop sugar it is a moment to look at where we get exhausted in our lives and to work on reducing this, rather than reaching out for that sugar hit.
I so enjoy how you share with us all Dianne – the clarity in what you share highlights for me just how in the past I have ‘swept under the carpet’ the real intelligence of my body to choose to subscribe to those sensitivities to satisfy a comfort for certain foods. Every cell in our bodies constantly reveal how we are living. When I truly listen and make loving choices on my bodies need for nourishment the flow of my whole day is so completely different. Now its a matter of refining choices as they do change daily. Awesome inspiring blog Dianne thank you.
I can so relate Dianne, if I go to bed having eaten too much or too late the results are disastrous and when I wake I always feel groggy as opposed to when I don’t, I always feel much much lighter and clear headed.
As always the amazing Dianne brings to life chemistry and science, this time highlighting the amazing chemistry of our bodies that are always signposting for us the highway to evolution.
If the body has an innate knowing that comes from someplace deep within that knows far more than the thinking mind, what does this say about how we care for our bodies, how we live with each other, and the systems we have in place?
The body knows and we know the body knows but why do we continue to fight the vitality and care it reminds us often to choose?
“First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!” Thank you Dianne for your marvellous blog. At present I feel a bit racey as I ate too much raw garlic which was mixed in with my guacamole! I know I can use garlic and chilli as stimulants to get me though the day, my body then gives me clear messages (like now) that it is not needed by feeling too racey. What a marvellous instrument the body is, it really does tell us all we need to know if we but listen!
I love this Dianne – “The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take.” I find that too and it is a continuous fine-tuning in reading what has been delivered and then taking the appropriate action. If not – the body will let me know again in its own way.
I love the playful way you demonstrate how the body knows the foods it needs and those it no longer requires, and the ways it communicates this message to us.
It’s funny the mental twists and turns we go through to justify why we are still eating foods that we KNOW are not good for us. I get a clear sense of what foods nourish me but still my mind overrides, and it is a clear indication of how, when we are aligned to a particular consciousness, our thoughts are fed to us. When I am aligned with truth, these food cravings simply aren’t there.
Carmel I agree when I am aligned to truth those food cravings are not there. It really is about reflecting on how we are living and the choices we make, to then be able to connect to our truth. This will support us in refining our food to help eliminate what no longer supports us.
Once upon a time I thought I could never live without my coffee; then I when I listened to my body and felt how racy and sped up it made me feel I gave it up and never really thought about it since. Same with loads of food, I think I will not be able to live without them and then when I feel the effect it is truly having on my body I find it easy to give up.
I can relate to what your share, there where some foods and drinks that I thought I would not be able to give up or live with out. Ones that I loved and enjoyed so much, but as I started to connect to my truth I could feel that these foods where just a form of comfort. It’s interesting how these foods have been the ones I have let go of first, I have surprised myself. The ones I am working on are the ones I use to have as treat very rare, but I find still creep in now and again.
After 25 years of being involved with working with the body I never cease to be amazed by its workings. In most cases the amazingness arises from how the body adapts and survives after all the abuse people put their bodies through. So it is with great pleasure to read stories of what occurs when we work with this amazingness rather than against it.
This is so true what you share here Jonathan Stewart. Our bodies are truly amazing when you look at what they have to deal with on a daily basis as no matter what, they still support us and work tirelessly to keep us going. Something that deserves a huge appreciation of, from us.
And doesn’t it make life so much more enjoy-able, when we listen and respond – it truly is amazing when we see here the account of so many people having made the choice to start to listen and the awesome effect it is having on their lives.
I like how you compare taking painkillers to numb the pain with ‘that’s like turning off my smoke alarm and ignoring the fire in the roof’ , and how meticulously you go about finding out what your body is telling you.
What constantly amazes me is how our mind thinks it knows what is best in regards to our bodies, when in fact our body has lived with the consequences of our every choice and therefore its messages come with great authority and wisdom.
This is so true Dianne, ‘The Body Truly Knows ‘, I am finding this and the more I listen the more I can feel what is true and what is not true and what is supportive and what is harmful. I had an experience recently where I was going to work with a new client, I could feel in my body how I did not want to go, but I overrode this and went anyway, I found the work physically hard and felt in my body how I had aches that I would not usually have, my body was speaking loudly and clearly that this work did not suit my petite frame and so I honoured this and have said that I cannot do this visit again, it feel wonderful to listen to my body and honour myself in this way.
Thank you Dianne. I love reading your articles from a person first perspective, then with the back up knowledge of you being a science head! It just further confirms the fact that the ‘body knows’.
My body’s signalling process is starting to becoming a little louder, although I am finding I’m doing a lot of ‘experiments’ to prove it wrong, simply so I get to enjoy the momentary sensation of certain foods. I realise though, that these foods are depleting me in a huge way and that I have no chance of feeling the vitality I’m craving whilst I continue to make choices that don’t support me.
I loved the following sentence from your blog Dianne. “The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take.”
It is so true that the body does know, and communicates clearly when something is not right for us. I have come to understand how important it is to trust these feeling and make the necessary self-loving changes.
Hello Dianne Trussell and you really have pulled this apart very well, you can tell the natural researcher that is in you. I love this part, “The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take. I now know to not ignore or override the messages from the body, however they come. First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!” Universal Medicine has been a huge support in the “listening” part for me. Thank you Dianne I love reading your blogs.
Me too I love Dianne’s blogs. I particularly love how you make it very practical, no nonsense, just plain common sense proven by making your own body the experiment.
Very much plain common sense and something we all know, but we don’t choose to live.
This is True Jane – how easily we can overlook the miracles we experience on a daily basis.
These case studies are remarkable and may astound many in the health industry as well as serving to inspire countless people who struggle with diet, healthy eating and fluctuating energy levels. Our body is amazing Love and a most consistent and commitment servant.
I really enjoy the way you deliver Dianne, your depth of relationship with your body’s form of communicating inspires me to trust and listen more deeply to what I feel is being communicated within myself.
I have noticed tiredness come across me quickly when I have eaten something too sweet. The last banana I ate was like a sleeping pill and just about put me to sleep while I was driving the car!
It is very confirming reading your blog. Thankyou.
I can really relate to what you are saying Nicole, learning to listen when the body communicates is so key. I too had a situation where I just over ate during the day. Too much protein and then had to sit in a workshop for the next two hours, it was like someone had drugged me. It was so uncomfortable. It was a huge lesson in no eating all of what I have packed for lunch, but to ‘feel’ what is needed in that moment.
Our body gives us reminders every waking minute. The more we override them the more we miss out on the true vitality we can feel.
Dianne, I love this article about the knowing of the body. It makes a brilliant pair when read with your article on the body being a lie detector. How awesome our bodies are! and what a service they offer us if we care to look after, nurture and listen to them.
http://truthaboutsergebenhayon.com/2015/09/17/truth-about-little-white-lies/
The messages you get may be usual but super clear. What an amazing way for the body to communicate to you what foods don’t support you, undeniably so. It really shows you how remarkable our bodies are, far beyond what we are capable of comprehending.
I had experimented with things I have put in my body most of my life. The problem was, that the control subject to compare the results with was also in the trial that always came up with a true double negative that we read as positive. I like the testing program for my experiments on me now. I abstain for a period of time and then re-introduce the trial subject into the test device, me… and observe and document the results, study the information and then decide the future course of introduction of the item under investigation. In short, I eat it, see and feel what is does to my body and then choose if it has a beneficial purpose for me. The process is constantly being redefined and constantly being adjusted. I can do science or just eat it and feel.
What a stupendous food metre you have Dianne, sensitive and precise, I have often marvelled at how humans over the time we have walked this planet have come to the conclusion which foods including herbs are good for you or poison without the technology we have now. I thinking once upon a time we were all totally in tune to the messages our bodied gave us and not so numbed to what certain things do to us like you are now Dianne. In time we will all get back to this point especially now that mankind has tried playing God with various foods.
Yes Kevin, my food meter is very sensitive. But I’m still developing out of the numbness…. I suppose it’s a long process and never really stops, because we keep changing so our nutritional requirements keep changing.
Yes Dianne it is developing out of the numbness…I remember being able to drink coffee at night and it not affecting my sleep, but this was because I was totally numb to my sensitivities, and over rode them willing so.. It was only when I got a pain that I would start to listen to my body.
How did I get so ‘deaf’ to my body’s clear and precise way of telling me all is not well? It has taken several years to really listen with ears that are open to make changes and to associate it with certain foods or drinks – caffeine and sugar being the most obvious ones. It always comes back to basics, what am I consuming, the quantity of food, what time of day I eat and, do I eat to feed a need or eat to nourish. Those old patterns of overriding those clear signals (bloating, pain etc) are starting to shift and that true, natural sensitivity is returning. Our bodies are amazing. A great sharing Dianne thank you.
I love this as I read your blog today Dianne – “The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take.” Yeah, at times really odd indeed, yet when we truly listen we can understand the message and act accordingly.
I agree Ariana, to see our thoughts as part which are nurturing or harming us, it is exposing to observe how many unloving thoughts go in seconds through my head. It is very revealing to feel how this affects the body,eqally to sugar or other unhealthy nutrition , in a way that it gets unsettled, chaotic, anxious and sad.
It’s very insightful experimenting with food and its reactions in the body. Once i gave up sugar completely for a few weeks and discovered a far deeper sense of release and ease in the body, and from there the slightest bit of sugar created a tension and harsh edge in the body where it tried to gear up nervous energy – the difference was remarkable. We can trust our body and its messages over any published and ever self-contradicting medical or nutritional literature. We know our own bodies and the more we honour this, the greater awareness and wisdom we can gain.
‘that’s like turning off my smoke alarm and ignoring the fire in the roof.’ I agree using painkillers can be used in that way so we donot have to deal with the cause of the pain. We misuse our bodies by ignoring, overriding fighting what we feel.
A great analogy about not listening to the messages our body delivers to us al the time Dianne – ‘To me, that’s like turning off my smoke alarm and ignoring the fire in the roof.’
The body knows. It is clear. Sometimes with certain foods which are not supporting me anymore my body gives clear signals. The only thing which gets in between me listening to this signal is something deeper underneath I don’t want to feel. Yes, yet another signal waiting to be heard. There is a constant communication between my body and me. I realize the body is the one lovingly signalling me all the time. It just takes a choice, a loving choice as a response. Thank you body for calling out.
It does not pay to be ignorant to such a wise body! Especially if without our bodies we don’t actually know nearly as well what is true for us to eat or to do that we do if we actually listening to its amazing wisdom. A wisdom that does sometimes challenge everything we have been told from the outside that we need or at to do but it is a wisdom that actually is a truth in that moment for us. I have found it to be enormously draining for us to not honour our bodies.
Thanks For Sharing Dianne. This “listening to my body” business has taken me a bit of getting used to. I guess what can make it hard at times is if we have our own thing we want to do, and we just use our body to do it. But our body has a natural way that it does things and can tell us very loudly when we are doing it disharmoniously (like eating too much, walking wrong, being harsh/hard etc) I am continually amazed at my body’s sensitivity and it really keeps me in check. It would be amazing to have such an intimate relationship like you do where you know instantly “I want chilli” I find I have this awareness too but haven’t really let it be my guiding way, although I trust it more and more every day.
It is true the body truly knows, this is also my experience and like you Dianne, I too have had messages from my body telling me to eat chicken and more meat in general when I was poorly and when I obeyed and ate more meat, I felt so satisfied afterwards. I stil eat meat but a lot less as that the message from my body at this time, and I do love to listen to all it has to tell me.
Dianne I recently had a sorbet after cutting out sugar from my diet for quite some time, wow did It hit me and after a few moments not only did I feel sick but I had a racy light headed feeling. It was like my body was in all action state trying to get rid of it. It made me reflect when my entire day was run on Sugar yet I didn’t pay attention to how I was feeling. Sure I got headaches all the time, could not sleep properly, was irritated, never had focus but in complete arrogance I didn’t want to consider by body was speaking very loudly to me. I just thought those things were normal. Yet when I look back through life it is very clear my body always knew and always will know.
Dianne love this and I love the term lie detector – our body knows exactly what is true for it and for our being and can tell us what is not true in an instant.
I am learning the longer term effects of eating certain foods, in this case sugar. When I’ve been at work all day, it’s an 8 hour shift with just a half hour break in the middle and constantly-on-the-go either side of that. I have not yet mastered the art of staying connected with me for the whole shift and, especially when it’s a late shift ending at 9.30pm, I feel tired. That’s when I’m at my weakest . . . so yesterday I bought some gluten free passion cake. It tasted delicious, just what my taste buds wanted. I felt nothing particular afterwards, didn’t even notice my heart being particularly racy but this morning I really struggled to wake up. It could have been a combination of a number of things – the fact that I went to bed at 11 won’t have helped, but I have a feeling the cake was responsible for a lot more, for example, I’ve been feeling disconnected pretty much all day today, struggling to remember instructions and to keep track of what was going on. What if part of what sugar does, is disconnect up from our true selves? When we think of just how much sugar is consumed in the world, just how disconnected are we?
Great question Carmel, ‘ When we think of just how much sugar is consumed in the world, just how disconnected are we? The last time I ate something with sugar I also really struggled to get up in the morning and that was after going to bed early around 8.30. And then I felt tired the whole day… for me now it just is not worth the few seconds of the pleasure in the mouth for the after effects in the next day.
It is interesting what you share, how a little amount of sugar can take you out. And even going to bed early does not support in clearing the tiredness in the body. I have felt the same. Once we have consumed the sugars it will stay in our bodies for days and make us feel tired until it is eliminate. Our body is amazing in how it communicates with us if we truly listen
I love what you share here Carmel and I can relate to it, I also feel like sweet things when I have to work long(er) shifts or when I am still doing things in the evening behind the laptop. When I feel tired, the need for sweets kick in. And like you say, sometimes I don’t feel the impact straight away (or I ignore it….) and then the next day I am like: pfff, like some truck ran over me and not connected and focused. Food, and in this case, sweet things, even without white sugar, have a huge impact in how we feel and how connected we are.
Our bodies truly are amazing and are constantly telling us how they feel after our choices. It amazes me that something I chose to eat previously, can suddenly not feel right to eat anymore.
You right Arianna, I like this; The fact that there is so much sickness in the world suggests that we have been ignoring the body for a long time and continue to ignore it over and over, despite our despair at doing so. It is good to accept that it is all about letting others come to it in their own time.
Since reading this blog for the first time I began to allow more space around what I eat, just letting my body speak and responding to its calls. At times this has lead me to places I would rather not be, like feeling bloated or over tired and I am learning all the time from every choice, constantly re-fining my diet to what suits each and every day.
I am coming back to your blog again, Diane, because it gives me a chance to look more into the food section. I did change to a gluten free, sugar free and dairy free diet about 12 years ago, because my professor made it very clear to understand from the mind and intellect why it is not good to eat this foods. With the deeper understanding I had when starting to study with Universal Medicine I began to feel the truth with it in my body, that gave me the missing link and feeling the momentum that had caused the need for this foods. Thanks to Serge Benhayon I could also heal the underlying root cause why I had the cravings for sugar, dairy and gluten.
The wisdom of the body, not to be underestimated…
Just today I was sharing that I’d eaten something a few months ago that I’d not eaten in a long time and that night I woke with the biggest cramp of my life in my leg. It was obvious that this had been the cause and for sure that food is definitely out. What I was amazed by was how strongly my body reacted in that this was clearly not what it wanted.
Thank you Dianne, great examples of how important is it to listen to the wisdom of the body.
It is great to return to this blog as a reminder that the power is in our hands to transform our lives, simply by being responsible for the little choices we make each day with food. Honouring my body as a part of God’s greater body allows me to really consider what I eat, not from what will taste good and fill me up, but rather what will support me in the day to be all that I can be. This is a new way for me, a commitment to myself and the bigger picture.
Eating what we tell ourselves is good or needed, or decisions made on food by the mind is the quickest way to break the trust and the relationship we have with our bodies. Without this connection, we are going to live disconnected with ourselves—which not only would obviously result in illness and disease, but how does this personal choice of disconnection also affects how we connect as human beings as a whole in the world?
Every body (everybody) is different in their relationship with food, and when it is a relationship it has to keep going deeper. Rules have no place in relationships, and with a body that is building to be more open and trusting in its own love, this will also support our thoughts to be more open and trusting, rather than dogmatic and controlling.
Love the idea of going deeper in my relationship with food Adele and totally agree that rules have no place in this relationship and it is about building trust that if I have the openness to listen to the messages my body is giving me then my relationship with food will evolve and support me in my daily life.
I agree Adele, it is about taking responsibility to keep deepening our own relationship with food and being utterly honest of the effects it has on our bodies and that way we have the opportunity to embody more love and clarity than ever before.
It is true the body knows! Amazing insights Dianne. I am really loving the absolute playfulness and at the same time absolute seriousness that is expressed through our bodies. The absolute love the body has for us in consistently telling us what is going on and never giving up on us, even if we ignore or disregard its messages is inspiring. More and more I find it absurd that the mind judges quickly with what the body knows—the mind is just jealous!
Yep the body know for sure. I just had some pistachio nuts this afternoon, not even many and a couple of hours later I can feel my body telling me that is not something it likes, so that was that then …
Where food is concerned I can most often than not feel within moments if my body has protested, either by immediate feeling of dulling, or bloating. It’s incredible to feel how quick my body responds. To be honest I already know before I eat something if it feels truly supportive or not, or if it is out of indulgence; if the latter than I get the reaction, if the former then my body is nourished. It may be that I am eating the same food on both occasions, but depending if I am indulging, or eating to support myself my body will respond differently.
Dianne you have a fantastic relationship with your body. All foods are trial and error. Some you work out quickly and they are easy to give up but others that have emotions attached to them like chocolate for me took some time to eliminate from my diet even though I knew they were causing an imbalance in my body. When I did give up chocolate I would find every now and then I would come back to it as I had not fully dealt with the emotion that was attached to this food.
For me I feel like I am just starting to appreciate the messages the body sends around food…although upon reflection am !? Or am I just so cleverly de-sensitised to my bodies signs in the pursuit of some greater covering up? The reality of my own trials does point to the fact that when I do make adjustments to my intake based upon what I am feeling the benefits are often huge, and not just in the waistline category, but clarity and consistency in what I do, which is super important to me. Great sharing Dianne, and an inspiration to us all as we figure out our ways.
I enjoyed reading this, due to the fact that there are some really practical examples of how the body gives out its messages of distress and I can recognise that for years I was ignoring these signals. Which makes sense why ill health sets in and then becomes very complicated with what seems like mixed messages – is it any wonder doctors have a problem identifying what is going on, when there could be multiple signals of distress which can change according to what we are eating at any given time.
So true Julie, we set our body under constant stress when we eat food that it can’t digest and leaves damage in the digesting system. The bodies weak points get hit first and that differs in every person. The multiple symptoms these days are a total overwhelming message from the body saying you got it all wrong, for too long. And the food we eat does play a huge role.
There is such a playful feeling from your writing, and evidence that listening to our bodies can be fun! Everyday is like a new adventure if we don’t make decisions in advance from our heads. If we stay open to following our bodies then every moment and every meal can be a surprise!
I like this Rebecca, our head is in the way. Science the true way is so much fun and inspires to discover much more. How awesome is this to experience the reflections of god in the smallest particles and cells.
What a great personal account of how the body does know so much and is communicating all of this to us, should we choose to listen. As I have listened more and more intently to my body, I get a clearer message, so much so that I can sometimes just look at a food and my gives me unmistakable signals of how it would feel after I ate it, if I did. My life in the default position of overriding this awareness, still plays it’s part from time to time, which brings me back to simply staying aware of my body and all of the little choices I make everyday, not rocket science thankfully, just a simple livingness. Thanks Dianne.
Mark I agree. Your body tells you before you even choose the food how it’s going to be in your body – good or bad. I’m with you, I still override the signal from time to time and 20 minutes later I have the old catch phrase “I wish I listened to my body”
I always sort of knew not to worry too much about what children wanted to eat.
As long as they were not eating lollies or dipping in to the sugar bowl. I believed they had a natural intuition to eat what their body needed. Amazing but I never attributed these qualities to myself. Now I no longer eat just because it’s lunchtime and some times I don’t each lunch at all.
Isn’t it funny how we separate ourselves from children, feeling that what is good for them does not neccesarily apply to adults. We’re actually no different at all, and if only we had as much trust in ourselves as we do with children as well as taking just as much care with our own bodies, I suspect we’d be in far better shape.
Dianne I am richly inspired by your open, playful relationship with your body. If we are willing to listen, its remarkable how honestly the body can communicate. I cherish the partnership i now have with my body and although i don’t always understand the messages, it feels great to honour myself in this way.
The body knows. So profoundly that no questions or explanations are needed. Only listening to it and trusting in what we are feeling.
Lately I am finding the more I choose to connect to myself and feel how I am feeling and what I need at that particular time, there are times when I don’t feel the urge to eat as much, or get that hunger like I used to, to eat something. It’s like feeling your own presence fills you up more and then there isn’t such a need to eat as much food because you have filled more of you with you.
Not only was it ‘talking all along’, we discover we were not listening all along! And that’s a big owch – makes you reconsider how you tell your story to the doctor!
I can relate to this. The body is remarkably sensitive and adaptable to change – for good or for bad. We can tolerate extreme forms of abuse and the body will adapt. Sugar is a classic case in point, and we ‘think’ that sugar does not affect us. Once I had a naturopath argue with me that chocolate was no different to an apple. Both, when looked under the microscope, were broken down into simple glucose and fructose particles by the body. And so, they argued, there is nothing nutritionally wrong with refined sugar. However, what they did not and could not consider was the side effects that the digestion of refined sugar was having on our body. Sugar speeds things up. It speeds up our metabolism, our thoughts, our actions. It makes our movements jerky by comparison, and keeps our mind active and alert. And this is fine, but what we perhaps don’t realise is that this is also permanently exhausting us by keeping us in hyperdrive, and thus craving for more fuel. What we do not realise is that it also helps then to contribute to a way of being that is wired, and where anxiety and nervous tension becomes the norm. Life is simpler without sugar, and allows the body to move in a different rhythm, one that is more in harmony with its natural state – our natural state.
‘What we do not realise is that it also helps then to contribute to a way of being that is wired, and where anxiety and nervous tension becomes the norm.’ Thank you, Adam, for saying this about sugar – it is an area I am struggling with so I simply have to make it an experiment – not eat sugar for a month and see what happens. I could also try not eating fruit and see what happens. And then my next step is to cut down on the nuts I eat. I get into addictive behaviours over food and that has to stop. To have stillness become the norm feels like a far more energising way to be. I do not yet trust for the energy to come from my connection and not carbohydrates.
Hi Carmel, I could relate to your comment to Adam’s awesome blog, and I can feel the choices in the steps you are taking to reduce sugars from your eating pattern. For many decades I kept myself going on ‘sugar’ in its’ many forms, because of my belief that I ‘needed’ it. Since becoming a student of the Way of the Livingness, and due to a health issue, I chose to not eat fruit, honey or sugar of any sort for more than a year – found it not a difficult thing to embrace and my well-being felt amazing. However, that specific health issue is now dealt with and occasionally now I do find a ‘craving’ appears and I may reach for a banana, a couple of teaspoons of honey or something sweet – and I have to wonder why that is – what is not so sweet in my life, what is the real reason for this sudden craving to occur. From my own experience I found that for that instant the sweetness hits the tongue, one may try and fool spirit into thinking this little bit wont make a difference – but I found that my heart palpitates after a couple of minutes, and the raciness in the body increases and it is not a pleasant sensation at all. I have found by making the choice to come back to the gentle breath as presented at the Universal Medicine presentations, dispells this attempt of our human spirit to be in a position of pulling the strings so to speak. As I remind myself also, my encouragement would be to be lovingly gentle with oneself, focus on self nurturing and make choices from what the body feels, not from what the mind wants. Simple really isn’t it – but not always easy as I am learning.
Interesting to see how sugar contributes to our feelings of being wired and racy.. I’ve noticed that when I’m anxious, stressed or hyped up, I crave more sugar so that I can stay in that state and not feel it, rather than stopping to slow it down and reconnect back to myself. When I do stop and reconnect, feeling that inner stillness feels actually far more energising as you say Carmel, and so much more harmonious. So much more lovely to feel than the hyped up sugary rush that then leaves me crashed afterwards.
I find the same Bryony, I’ve buried stress under food for years, and only recently put 2 and 2 together. Not only do I eat when stressed, like a naughty child sneaking an extra sweet, I find that the food itself becomes addictive, once I start eating this way its difficult to stop. Actually allowing myself to feel the stress has proved to be the start of understanding these patterns.
I have found the same Bryony, my mind thinks it needs the sugar fix but it actually depletes my body by giving it the high for the low to follow whereas when I stop and come back to myself and let the anxiousness go I am able to get so much more done without feeling I need to push myself in any way. It goes against what my brain says but works every time!
Carmel your last line is gold, ‘I do not yet trust for the energy to come from my connection and not carbohydrates.’ One of my fears was being hungry, sounds a bit crazy but I used to have quite a fear of will I make it to the next meal especially through the night. So developing the connection with my body and trusting that what I eat is enough when I listen to my body. That I no longer pay heed to all the many beliefs I’ve picked up along the way over the many years scientists have been giving out various and contradictory advice.
So true Adam, for a long time I have been trying to convince myself that others might be sensitive to sugar but it doesn’t affect me that much… Ha, hardly, the more I pay attention to it the more I realise that I can’t cope with sugar. When I eat sugar I feel exhausted and drained and then irrational after that. My moods change and I lose focus and am a lot less productive.
It’s ironic how sugar can be the go to substance when something needs to be done but it is the very thing that scatters us. It is totally counterproductive, as you say Kristy, and acts as a fuel for the cycle of exhaustion and hyperactivity.
Absolutely true Adam. I experienced the same with sugar.
Agree Adam – and there is a big difference in how we digest refined or natural sugar. I wrote an article about it. Who is interested: unimedliving.com/food/sugar/natural-sugar-vs-refined-sugar.html
Adam, what you share here is great and worthy of further publication!: “Sugar speeds things up. It speeds up our metabolism, our thoughts, our actions. It makes our movements jerky by comparison, and keeps our mind active and alert. And this is fine, but what we perhaps don’t realise is that this is also permanently exhausting us by keeping us in hyperdrive, and thus craving for more fuel. What we do not realise is that it also helps then to contribute to a way of being that is wired, and where anxiety and nervous tension becomes the norm.” How different the world would be if there was no suger to be had ; ) humanity would be in a very different state from the one that it is in today.
Well said Adam. Not only is life simpler without sugar in our diet is much smoother and more harmonious.
‘Life is simpler without sugar, and allows the body to move in a different rhythm, one that is more in harmony with its natural state – our natural state’. I never thought about it but it is true Adam, life has become a lot simpler without sugar and also gluten and dairy products. My body feels lighter and more joyfull now I honour what my body is telling me.
Listening to our bodies makes so much sense because who better knows what is good for us then our own bodies. It is so obvious when presented in the manner you have Dianne but interestingly enough we tend to override what our bodies are telling us because we do not want to take responsibility for our own health and well-being. This is only one of the many principles that Universal Medicine present that have transformed thousands of peoples lives including my own.
I love the direct simplicity of the messages I receive from my body and completely agree that it truly knows what is needed and what is not needed at any one time. I recall splattering the wall with hot drink the first time I was given sugared tea as a child; spitting out a sugar cube that had been imbued with a medicine to make it more palatable, but which my body felt made it completely unpalatable; having to override the distaste in my mouth the first several times I drank alcohol….I could go on and on….but I am basically confirming what Dianne shows clearly here: the body nows well what is right for it, and what is definitely NOT right for it.
That then begs the question of why we then do override this innate wisdom??
I love the reading on painkillers Dianne offers here, that their indiscriminate use can be like “turning off my smoke alarm and ignoring the fire in the roof.” It seems to me that we do abuse the use of pain relief in our society. Not that there’s anything wrong with pain relief as a temporary measure while we address the underlying aetiology, but we do use it routinely to override the messages from the body that there is something going on that we seriously need to address..
Thank you Dianne this is so true and a great sharing because the body really does know and if we give it a chance to be listened to it will tell us everything we kneed to know at that time. This is a great and honouring way to live and really helps with what and how we eat and what is needed or not by our own body with simplicity and love.
So interesting that in society we so often get taught to go into our heads, develop our minds, educate our brains and yet we treat our body as if it is merely a vessel of convenience “The Body Truly Knows …” Our bodies are truly divine, they are constantly working away, supporting homeostasis, our natural balance regardless of what we throw at it and put in it. This I feel we often take for granted and it is only when we have something majorly go wrong that we pay attention. Every day however, our bodies are telling us something, be it an ache, an ulcer, a soreness or maybe a bloated feeling, these are all there to read and learn from. I know this to be true for me, because I used to override what my body was telling me and I lived in regular pain, honouring what I feel concerning my body has absolutely altered my experience of life. I feel like I am waking up from a long sleep.
Wow wouldn’t it be amazing if we actually had an education system that included classes on how to listen and honour our body, can imagine how different the world would be if we had these lessons from a early age? I am sure we would be in a completely different place to where we are now with our devastating illness and disease rates.
I think your sugar meter is awesome Dianne! Listening to our body and honouring what we hear is something we can all do and it will be slightly different for each of us how the message comes but it really is just a simple choice to listen.
I love the messages your body gives you Diane. They are so clear and you are so responsive to them. Our bodies really are our own scientific experiment.
I really love the way you write Dianne – it makes everyday truth irrefutable and accessible to every body (pun intended).
I very much relate to how our body is constantly refining it’s self – I now know that when I eat almonds or other nuts in excess it is only a matter of hours until I bloat and my skin becomes so sensitive that even a slightly rough touch will result in welts and red blotches. I have had to let them go but pay the price every time I think I can revisit them.
Beautiful Dianne, I really enjoyed your story telling and the wisdom of your body. Once we start to confirm our bodies knowing we discover it was talking all along.
I have discovered that I have a very strong belief that we must eat three times a day. So, my every day is marked by these events, they make me feel like everything is in order. But lately I have been asking myself – what if my body does not feel hungry? Why should I force it to digest if it is not ready for that kind of activity? What if what I really need is to rest first and then see what I feel to eat? Or go for a walk and then feel? This is essentially putting my body first before beliefs, and it may take some time to get used to!
Hi Shami, this s a good one; I realised that I was using my meal times for a break, which is why i held on to them for so long. When I stopped and asked myself what did i need a break from, it exposed how I was working and that there were some things I could change to be more supportive.
Being about to listen to our bodies is such a daily checking in exercise. How to eat, how much we eat, how quickly we eat, all these really can exposed exactly where we are at and how we are feeling. This i was such a great blog, to remind us of ways to stop and feel, allow the body to speak and for us to listen.
We have so many opportunities to listen to the subtle or not so subtle messages, but too often we can override. It is then we end up at the entrance to the emergency department wondering ‘why’ something happened and blaming someone else.
Yes Mathew it often astounds me how as a society we have developed such a blame culture. When we listen to what our bodies are telling us and respond appropriately we are choosing drop the blame and instead be responsible.
Dianne I love your stories I remember the one about the smelly cheese where your body cried out for it and then once it had got what it needed from it you no longer wanted to eat it. Now it is the same with the chilli……it just shows us ‘The body really does know. Thank you for sharing …more please.
Food is so interesting, I am being fed food messages that have me respond with a guilty feeling at just the thought of eating something a bit outside my simple diet. Which has me judge myself if I let the thought in… So best observe the minds game as this guilt is not me.
I know that “my body knows” but I still quite often ignore what it’s telling me. Today I discovered that the more I express in full my beauty , wisdom and divinity, the more loudly my body is saying any unloving choice just does not go hand in hand with the love and truth I have chosen. My body’s reactions are clear, instant, painful but very supporting.
Great realisation Katinka, I especially love where you say: “… the more I express in full my beauty, wisdom and divinity, the more loudly my body is saying any unloving choice just does not go hand in hand with the love and truth I have chosen. ” I am with you in this one, as I am having similar experiences, and reading your comment made me truly smile.
I love that quote too Karina – “the more I express in full my beauty, wisdom and divinity, the more loudly my body is saying any unloving choice just does not go hand in hand with the love and truth I have chosen. ”. Isn’t it incredible how the messages go from being unnoticed, to subtly felt to screamingly obvious. It says a lot about the value of raising self-awareness because the messages are always there, it is our awareness that changes focus. From awareness we can develop more self-loving choices and greater attunement with the wisdom of our body and it is important to note what Dianne so brilliantly highlights – that self-awareness is as much a choice as is self-love.
…to learn to truly listen seems key. Then the willingness to not ignore what I hear and to make adjustments based of what I’ve been told are following. But the start is to listen – to our own body and to each other as well.
The body is such a beautiful friend. It’s a lifetime-long friendship and I can trust my body always and everywhere. No wonder that we are all married to our bodies!
So true Dianne the body simply knows!. Once we start listening to our body the body speaks very loudly. For example when I step out the house to go for a walk the minute I am out I know if I am dressed warm enough or not. At times I have ignored it and suffered the consequences of not wearing a hat or scarf when it was windy.
Wonderful Dianne we need to write following words in big letters on the black board at school or read it to the kids in the kindergarten: “First listen to your body, then hear, then choose to do what is being shown to you! ” More is not needed – the kids would immediately know what to do and would not forget it like we do when we get older. Thank you to remind us on this effective and simple teacher – our body.
After reading your blog Dianne I feel slightly ashamed to admit that I have rarely listened or been aware of such messages from my body. It’s incredible how far I can go into discomfort for comfort! What I allow my body to deal with and what I put up with for the sake of a habit or supposed ‘like’ of food. I am also feeling inspired by your commitment, openness and wonder with your own body and listen to the conversation that is constantly giving feedback about how we live.
I have found this blog very inspirational in that it reminds me to listen more to what my body tells me that what my mind tells me.
Beautiful Dianne how you have chosen to honour what your body knows. We can go for years ignoring this communication or just listen to it.
This seems very real to me. Your body is showing physical signs of what is interfering with the natural processes of the body – re the ulcer , pain etc. . This to me is so clear now, our body knows. We can only choose to ignore those simple facts (signs from our body) trying to ignore them and increase our choices to numb ourselves (for example with chocolate) to not feel pain and or discomfort – OR we can choose to listen to what these messages are constantly revealing us and following our body knowing!
SO cool, this is real science! Lets get this – our body knows – out there – lets fully qualify it is our science! I think we can learn alot from our body.. Even the lie detector (our body) is better then what we want to see on the packages of food ! I mean.. that says it all!
Listening to our bodies has many advantages.
I usually take my body’s word for it now and don’t do trail and error experiments for months.
We don’t need a diet to know what to eat as each and everyone of us knows what is right for us and what is not.
From the writings by Dianne Trussell I have been inspired to explore letting go of my need to control the foods that I eat and listen much more to what my body is telling me. This has led to an awareness of how much I crave certain foods, and by letting myself eat these foods, I have also been able to feel in my body the real consequences of this choice, which have actually not been so great, so this has led me to a deeper enquiry of how was I living to create those cravings in the first place? Because I don’t want to be in a battle of wills with myself about wether I can or cannot eat a certain food, I actually want to live in harmony with myself. So this has been a great experiment, which I am sure will last a lifetime.
This is a great observation, Shami.To allow the body more speak and not the comfort.
There is that word again ‘comfort’ – oh what a trickster it can be – so discernment and listening at all times is asked for and the body will thank us for it.
Shami, ” how I was living to create those craving in the first place” has taken the responsibility with food choices to a whole new level of enquiry. I also feel I am being controlled by habit and fear which drives me to have a meal at meal time even when not hungry just in case later I will be.
It is astonishing really that we celebrate the intelligence of the mind but give so little attention and credit to the intelligence of our bodies while in my experience the latter is far more expanding and with incredible depth.
Beautifully said Katinka. Once we start opening up to the wisdom and connection our body offers us, it changes everything.
‘Pain for me is there in the first instance to tell me that something is wrong and that I need to find out what’s going on and then take action,’ absolutely Dianne. It would be like ignoring the warning light on the dash of our car instead of checking out what is wrong and addressing that. Most of us take our car to the garage when this happens, or we seek the cause ourselves, why do we not treat our bodies with the same respect, and see what the pain is telling us?
Awesome sharing Diane, thank you. Our body really does ‘talk’ / communicate to us. Between it and our subsequent choice lays the junction of many questions, trust and attachments, that may sound louder initially, but after some time, the ‘body talk’ becomes the louder one. What a wonderful blog sharing the true wisdom of the body!
Love how the sugar detector is also a lie detector with what your body is saying no to, Ive been feeling similar thing recently and hoping that there little white lies, but no there those big elephant ones blowing there trumpets at me
The body certainly does know and it is so much smarter and more honest than the mind which can justify and make excuses. We really can throw out the self-help books regarding diets. If we just experiment with removing certain foods and seeing how our body responds we have the answers.
Wow, amazing Dianne, it is so true that the body knows what it does and doesn’t need if only we listen. How many of the things people put up with on a daily basis could be put down to what they eat.
I love this playful article – it has great insights. When I glance back at my life I realise my body has always been speaking to me, there have been some obvious signals about the food I was eating and how I was living all along the way, but I was not paying much attention. Since coming across Universal Medicine I too have been paying more attention to my body and have been amazed with the wisdom of how it responds to my choices. I have often tried it on ignoring what I have seen, and have always found that this only brings short term satisfaction and in the long run what my body was communicating is the way to go. It is so true, the wisdom within me knows, when I listen to my body I find that the body does know.
What a profound blog showing us the wisdom in our bodies. I am deeply inspired by Dianne’s commitment to her body. Recently I have been waking up with an uncomfortable abdomen. I decided to eat less in the evenings and although this feels more loving the tightness is still there. I feel it’s time to address the foods I am eating at lunch time but more importantly the quantity I am eating. Our bodies certainly do know; it’s a question as to whether we choose to listen or ignore the messages that our body is constantly communicating with us.
“Pain for me is there in the first instance to tell me that something is wrong and that I need to find out what’s going on and then take action.” Wow if the world was to bring this same level of trust and appreciation to the body, to be able to pause on pain and allow ourselves the grace to feel what is really going on. Why ignore the thrice weekly pain of indigestion with gaviscon, if you wouldn’t ignore a smoke alarm then why ignore your own inbuilt distress signals.
I am amazed at how out of sync I can be at times with what my body needs and is asking for. Sometimes I only allow what I have decided is best for it, not listening and learning. I can also do this in other situations, such as certain relationships where at times I can impose an ideal on to the person without listening and learning from them first. Perhaps genuine change starts with my body and my relationship with it, learning a new way to be that can extend out in to other areas of life.
I love what you say here Dianne about pain – how it is a communication from our body and if we seek to just get rid of pain them we are not truly listening to our body or learning about what it is saying so that we can make changes. All adds on tv for pain killers are about getting rid of it so you can ‘get on with your day’ – there is no stopping to feel why our body is in pain and what choices have led to the body being out of balance and in disharmony. We are indeed all scientists as we can observe our own body, and experiment with our choices and observe their impact.
Following recent gastro-intestinal investigations, I have a new awareness of my stomach and lower digestive system. Such a sensitivity to many stimulus. Being in a hurry, any hieghtened sense of expectation or pressure, fear or moodiness – in relation to food there can even be a tightness, like a bracing before I eat a particular food. I have been quite surprised what foods cause this and how accurately it predicts the disturbance after eating. It has led me to respect more than a black and white awareness of some foods being ok and others not, but that it really also depends on my mood state, time of day, how the food has been prepared, its freshness and so on. I am pleased to have made the choice to be more accountable in this very deep level regarding food, but at times, the old momentum wants to take over of eating to numb my sensitivity. However, it never works out well and the bloating or pain lets me know I need to honour myself in the evolving way I have already chosen.
I am recognising too the relationship between what is going on in my life and how I am with my body, affects me and the food I eat. What Simon says here with regards to numbing my sensitivity with food certainly applies to me. Although I have made many loving choices in the food I eat and continue to make loving choices in my life there are more loving choices to be made with food choices and this is where I am at. It is never ending, refining our diet is something I can forget easily especially when there are other areas in my life that I am addressing.
I can so relate to “eating to numb my sensitivity”. It makes me aware just how much we do know about what is going on but pretend that we don’t. If we look more closely at this behaviour we can see that it is in fact an act of irresponsibility and abuse towards ourselves?
Our bodies are truly amazing and are our best friend if we allow this. Dianne, I love how you present some valuable observations and lessons in a simple and light way.
I love Dianne’s writings too Lorraine, the humour in it, the wisdom, and how easily she brings science to every day life, truly awesome.
I love the way you talk about the difference in what we (or the mind) wants to eat and what the body wants to eat, I have noticed there is a great difference for myself and when I am stuck in what the mind wants to eat it’s as if I am making it with no correlation to myself or how I am at that time and I make the choice of what to eat before that choice is either there to be made, and so it is only based on everything else that is going on around me, what I think should, what I desire to eat etc, and then when it comes to eating I come loaded with a preconceived idea of what is “true” to eat, rather than waiting for the time that the choice comes to be made about what to eat and feeling what my body would enjoy
So true Oliver, sometimes if not most of the time we think we are hungry and we then eat, when our body is saying it just needs to be appreciated right now by surrendering still.
For many years, I suffered very badly from sinus and rhinitis and often slept very poorly. By listening to presentations by Universal Medicine about the effects of certain foods on my body and experimenting and feeling for myself, my diet has changed tremendously over the years to one now that mostly supports me. My sinus symptoms which were an everyday ‘have to live with’ are almost a thing of the past, except for when I choose to eat something sugary which my body tells me no, no, no.
‘The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take.’ I too have experienced this but am still learning to trust as I have previously lived so mind driven that the trust and willingness to try a different way is still growing. I find that it is a case of letting go of a known way. When I do, I am marvelled by what unfolds.
Awesome blog Diane and very freeing from the conventions of common food ideals.
I have been stunned to notice the ways in which my body reacts to various foods.
For one i have noticed that eating salt makes me feel quick tempered/snappy and what is more amazing is how instantly this takes effect. If we are open to listening to our greatest friend, our body, the unfolding partnership is richly lived.
I relate to what you’re saying Lucinda about the effect of salt … I have this with gluten. I now know that within a few seconds (!) of eating gluten I can expect to feel extremely irritated by everyone and want them all to stop interrupting me. I have heard much about gluten affecting people physically – and it does affect me physically too – but the most obvious effect is mentally and emotionally, much to my surprise. It explains my extreme impatience and grumpiness as a teenager and in my 20’s … and we thought it was just hormones!
Thanks for your blog Dianne. I love the joy with which you share what your body has taught you. For many, these would be stories of complaint, of being ‘denied’ this or that… and yet in the relationship you clearly have with your body, even though there may be resistance at times, there is clearly a great Joy in all that it shows you.
I’ve found this too, as in, why complain about making a change, when if my body is calling for a food choice refinement, for example, it means that my body is letting me know I’m ready to actually be ‘lighter’ and operate with more clarity in my everyday. That is something to be truly celebrated. 🙂
Great point Victoria, the body is constantly calling us to evolve and when we choose to heed this unsung intelligence the energy that is offered back is rich beyond compare.
Another fabulous and insightful read Dianne. Thank you. It was interesting reading all your self observations and just a proving that we are all our our science and our lives an science experiment where our body is always communicating with us.
I love this line ‘I now know to not ignore or override the messages from the body, however they come. First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!’
Me too. Overriding the body simply isn’t worth it ! It does know everything
“The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take. I now know to not ignore or override the messages from the body, however they come. First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!”
Indeed Dianne the body does know truth.
It is very inspiring to read how intently and closely you listen to your body; after which you action what your body needs!
I love your blogs Dianne – truth at its best, so I will quote you. I also feel to say ‘from my body’ that I am totally at home with myself when I comment on your blogs. My expression just becomes me – playful, natural, real, honest – all of that together I feel much Joy. You stroke a cord within me each time I read and feel ‘from my body’ your impress and what you bring. I totally enjoy you !!! ( 3 x Exclamations). The quotes that I enjoyed…
“Pain for me is there in the first instance to tell me that something is wrong and that I need to find out what’s going on and then take action.” — Pure Gold for the body – ‘this is how you discover gold’ and live a truer life.
Another favorite quote “The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take. I now know to not ignore or override the messages from the body, however they come. First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!” — More Gold so simple.
One more thing I felt was how this drops all comparison with others what they might eat compared to you, and no need to read what’s ‘trending’ as the latest diet or what so called research as discovered. As Dianne says just listen to your own body — the body knows!
There is never an off switch when it comes to our body, only a numbing switch that we create ourselves. The fact that we are alive says it all; we are always on, tuned in, receiving and feeling. Our hearts is constantly sparking, sending a message for the muscle to beat. The nervous system is constantly sparking with electrical signals over every part of the body, our heart moves blood and our lungs constantly moving air in and out. Breath is just so beautiful. All this working together is rhythm with a flow of energy moving through. How on earth can we ignore all this entire happening within.
Matthew what you share is so true, our body is alive an functioning all the time. Our breath is a confirmation of us being alive. How do we allow ourselves to turn on the numbing switch to stop feeling what’s happening. It really is crazy how we have allowed it. Then we wonder why we start to get illness and disease.
Your description Dianne, of bringing the food back to it’s chemical make up makes it very clear how the body is affected and how the body knows what it needs or does not, if the chemical balance is not in harmony with the body then it will cause disharmony and the signals go on alert and warning….hey I’m not a scientist but that makes sense to me.
Diane you have made this very simple, what it means to listen to the body. Of course the body knows, why is it often not the case that we do listen to our bodies. I guess we do not eat from a place of what supports the body to function at its optimum which supports us to live our potential with vitality. We often eat for others reasons such as pleasure, comfort, quick fix and so forth…But when we start to choose to listen to our bodies, we build a connection to the body and it becomes a supportive relationship. And it is very simple as you have stated Diane!
‘First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!’
Love the blog Dianne – very entertaining and also thought provoking. I know I spent many years ignoring how food made me feel altogether. Then I started to become more sensitive and it has been an increasingly refined journey since then. It’s funny that some people I talk to think that this is a disadvantage – to become more sensitive to the food that I eat, but I think quite the opposite as this is what is really going on with the body. Why on earth would I want to continue eating what does not agree with me (and it’s a constantly evolving process).
Agreed Simon. When I share similar changes in what I now eat with others, they often think I must live in the greatest ‘denial’! But when I share about the difference in how I feel today as a result of not having dairy, gluten, refined sugar and the like (which was a process that took time to get to), others can’t deny the joy and lightness in me. The shine is in my eyes and I’m consistently vital, work long days with the energy to do so, don’t get emotional, etc… It’s quite a revolution in approach for many – but makes such simple sense, to just listen to our bodies and pay attention to all that they share with us.
Without the work of Universal Medicine, I have to say, that I would never have returned to such vitality and simplicity.
‘It’s funny that some people I talk to think that this is a disadvantage’, I have this experience with some people too Simon. I used to think that way myself and sore dropping certain foods as a ‘giving up’. Now I see it as a freedom, because I feel so well unhindered by eating a huge array of foods. I love the simplicity of the food I now choose to nourish myself with. It is no disadvantage at all, it is freedom.
Hello Simon Williams and I also find Dianne Trussell’s blogs “entertaining and also thought provoking”. These blogs and conversations feel really healthy in themselves. Our bodies and in fact all around us is consistently talking and it’s ‘us’ that choose the way we listen or to what part we listen, if at all. With support like Universal Medicine we continue to look at the way we listen and perceive things that may not be necessarily true. As you say Simon, “it’s a constantly evolving process”
It’s fascinating just how sensitive our bodies are to what we eat. My most recent ‘body knows’ experience is actually with chewing gum… I LOVE gum; it gets me through the day. I tend not to eat lunch at school, so gum is the perfect ‘snack’ to chew on without actually eating any food and gaining any weight. When I used to eat over a pack a day, every day, my stomach would bloat and I felt super heavy in my stomach, but now even half a pack, or over 2 pieces in a certain time leaves me clutching my stomach and feeling pretty awful… Something to definitely look at!
Dianne – you bring science and playfulness together as if they are one and the same thing. Your exploration with your diet and how it affects your body as it is shared here inspires me, not to copy your food choices but to be more clear about my own. This is no small thing when nearly all food and dietary advice is about being told what to eat or not eat and here the message is so clear and there is no confusion – this is not about me copying what has worked for you. What I will copy is your playful and scientific approach – eating so that the foods I suspect are not true for me are not eaten with any other suspect foods- like you did with vinegar. I also have my own set foods like avocado, broccoli and green apples that are healthy for many people but are best eaten in small amounts for me. Cutting out or reducing healthy foods because they are not healthy in my body has been interesting to accept and shows me how the intellect and ideas about food can drive and interfere with this.
Like you Dianne my body lets me know when something is not suitable. I find I have a love hate relationship with this, a part of me does not want the symptom and wants to be able to get away with eating the food and another part of me is delighted that my body is speaking to me with loud and clear direction. If I had to choose between one way or the other I would say to my body to bring it on and let me know what is not true for my body to eat and digest.
I relate to what you share Deanne. I am finding that the more honesty I bring to why I want to eat something that is not good for me and this back and forth of listening and wanting to get away with harming my body – then the easier the choice to choose what my body is communicating.
It takes a lot of inner responsibility to listen to the body, and honour what is right for each of us, rather than what someone tells us. Well done Dianne.
Great blog Dianne, although I would add that it is at first very difficult to have such an honest relationship with your body if at first you are not dedicated to building such a body. By that I mean that we eat foods that numb us for a reason. It works, and works well as a diversion to stop us from feeling things we don’t like to feel. So, there is no point looking at the way we eat if we are not at first prepared to want to deal with those things that we think are such a big deal. It is impossible to give up coffee, if we do not want to acknowledge that the way we live is exhausting us.
I so agree Adam, it is not enough to ‘know’ the effects on certain foods or coffee or smoking or whatever, because knowing alone will not support us in truth to make a change. Only by acknowledging how we truly live and why we live this way and what we use to continue to do this, will true change come about
The simplicity with which these observations are made is fantastic. The world if so full to overflowing of diet books, diet shows, exercise fads and now even fat removing machines. This blog outs them all for the falseness they are – let the body speak and listen to what it says, and everything can change.
I keep coming back to your blog and I thoroughly enjoy reading it each time. I love how you just make the science of the body so easily accessible and understandable. Thank you Diane.
I love that you’re a ‘Science Head’ Dianne, for me there always has to be physical proof of something working or not working before I will change my behaviour, it may be that I don’t yet trust my internal senses enough, although that is changing.
Sometimes I can look at fruit in a shop and know that I’m going to buy it and eat it, and other times I just go ‘Nup, don’t need that today’. I’ve eaten a lot of fruit lately and my mouth is sore so that’s pointing me at fruit so I shall experiment and stop for a few days and see what happens.
Getting a sore mouth from triangle corn chips was strong enough to permanently stop me buying them, but mini poppadums just give me a mild feeling of a dull head, which I can easily put up with, so they are still on my shopping list.
Some foods are permanently off my list, others are on their way, and as I refine my foods, my sensitivity increases, so that in the end the choices become very simple.
Dianne I was reflecting on your blog recently when over two situations, the first was where I was feeling the need to have a light dinner of soup and fish. When I followed this my body felt deeply supported and I had a restful sleep. On the other occasion I didn’t follow what I felt as It would have meant going to the shops and picking up some new ingredients – the result I felt very bloated and didn’t sleep properly. The simple lesson is I do know what my body needs and what is supportive i just have to listen and act.
Thanks Dianne for a super blog. I am learning to listen more closely to what my body is telling me, whether that be the type of food or the quantity. My head certainly tries to have its say but as I am peeling back the numbness that I allowed to accumulate, my body’s voice is becoming clearer and clearer.
You make the study of our body’s communications so much fun Dianne – I just love how you explain all of this! I will now listen more deeply to the science lab which is my body. For me my sinus and mucous are instant barometers of what I consume. But I know I need to go deeper with what I eat. I feel so supported, knowing my body is taking such deep care of me.
I agree Gina, Dianne does really convey and fun and playfulness in working with this ‘science lab’. And yes sinuses are a great barometer of foods that do not support.
It’s that simple isn’t it Dianne…listen, hear, then choose. The choice then is to work with your body or against it. What will that result in?…. Ease or Dis-ease
This is great Dianne. A very practical and self-observing way to sort out what works for your body, and what clearly doesn’t. By listening to your body and responding in kind, the louder your body shouted and the more refining you were required to do! How wonderful is the body? How awesome is it to listen, learn and actually do something about it instead of hitting the override button! Thanks for your always inspiring sharings.
Our bodies have such an amazing way of maintaining harmony and balance within 24/7. Why wouldnt we follow these tailor-made messages that are unique to each and every one of us – they are specifically formulated for us minute by minute – how special is that?!
As our bodies live with the consequences of our every choice, it makes total sense to listen to what it has to tell us…and yet the irony is that we think we know better and we follow those thoughts, rather than what our bodies clearly reveal to us. The body does its own evidence based research and we then have a choice – to accept it or ignore it…either way the body is always proven correct.
As you have shown Dianne, it is simply amazing what our bodies are willing to tell us if we listen. It is only us who choose to shut down to the absolute wisdom from within.
So true Jane, there is constant communication if we choose to feel and listen.
So practical and fun to read Dianne. We are our own science experiments, and the body absolutely knows what is needed .. and when. What I also know is that if I do not listen I suffer the consequences, not fun.
I find my diet changes with me. Some days I can eat a certain food at it sits well and another day not at all well. What I am ingesting is an ever-refining process and I am aware my mind also likes to pretend at times it hasn’t heard the clear communication from my body.
Love this Victoria “my mind also likes to pretend at times it hasn’t heard the clear communication from my body.” I have found my mind can be a trickster too but my body always tells the truth. I am learning to listen and trust my body more and more.
It makes so much sense Victoria that our diet changes constantly because no 2 days are the same, and what we eat to support and nourish us will change. I used to not want to see what my body was clearly telling me because I liked a certain food and didn’t want to let it go, but now it’s simple – do I want to feel sluggish, tired, bloated, etc or do I want to feel energised and clear?
What you share Diane makes it clear how absurd it is that we read and copy a way of eating out of a book when each and every instruction our bodies supplies is perfectly tailored to our needs. What would our restaurants and physical health look like in the future if all 7 billion of us started to listen to our inbuilt nutritionist? I am inspired to listen to mine today.
Absolutely incredible that we each have our own instruction manual. Much like a cookbook on the shelf, collecting dust, it is always there, but up to us wether we take the time to explore what is on offer.
We do have our own instruction manual, but it is like one of those Ikea ones, it is so simple we like to ignore it thinking a more complicated one is needed. But the simplicity of the messages from the body says it all. Nothing more complicated needed.
What would our restaurants and physical health look like in the future if all 7 billion of us started to listen to our inbuilt nutritionist? That’s an interesting question Joseph. I imagine it would transform and be completely different to what we have today! I am inspired to listen to mine more conscientiously especially on those arrogant days when I know what my body is saying and I actively and purposefully ignore it because I feel emotional about something.
At a meditation last night we were discussing how wheat gluten, dairy, sugar and alcohol have a numbing effect on the body and actually decrease our bodies natural awareness and ability of feeling what is good and what is not good for it.
The food processing industry has taken advantage of this knowledge and uses it against us by numbing the effect their poor quality but addictive food has on us as is becoming obvious by the statistics of our deteriorating health.
Governments around the world are woven into this can of worms by allowing corporate sponsorship of elections thus ensuring the food industry to be self regulating.
It’s fascinating isn’t it – that we have as a society become so numb to the effects of what we are eating, that we are now walking around with over half the population overweight or obese, and no signs of there being any change… to our habits, by the food industry or by our government.
Dianne, I love the relationship you have with your body and also your interest in science. Often there are many things that I chose to not even look at but it’s like you approach life as a big scientific study, watching, observing and learning- this is cool.
“it’s like you approach life as a big scientific study, watching, observing and learning- this is cool” I agree Kristy, this is very cool. I think we are all doing this to some degree. I know I do this!
I dont do explosions and mix chemicals in my body but boy do I observe and mark the results!
“First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!” I love this, it shows the simple steps of how to honour your body. Especially the fact that it is a choice to do what you feel in your body, I found this is very important as it does not ‘just happen’ when you notice it!
Oh yes, Dianne, our body indeed knows. It will also tell us exactly which other choices to take besides from food choices and which choices not to take – if only we are prepared to listen to it.
The body knows all.
Dianne, I love the way that you described you simply experimented with what your body was actually saying it didn’t want and what it would like more of, I believe that in itself is really something worth appreciating in a society where we have so much pressure to be on a particular diet or be backed in some way by someone elses idea of what we eat rather than just being allowed to make the choices from ourselves and our body
How life changing would it be for parents to support their children to choose food based on the true messages from the body?
Well Said Oliver. In society we want to have ‘scientific evidence’ to back up our choices, but by Diannes blog I would say we are all scientists.
Love it Harrison “we are all scientists” that statement in itself is so empowering and it is often forgotten that no one can feel the effects of what foods have on our bodies better than we ourselves can, therefore that makes us the most qualified person to be making a decision about our diet
The fact that all these diets are there shows us two things- that we want to live healthier, making better choices
And that we have lost our knowing that our body has the answers or we are choosing to not connect to this fact and listen to our bodies.
We are in fact our own dieticians. I know when I stop and listen- all the answers are there for me.
I love the loud and clear examples you have given of how your body speaks to you. The off switch from eating bucket loads of chillies to only a few and the communication to eat smaller portions. I know that this is not something unique only you have received .. our bodies are communicating with us constantly about what is needed (and what is not needed!); the only difference is you are listening and responding to the messages. Thank you for sharing this, it is inspiring and I can feel even more the importance of listening and responding to the body.
Even though our bodies do know what they need and they tell us all the time it is so easy to listen but to then override and succumb to the part of us that wants something else. I know that when I do listen, hear and then give my body what it wants and needs I feel amazing and vital, and when I ignore it I feel awful. What is it then that makes us want to override our bodies signals?
Thanks Rebecca, there is a great revelation in what you have said. because clearly ‘doing what we want’ plays out on the body in a certain way and usually ends up harming the body or reducing its sensitivity in someway or another. So the key then to true joy is to live what the body is impulsing us and not mix this up with “what we want” because that can come with an energy that will disconnect and take us away from our lovely bodies.
Awesome article Dianne and a great testimony to the fact that the body really does know. Listening to the body makes everything so much simpler.
I love the playfulness and yet profound inquisition you bring to everything Dianne. As Serge Benhayon once said “everything is everything and nothing is nothing”. Indeed there is much for us to note and a great value in unattached observation. Very often just posing the question provides the answer and a big question is often why we are not asking the very obvious questions that are there to be asked!
The title of this blog says it all Dianne and because you were born in a Lab coat on and your eye already focussed on the microscope we have the blessing of your detailed reflections that confirm for us all just how much ‘The Body Knows’.
Susan you have just reminded me when I have eaten something that my body no longer requires, I usually wake up feeling a bit heavy with a blocked nostril…. the body is amazing at letting us know what is not right for us to the finest of detail
It sure does Susan. Yesterday I ate some nuts and a few sultanas. My was belly almost instantly bloated and painful. I can usually eat a few nuts and sultanas but I had eaten them knowing that at that moment I did not really need them and voila .. instant screaming message from my body to feel what I need to consume or not and honour that from now on or else suffer the consequences! I think I’ll listen thank you.
Love this Jeannette and I can so relate to what you have shared. I too have found the way we eat food effects how it will feel in our body. If I am eating to numb or pick myself up I usually eat very quickly and a lot. When I eat to support my body I will eat with presence and take my time so every morsel is given attention.
I find that too Bianca, that this makes such a difference ; “When I eat to support my body I will eat with presence and take my time so every morsel is given attention.” And the whole experience of eating and nourishing the body is so much nicer when we are present to what we give the body and watch its’ response. I noticed when I eat in this state, the amount of food is so much less and I can feel the moment the body says that is enough.
Diane our body truly knows best and is our own lab where we can test and discover so many amazing things. Some years ago I had a craving for raw mushrooms. It lasted about 2 months and each day I needed to eat 3 or 4 of the plain white mushrooms. I would buy them on my way home after having craved them all day long, feeling a sense of chalkiness on my tongue that was quite powerful. I always felt better afterwards but never understood the meaning of this urge. Then the need disappeared and has not resurfaced. I can only assume that I needed some nutrient that could only be found in this type of mushroom.
I enjoyed reading about the reactions your body has to certain foods and how easy it is for you to eliminate that which is causing health issues. I have a similar reaction to some corn chips which make my gums swell and my teeth feel as though they are too big for my mouth – very uncomfortable.
At the moment I am particularly looking at the breakfast foods which make my head feel thick and unclear, along with anything with the slightest bit of sugar, which seems to give me a headache and make me very sleepy. I know when Iv’e eaten something with sugar in it as I get very drowsy, even if I’ve only just got up and I feel like I’ve been drugged and want to go back to sleep. It’s fascinating when the signs are so clear from the body and there is no doubt what is causing it.
“The Body Knows”…. without a doubt the body knows, it is only our minds that choose to override our bodies, stubbornly not wanting to let go of the control it has on us. I have stopped eating the foods that are obviously not good for me, like gluten, dairy and alcohol, but it is more challenging to stop the foods that I may think are healthy but not necessarily good for ME. That’s where body awareness comes in, listening and observing the little (or sometimes not so little) signals that the body gives us when something we are eating does not suit us.
Dianne I love your writing style, it is so factual and to the point. The body most certainly is the lie detector and what has always confounded me is my minds’ ability to override what is clearly being shown when I don’t want to feel and want to just eat what I want. Eventually I align to my body and it is very forgiving and adjusts from the harm, but clearly this is not something to be abused as our health statistics around the globe attest to a lot of unhappy bodies.
Yes, our body is a willing and patient teacher but not a fool. If we push too hard for too long things happen and when we are doing well our body is able to support us amazingly well too.
Absolutly Dianne, The body really does know best and it is funny how we tend to go through our whole live ignoring this so the messages it gives us have to get louder and louder till we listen. I love reading this blog, it is serious joyful and fun all at the same time with enormous wisdom and knowing to share.
I love how you present your body in relation to food as a science experiment Dianne. I can totally relate to this, especially the ulcer on the tongue. I now find that if I eat foods that my body does not need ie in a certain energy; out of boredom, emptiness or to suppress an emotion/feeling I don’t want to feel, my tongue or the roof of my mouth will clearly show me within a matter of seconds that what I ate wasn’t true as a sort of red, raw, welt comes up and it’s sore! There are certain foods I know don’t work for me anymore and in the past few weeks I’ve pretty much packed them away after a couple of years of getting underneath why I’m choosing to over-ride what my body is showing me as I’m refining and getting really honest about what being honest really with me is to me. It’s clear now that I never really ‘get away’ with eating foods that do not serve me, I don’t want to feel heavy in my stomach after eating too much or get a sore in my mouth anymore. Yesterday I not only ate a tiny bit too much supper but I had a tiny bit of nut butter on the edge of a spoon and one of my son’s lentil chips after and this morning my tongue is wooly and my stomach full and heavy. Wow we’re so very sensitive and I now know I want to honour that sensitivity so I can feel what more there is here for us to be aware of so we can all grow.
The body is more than we realise, and it is speaking to us all the time. Thank you Dianne, love this blog.
I have enjoyed reading your playful science experiments with food Dianne. The body never lies and when we try and test things out then there can be no doubt, the choice is ours to have or not to have knowing the consequences.
Oh Dianne, I have that tongue too! I used to ignore mine and eat the chocolate anyway. Like yours, as the years have passed and the chocolate and other sweet treats have been eliminated, my tongue has become super sensitive and now it ramps up with even a little beetroot.
One sign I have now when I eat too much my nose streams…I mean really pours. It happens suddenly between the mouthful that is enough and the mouthful that is too much.
I love these bodies of ours, with their intelligence that leaves our brains in the dust.
Dianne I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and couldn’t take the smile of my face and still can’t. What a true miracle our bodies are and I love when you write our bodies are great lie detectors. I have had similar experiences where someone has told me there is no this or that in my meal, only for my body to instantly tell me that there is. Sometimes my arm won’t even let me lift the food into my mouth, it has already sensed something not right; when I question further I find out there is indeed something in the food that my body will react to. Truly amazing and such a joy, thank you again Dianne.
So true, Dianne. The body does know what it wants and doesn’t want to eat and the trick is to listen to what it is saying. It sounds like you have this down to a fine art.
There is always such a joy and a love of life that I feel when I read your blogs Dianne – they do truly inspire one to engage more deeply with life – and with the body. I am just a baby learning my fist steps into listening to my body – I have spent a lifetime overriding what my body says. I am finding it truly amazing how loudly and powerfully my body speaks to me – and responds when I listen. It will be for me a forever unfolding exploration until the end of my life – and beautifully supported by yet another of your wonderful blogs.
Dianne, your sharing feels like a real life science experiment, the type of experiment that we can all carry out on ourselves through simply observing the way we live, what we eat, how we feel, what we feel to eat and how this affects our body. It would also put out of business all the diet books, DVD’s, programs as the answers are already all within our own body – waiting to be listened to. Hearing how you’ve actually listened to your body and then chosen to make changes shows that we can actually change if we choose. So often than not many of us continue to eat or act a certain way despite feeling the consequences – you’ve clearly shown the benefits of listening to our body.
Diane thank you. Your blog and all the blog comments brought home to me a problem in my body I had overlooked or minimised. I’ve been feeling more snoozy than usual. It happens when I’m sitting, in the evenings mostly, but also when driving particularly on motorways and not mid-way through a journey but even early on, I can find it hard to keep my eyes open. Strange as it might seem it’s only now I’m realising that this may be related to the food I’m eating. It may also be stem from lack of exercise, I am limited in what I can do because of the nature of my job. From today, I start my own scientific research to get to the root of the problem.
The body tells us straight away what is not good for you, and what is good for you. The body also guides us regarding particular foods at particular times. It tells us when it needs it and when it does not want anymore. We can either listen or override it. Yet, if we do override the message, we pay it down the road. This becomes more evident, fast and obvious the more clear you become.
I love the comical way you have written this Dianne. It keeps it light and simple without the seriousness we often bring to the subject of food. I can feel that every day is a joyful experiment for you.
Yes Rebecca I love the comical way Dianne wrote her blog as well. I often wonder why everything has to be so serious especially with science people. Therefore i love it even more that a “science head” has such a comical way to express. Imagine all science were so joyful – Dianne you are a light in this science world.
Oh yes I so agree with you Rebecca and Ester, Dianne is such a shining light in the world of science and how awesome is it that we can read and hear her lived wisdom in this playful and simple way.
You a spot on Dianne about the worlds most amazing, highly technical, very precise piece of mobile field equipment ever created by man and a women… our body. If we allow this complex piece of equipment to be contaminated the findings may be skewed or not detected at all. It normally take a long time to un-calibrate this amazing analyzer so it can take time to get it back to the original condition it was in when it was new. With the trail and error method and the constant tweaking the body… will tell all!
The title says it all; The Body Knows……. I have discovered that now because I choose to deeply care, and respect my body, my body has so much to communicate to me, now that I chose to listen. And on those times that I do over-ride a message, my body also very quickly lets me know, whether that be an upset stomach, several times on the toilet or a headache…… yes our bodies contain so much wisdom.
It is such a pleasure Dianne, to read your blogs about how you are developing your relation with your body with the way you live and what you eat. I truly love the way you respond to you feeling of eating loads of chillies, sounds bizarre, but our body knows, thats is what we have to learn. Our bodies do know exactly what to eat and what not, we only have to learn the communications of our bodies. Is it pain, an ulcer, eczema, nausea, a feeling of numbness or whatever signal it communicates. We all have to find out how our own body communicates with us, because it will be different for everybody individually.
This is a very fun and playful article Dianne about something that is actually so serious, especially when we consider the rate of illness and disease that are caused from the food we eat. This includes the obesity epidemic. I too have started listening to my body in regards to what I eat. I have had some miraculous stories about how my body reacts to certain foods. It is amazing how loudly the body can talk sometimes, but also how subtle it can be. But, as you have said, it is our choice whether we listen to it or not. But this can take some practice if we have chosen to listen to our head for a long time!
That’s something that needs to be explained Simone – how do you know if you’re in your head or body? When I first learnt there was a difference it took me some-time to be in my body. It’s sheer commitment and will to stay present and surrendered in the body because it’s against the norm – there is a lot of direct force against you. It’s revelatory to know all those self-abusive or ‘not knowing’ thoughts are not mine and come from the outside into my head.
Dianne you have potentially saved the medical and research world millions or billions of dollars with what you have presented here in that our body knows what is best, all we need to do is listen to it, take responsibility and respond in a loving way to what is needed. That’s it, it is that simple. And from what you have shared it seems a fun way of doing it as well.
Yes and it is not that difficult either, all we have to do is listen to its messages and it gives us heaps of feedback all of the time.
Yes Toni, I had a little giggle with the bio at the end too. The joy and fun Dianne has, whilst being committed, is infectious. Instead of being so “serious” about listening to my body I am inspired to bring lightness and fun in to it.
I loved reading this blog Diane, such a natural teacher, informative and entertaining at the same time. Your total commitment to listening to, and learning from your bod,y is so awesome and totally inspiring.
When I came to live on an acre in Northern Rivers from Victoria I was delighted by the abundance of different fruit and vegetables, so I tried them all until such time I no longer felt to eat them. I also had a rule if I grew it I would eat it as was the old belief I couldn’t let it go to waste. The Mandarine tree being one such source of the best I had ever tasted so I wasn’t eager to curtail eating them and listen to the messages from my body, but the tree blew over and died, so nature stepped in instead. The next was the tomatoes that always sprout and I would give away lots, one day whilst picking I popped one in my mouth it immediately felt wrong for me and I haven’t eaten one since. So yes Dianne the body lets us know when to refine and what is needed.
I like how the ulcers became like lie detectors for sugar in foods. … How funny … Perhaps it is true that ulcers are showing us that we are telling lies!
Dianne you are your own science experiment! ‘First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown!’ Gorgeous and excellent advice, thank you.
I love the simplicity with which you explore the body Diane and pay heed to the natural science that lives us.
It is incredible to see the relationship between our choices and the body’s responses and that food can be simple medicine or add to our woes.
Yes so true Deborah – and it is awesome that Dianne has such a beautiful way to bring her lived wisdom to us in ways that we all can understand.
WOW Dianne, what an awesome sensitivity to have. I’m not sure most people would feel that way, but to be so intently in tune with your body’s operation is amazing. I really enjoyed reading your other post on other foods your body felt it needed at a certain time. Must be such a bonus being a bioligist and being able to bring even further understanding to why a reaction might be occurring.
Spot on Dianne, “As my sensitivity has increased….”. This is what I find also, the more we listen to our body the more it can tell us. I’ve found that much as you with the beloved vinegar, there are things now that my body tells me it doesn’t like anymore – even if my taste-buds would say the opposite! It’s fascinating to look back over the year and see that gradually and naturally from listening to my body, changes have happened.
I find I can have very convenient amnesia about the effect certain foods have on my body. Thinking about it is very similar to the way in which I used to say “I’m never drinking again” when I woke up feeling horrific after a night on the alcohol but go for hair of the dog a short while later. Fortunately for me I did finally listen to my body on that one and right away knew I would never drink alcohol again. I find that often the attachment to the foods I eat for comfort will lead me to override my bodys’ very clear signals about whether to eat or not. But no amount of trying to stop eating certain things or in a certain way eg. for comfort, will make lasting changes. It is only by focusing on being more and more gentle, tender and loving with myself do I find that the comfort foods start to drop away.
I am totally with you on this one Lucy, I seem to suffer terribly from convenient amnesia, either that or I am a very slow learner. It is as though my brain takes full charge over my body and doesn’t give a dam if it inflicting punishment or damage on it, as it is just thirsting for a bit of mental stimulation or something. It makes perfect sense to listen to the what the body has to say and let that information be processed by the brain instead of the brain thoughtlessly leading the charge into harmful substances.
I as well as you Lucy, observe that learning to be more gentle with myself and understanding that I am enough already how I am, that I do not need to fullfill anything supports me in letting go of the needeness of foodgravings. I then am filled and nurtured with the love I am and I can feel what kind of food my body truly needs.
I concur Lucy it is only when I have committed to being more the love I naturally am, to focus on that to use my will to love myself that I can then listen to the very clear messages.
Me too, Lucy and Vanessa and I also noticed if I ignore the messages from my body they get progressively louder until I do take notice or am forced to by the severity of them. I have learned it is best to love ourselves and listen to the messages to avoid this.
I love that phrase ‘convenient amnesia’ Lucy, it says it all. And, like you, I find that willpower doesn’t work, but the more I learn to love myself the less I want to put my body through the agony of feeling dull-headed, stomach ache, sore this and that – oh the list of symptoms I conveniently ‘forget’ goes on and on. I sometimes find I can look at a food and it’s easy to go ‘nah, don’t fancy that’ and at other times I crave it. If I am well rested and nourished by the way I live, the cravings disappear. So instead of beating myself up for my failings, I am learning to accept and appreciate my self more.
I’m with you Dianne…the body surely does know best and is amazing in the way that it communicates to us. The relationships we have with food are so fascinating to observe. Food can be a drug or it can nourish. It’s amazing how much we use food as a drug to self-medicate, numb, comfort, distract, stimulate and the list goes on.
My life flows the best when I remind myself that ‘My Body Is The Boss’!
This is great, Marika. I love the comparison between food being a drug or nourishment as it takes what we eat to whole new level of responsibility. It shows me just how much disregard I have previously been in when choosing the food I am eating as it has mostly been chosen on taste rather than feeling into my body. I am surprised not more of our bodies have rebelled but I guess they are rebelling but again we are accepting illness and disease as being okay as well. What arrogance!
That would make a great t-shirt Marika, “My Body is the Boss”. I grew up believing that my head was the boss yet time and time again my body shows me this is not true. My head can tell me all sorts of things, telling me this or that is okay for me, the mind will always find a way to justify something you want to do but in truth know better, but the body will never lie, it speaks loud and clear and truly is our greatest intelligence.
Love this Marika …”food can be a drug or it can nourish.” The next time I want to choose food to numb I will ask myself am I wanting to self medicate or to nourish? This simple question and reflection allows me to stop and then make a true choice.
I love this blog, it’s so playful. Thank you Dianne.
The body is so awesome in the way it tells us what is going on, and I have only recently started to appreciate how amazing it is to have a body that tells me what’s what. For years I used to get so frustrated that it was so sensitive and was bad at tolerating things like alcohol, coffee, tea, and suger. But in actual fact I realise now that it is a blessing to be so in tune with what the body needs and doesn’t need. And you know one thing, my body is much more honest than my mind can be sometimes. It doesn’t let me get away with anything.
Dianne, reading both your blogs detailing how your body responds very specifically with its requests for certain foods at different times made me look at whether I had any similar experiences. Nothing in particular stood out – after giving up dairy and gluten, a lot of grosser symptoms simply disappeared. Your experiences have opened me to the possibility of receiving more information from my body and that there is a depth of stillness that is possible in my relationship with my body, which would make me more receptive to its more subtle messages – and perhaps if I encourage this my body will be able to tell me more.
It is amazing how the body will speak to you if there is a connection with it. It is possible to have a healthy body if we follow and feel the messages that are being delivered to us. For so many years I disregarded my body as I wasn’t aware of the intelligence that was present in the body.. Dianne I loved your experiments which proved the body is full of truths.
I too have disregarded my body for many years Anne, always leaving my body with the agony because of my needs to be fulfilled by having all kinds of foods that did not supported me, but instead numbed me away of what was truly there for me to take notice of. It is the irresponsibility of not living my life with the respect and honour my body truly deserves as our lives are from Devine origin. Before I met Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I have never considered my self to be from there.
Great blog Dianne, this is so true. I definitely agree, ‘my body knows’. I also love the part where you shared that our body is also a lie detector, how amazing is that? Not only can it be a lie detector for food but also when we pay enough attention to our body it will be able to detect when we or someone is not being truthful. Our body is highly intelligent. I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog. Thank you.
Apart from your engaging writing style, sense of humour and uniquely scientific approach to life Dianne, what stands out to me here is how sensitive you are to your body’s messages and responsive too! It inspires me to pay further attention to my own body which is in the process of encouraging me to let go of habits and attitudes to food I have carried most of my life.
Diane I just loved reading your discoveries with your body and food. Something we can all relate to. All too often these signs can be seen as a nuisance or something that is getting in the way, but they are one of the best gifts we will ever be given.
Yes this is what I have been coming to as well Vicky, how I can still see at times my body as a nuisance and sometimes, will even go into ‘shooting the messenger’ by using food or lifestyle activity to numb myself from feeling. I agree our bodies and our natural feeling of them, there for all of us to deepen our relationship with our bodies, are the true mediums through which we can also deepen our relationship to life.
True, Vicky. In the past I have found my body’s messages a nuisance or an inconvenience. I still can today, but then I stop myself and ask – what is really going on here, and I am finally beginning to value the body as the greatest and most truthful friend I’ve ever had.
So true Leonne, our bodies are amazingly sensitive and so it is wise to listen to and follow what our bodies are constantly showing us as it knows infinitely more than what our heads are wanting to convince us of.
‘The body knows’ wow if we all started truly listening to the messages from our body it seems to me there would be a lot less illness in the world!
Great point JY!
I agree, if we listened to our bodies rather than override it with the mind then we would have a lot less illness and disease.
Also what you share about painkillers is important, although it is not about suffering, we are told from all angles these days to ignore this very strong and powerful message of our body. In my experience pain is a ‘later stage’ message after we have already missed a series of more gentle nudges from our body. Being present in our body will help us to become aware of the signals much earlier and in a much more gentle way
Dianne I so enjoy the playful and inquisitive way you and your body interact and how you share this fun with us. None the less your message is very powerful as so few connect what is going on in their body to what they are eating. It took a big stop in my life to actually connect the dots between me eating bread and my severe digestive problems. Awareness around what our body tells us about our diet can be incredibly enlightening.
Absolutely Carolien, it is so uncommon to listen to your body when something is going on in it. In the past I would go ask other people, read about it etc but never look at my bodies messages which are often very simple as Dianne in this blog points out.
Yes Doug, it’s about building that awareness as a few years ago if someone had said feel your body when you eat I wouldn’t have necessarily known what they mean, but over time we develop that awareness and relearn that knowing that has never left us. I found this is like a stop moment where we allow ourselves time to recognise how a food makes us feel in the hour after we have eaten it.
We are indeed super sensitive beings. It seems many of the everyday aches, pains, bloating and the myriad of other minor symptoms are considered normal, when they are very far from normal and it is our accepted ignorance of symptomatic truth that perpetuates our unloving choices.
What a beautiful blog, I love it. And especially what you share about pain. We tend to straight away numb pain with medication and/or pain killers, before we even stop and ask ourselves: so what is going on? What is my body telling me? We live in our body 24/7, but how often in all those days and hours do we actually pay attention to it?
Dianne you are funny and I love reading this – I was smiling the whole time. I still am 🙂
I love that the body knows best for everyone incarnated has one and its there waiting to talk with us. Sometimes it has to yell and other times it can just whisper. I am listening more and more to my body every day and loving it more and more also.
This blog reminds me that my body is an amazingly sensitive instrument of truth.
I agree – we have the most amazing truth detector as well as a lie detector built into one for the body cannot lie.
We can only deny or ignore this lived wisdom.
A big Thank You for sharing all Your wisdom and inspiring me to listen and feel more.
The body is amazing. The more I listen and consider every pain or twinge as something to listen to, the more I understand what I am being told. Sometimes I absolutely wish I didn’t know, but really it is a wonder and by far more empowering that I was ever taught or ever considered in the past. Now my natural knowledge has been awakened there is no going back and no numbing out.
I love the way you observe the relationship between yourself and your body, Dianne, and go about your investigations in a scientific way, it is a lesson to us all in common good sense. The part of us that often overrides the awareness, or the choice to act on the information, makes no sense at all, in fact it is very insensitive to ourselves and not at all loving and caring for our general health and well-being.
I agree Joan, it is Dianne’s playful, curious approach she has towards her body as a scientific experiment that provides us with the ‘aha’ moments to approach our own bodies in this way.
What a delightful blog, Dianne, I love your style! What an inspiration to take a closer look at what’s really going on in the body. I feel I have become more and more sensitive too, and refining my diet is an ongoing process. Blogs like yours are of awesome help and inspiration. I remember how the need and craving for sugar would override all the discomfort in my body, as well as emotional discomfort, and I would sometimes even sacrifice a good nights sleep just for a sweet moment.. “Thank you, body, for being sensitive and showing me the way.” (“..and thanks for being so patient..”)
I love these examples Diane, I remember going on a Universal Medicine retreat in Vietnam, I had been through a process of reducing sugar in my diet in the same way -observing the reactions in my body and preferring not to experience them in favour of a moment of pleasure in the mouth. However, as part of the retreat there was a stunning array of gluten free, dairy free treats at the tea break, I figured I’m on retreat, it’s all lovingly made and I ate a whole load of yummy things that I would not have normally eaten at home. For the rest of the retreat I was quite grumpy as I had about 8 ulcers in my mouth, making it very painful to even eat the delicious non sweet treat food. Ouch!
The ridiculous thing is I have lived with bloating and bad wind for such a long time and so may I add have my family ! In fact I have lived with these symptoms for such a long.time that I actually thought that they were pretty normal. It is only fairly recently that I have actually felt the physical discomfort of it and have taken the time to consider which foods are causing it. I still don’t think I pay enough attention to the effect of food on my body but at least I am not in complete ignorance any more.
I’m giggling at your comment Alexis about how your family are suffering your pain swell lol! But on a serious note it makes me query what actually stops us from listening to our bodies even when we hear them loud and clear and have understood the message to boot. I do it too but from this blog I am inspired not to continue ignoring the wisdom of my body anymore and wow am I looking forward to seeing where that much self-love takes me, my life and my relationships.
It was common in our family to have those ‘windy’ days – there was a bit of embarrassment, some laughing and teasing. But never did anyone think to question what it was we were eating that was plainly not being digested well at all. Becoming aware of the bloating, any pain or the flatulence is an important first step in learning individually what our bodies can digest, and what is no longer healthy for us.
Hi Dianne, this is an awesome sharing and supports me to understand why love is so important and not the trying to convince ppeople because love will make the change. Thank you deeply.
Yeah it has never truly worked trying to convince people, at best there might have been short term try-outs of things. Living a life listening to the body’s loving communications ( and sometimes not that lovingly either, if we don’t listen) makes everything a lot more acceptable then, as the ‘trying’ aspect falls away because we connect with love first. And everything becomes so much more easy because it is falling it’s natural way.
In the past I’ve made (even now at times) so many excuses to choose to ignore what my amazing body keeps alerting me to when consuming foods that sabotage health and vitality. The evidence is there all the time. Bloating tummy and pain under the rib cage. If it’s hot water bottle time – that’s food indulgence on a grand scale and it can be the smallest of indulgences eg red apple instead of a green apple!!!! Too many nuts. Thank you Dianne for shedding light on a subject that can be quite intense at times, your way of sharing is so inspiring.
It is true, ‘the body knows’ and it keeps sending us messages everyday about the choices we are making. I had to have big pains my stomach from diary and gluten before I started listening, but once I began to honour these messages, I became more aware of what else my body was telling me. I remember thinking ‘ahhh, so this is actually quite useful, listening to my body’ because I began to feel more well. It is something that continues there is no end point, my relationship is developing more as the years go by and my health and well being are blossoming.
You have described this so simple and easy – from your body to get it. Listening to our body is quiet easy once we get more used to it how to read the signs and its langurage.
Diane, I love your shifting dialogue and relationship with your body, sometimes eating what you feel your body needs, rather than doing what your head tells you, sometimes not and living with the consequences. You’ve shown us the value of playfulness in this journey and the evolving nature of our relationship with food. I appreciate how the body’s barometer becomes more and more refined the more we listen and respond to it: types of food or quantities once accepted are rejected, the clue we’re given is when we feel pain, discomfort, nausea. But do we listen? Getting to a point working where I’m fully in sync with my body and responding to the messages it gives me is still work in progress.
I liked your take on pain here Dianne and that ignoring it or masking it with drugs is akin to turning off the smoke alarm! Sure we do need painkillers sometimes when it is intense or ongoing pain as you said but it really makes sense to actually understand that pain is a stop and a reality check about what is really going on.
Yes, Andrew. There is a fine balance with pain relief between allowing ourselves to feel what the body is communicating strongly and being open to learning from it, and using medication as a support so that we are able to stay present with ourselves and not needlessly be in agony.
I like that part too Andrew. It reminded me of how I dealt with pain in the past. I very rarely took pain killers because I didn’t like tricking my body in masking the pain. I remember really appreciating painkillers after giving birth to my second child to support my body to recover and when I had my wisdom tooth extracted. Painkillers can be very supportive but if we use it to cover up pain in our body instead of understanding first what is causing the pain it could potentially be harming to our body. So, fixing the symptoms isn’t always the solution, by stopping to feel and understanding our body is a very loving thing to do.
Absolutely Andrew, and even very low intensity discomfort is a signal from our body that something is not quite right and we need to consider what it is. For example, I have a niggling ache in my lower back right now which is telling me that the way I am sitting is putting pressure on my sacrum and neck and not lovingly supporting me. I don’t know how long I have ignored it but now I have adjusted my posture the pain has released and I actually have more clarity in my mind. Which is another story all together, but just for starters it makes me ask ‘does what we do to, and how we hold our body affect our cognitive processes and not just our physical wellbeing?’ I think yes.
Indeed Andrew, the normality with which people pop these kinds of drugs on a daily basis means that many are simply overriding the bodies natural intelligence – turning of the smoke alarm is a dangerous choice.
Taking painkillers and not looking at why you have the pain is like saying ‘let me have the pain another time just not right now’. Seems crazy huh?
I love how you make your body your scientific playground, and how this approach is a much lighter one than we know from diets , our own rulesetc. We all are experts when it comes to our own body if we truly want to listen. The wisdom the body caries amazes me time after time, thank you for bringing more light to this Dianne.
Annelies yes, Dianne does make the body a scientific playground, and it is inspiring to learn how much she actually listens to and acts upon the body signals – who would have guessed that her body required bucket loads of chillis – I’m sure no nutritionist would have come up with that and it may not work for anyone else ever. Just goes to show how amazing our bodies are.
Dianne “Born in a lab coat” Trussell, you are the embodiment of joy in science! Isn’t it amazing how sensitive our bodies become the more we refine our sensitivity of feeling? It is as if our bodies get that we are respecting and listening to them more and then saying ok, lets take our livingness deeper. Of course this is the truth and exposes how so much energy is wasted ignoring and numbing ourselves to our bodies. So why are we so afraid of evolution?
I am also amazed how sensitive our bodies are and when we listen to it, it goes deeper and deeper. It is incredible how our body is naturally and continuously communicating to us to make choices that pulls us towards harmony. The way it works is so gentle, patient and loving.
This truth is great once it is known and we have that connection and can feel the body. If there is no understanding of this like there is for many people then of course they will continue to operate from thinking in there heads instead of feeling from the body the truths.
I have spent a lot of time ignoring what my body shared with me over the years. It was speaking to me a lot, sometimes yelling at me, but I made a lot of choices to not listen. Some of these choices I am feeling even now, even though i have been connecting with me and making more loving choices for myself a lot more over the last few years. However, there is a momentum of how i’ve lived that is still presenting. As always, it is creating a space for me to go deeper with myself and be loving, choosing self honouring above anything else. This is ongoing and forever evolving.
Thank you Dianne, this blog has reinforced the fact that my body does indeed know what is best for it should I make space to listen to it and that a deeper relationship with my body is required. It can tell me about the little things – even just holding an almond or a jar of walnut butter can create feelings of tightness and the smell can be repulsive to my body even though I used to love nut butters. But even though I am listening to my body more and more to what it doesn’t want I would say that the deepening of my relationship would be to listen to what it does want and to not just fob it off and pretend that I am above certain foods when actually when I eat them they are so yummy to me right now.
Coming in loud and clear are the messages from my body – what is developing is my awareness and willingness to listen. The more I listen the more my body shows me. Lots of people say that we create these sensitivities by being attentive to our diets. I absolutely know that it is just layers of honesty being accessed! The more I ask my body to show me; the more willing I am to listen to what it has to say; the more I am learning every day, becoming a scientist of my own body.
This is a great point Matilda about sensitivity to foods. I used to pride myself once as not being sensitive to any foods and that I could pretty much eat anything and my body would not react obviously in terms of pain or severe symptoms. But these days having developed a closer connection with my body I realise it was always reacting and talking to me, I just had the earplugs firmly in my ears! I have encountered the attitude frequently that it is a bad thing or a weakness or that there is something wrong with you if you admit that you are sensitive to certain foods. Or that you are making a fuss when you request a specific diet when eating out for example. Sensitivity in general is yet to be prized and really appreciated for what it truly is and unfortunately is still seen more as a curse than a blessing.
Matilda what you share is true.. my feeling is that we are all sensitive to food but we often ignore the subtle messages our bodies feed back to us, unless of course we become so ill from it and then can’t ignore it anymore. Is it possible that by ignoring these messages it could be that we just don’t want to get honest?
I love what you have shared here Dianne, thankyou. If we are open to what our bodies are showing us we will know what to eat and how much.
I love what you have shared here Dianne, especially from a ‘scientist’s’ point of view with regards to your tongue ulcer. It would not make sense to many why you would get an ulcer from sugar containing foods, as there may not be several years of observational studies to corroborate your findings.
Bringing it back to the simplicity of each of our bodies, and the magical diversity they are is so profound. You share this with such light and playfulness, all the while presenting the science and truth of our bodies at work. Thank you.
Awesome blog Dianne…..so true. I thought one day I would have a chocolate sorbet with no dairy or sugar. And my body showed me within 10 mins It didn’t like what I put into it. Lets say I had to find the closest powder room. I have never touched chocolate again. The body was talking quite loudly that day.
I am loving how sensitive my body is, and all the little signs I get that tell me that maybe there is something I need to look at, especially if I eat something and a little ulcer comes up on my tongue, it’s a great warning sign, and if I override it next time the ulcer is bigger and the message is delivered and understood.
What great insights Dianne, very revealing about the body. What I have been finding recently is non-food related in that my stomach can go into immense ache/pain not out of anything i’ve physically eaten.. but because of a thought, or attitude such that my actual digestion is then affected. To me this shows that ‘diet’ and ‘weight’ (gain or loss) is not solely about food but one’s way of being – that includes the whole consumption of life itself by us.
Spot on, Zofia! As our sensitivity to choices goes up, the merest out-of-kilter energy can have big physical effects. I agree that what going on for us mentally and emotionally (ie the energy we are ‘in’) has a big impact on how our body responds. What has also struck me is that just the energy of people in food can affect me. I can eat something that’s good for me and completely free of gluten, dairy, sugar, vinegar, grains, beans and all the other stuff I can’t eat, and made of the same stuff I would make it with myself, so it should be OK. But if it’s been prepared by someone who is emotional or disregarding of themselves, my body reacts as if I’ve been poisoned. And actually it has. So now there are times when I must seriously look beyond the ingredients at even the choice of where I eat and how the food has been prepared.
That reminds me on “everything is energy” and the fact that the energy of previous activities influences the end result. For example eggs have normally gluten, because the chicken get fed with grain and other questions around that, how were the chicken / eggs treated, who puts the eggs into the box, etc. So when we start to eat, it makes sense to feel if the food is OK or not.
I really love this Dianne ! The simple , but painful process of listening to your body. I feel like these signals from the body are communicating to everyone at all times but you’re quite clever in listening to them and irradiating them… and I bet that your joy in life has increased significantly too.
Natasha the joy does increase. But refining the listening is still a work in progress (and always will be because nothing stays the same). If I don’t get the message clear enough from what my body’s saying and go ahead with a choice that might be a bit off, the results are not fun at all!
I love your blog Dianne – I love the way you talk about how your body communicates and that you listen to it, that you use your felt experience , as any scientist ought to do, how does it feel without this or that and how does it feel with this and that. That is a true form of adjusting to the body’s needs rather than following dietary advice that soley comes from the head. Awesome blog, thank you.
I never really took much notice of what my body was telling me, or didn’t want to if I am honest with myself and thought I had a really healthy diet. I cannot say I felt much difference when I first stopped eating certain foods, but then after sometime if tempted to try those certain foods which I had almost eliminated from my diet again, I did become aware of a reaction from my body, saying no this feels awful, it’s not worth feeling this uncomfortable. For example vinegar, which makes me feel tight in the chest and it’s harder to breathe or mangoes which make me feel weighed down. It’s just not worth the feeling and as I choose to become more aware of what my body is telling me it speaks louder. My body IS like a barometer and I have a choice to listen and honour what its telling me or ignore it and suffer the consequences. Another thing I have noticed, is when I am feeling stressed or a bit low I want to eat and I know this is because I don’t want to feel what I need to address. Thank you Dianne, I appreciate your wonderful scientific approach.
It is great to read about the intelligent science of our bodies from a scientist Dianne! What I loved about your blog was the way you were tuned in to what your body was telling you, and you were prepared to experiment and make the changes. I have noticed that I am not needing to eat as much as I used to, and a light meal at dinner works best for me. It seems that every day the body is adjusting and sending its messages for what is needed.
I love the light, fun way in which you write Dianne, it is like seeing things from the true joy of discovery. I love how you are the true scientist, ruling things out in such a methodical way and I love the fact that you see your body for the amazing being it is. Such an inspirational way of writing! The body really does know.
Wow Dianne – what an incredible journey you have had with your body and food! On the contrary, I have always been able to eat anything and everything, and at anytime, with no obvious side effects. I do remember hating having to drink milk for ‘play lunch’ at school. It was left in the hot sun all morning and was warm with greasy melted cream on top. The only way I could get it down was to scull it as fast as possible which gave me such severe heartburn one time that I was sent home. During my early childhood I remember being skinny, ‘full of beans’ and always hungry despite being well-fed at home. Question to self – is it possible I was feeling an emptiness I could not fill with food?
I totally agree with you, Dianne. For me, it’s like I cannot hide anything from my body. I am finding my body is reacting to more and more things, but I am beginning to wonder if it’s not always the thing itself, but my intention and motive behind that choice that my body is flagging as off. This is truly a fascinating process and I love getting intimate with body.
I can relate to it being the intention sometimes rather than the actual choice of food Fumiyo because I can get lazy and caught in patterns of eating the same things rather than feeling into what would support me best at a particular time.
Awesome! How simple but powerful. You took the micky out of all the complicated diets and ailments and the list goes on. Keep it simple just listen to our bodies, first step in healing. Thank you for sharing.
I love your scientific trial and error way of approaching life Dianne because you make it light and fun. I had a chuckle at your ‘sugar meter and your ‘lie detector’. I have always been annoyed at my body for reacting after eating certain treat foods, like getting a cold sore after eating chocolate, coffee or red wine. But once I accepted that these foods were poisons to my body and extracted myself from any need for them, I now thank my divine and precious body for telling me exactly what I can and can’t consume. And whilst I still protest at times, I am finding a greater surrender in letting go of foods my body no longer needs.
A great blog Diane, thank you. Yes our bodies are so clever aren’t they? For years I used to get terrible bloating after eating bread or pasta, but never put it down to the fact that it might be the food that was making my body react. I no longer eat bread or pasta or any gluten for that matter, but I do occasionally get a bit bloated. As I refine my diet more and more, my body is more easily able to let me know that I have eaten something it does not want and it does so very quickly. What a truly amazing instrument we have as an indicator of our true health, if we only choose to listen to it more closely.
A great question to pose Shevon Smith, what stops us from truly listening, as we have this divine body of expression with love at the very core of us so why disregard it and trash it with unloving food and lifestyle choices?
We make sure no end that our car has exactly what it needs to run efficiently and smoothly but can be neglectful of our own bodies, almost blaming it for our not performing well enough when we in fact, are the actual cause of its discomfort or pain by our unloving choices.
We seem to be more concerned with our getting somewhere and what that somewhere will give us when we get there, seems to override any loving choice for our bodies. All our bodies ever do is consistently work towards a natural and loving balance, working at bringing us back to centre every time we veer off. This our body does every time, no question, it is there for us and doesn’t go into the whys or criticism, it has a purpose and it never strays from that purpose, something we could take stock of and choose to honour.
I am fascinated by the way our body is constantly communicating to each of it’s parts to bring about balance. The way in which every organ of the body works together in perfect harmony is very amazing and pondering on this makes me want to look after my body more and more.
This is a fantastic article, thank you Dianne. I agree the body knows best! I am inspired by the very real and responsive relationship you have with your body and your willingness to listen to the truth of what it is showing you. In my own experience, I have found that my mind can be a bit tricky about what it feels is supportive or good to eat, while the body never lies and it offers the truth very quickly with physical symptoms. The more I am open to listening to these messages the more I am open to refining what and how I am eating.
A great sharing here Dianne, thank you. Yes, my body is a pretty good ‘sugar meter’ , if I have anything with just a hint of sugar in it, I feel absolutely ‘yuk’. My downfall is salt. I have not added salt to anything for a long while now, but I can still fall for the potato chips or vege chips, purely for the salt value and maybe the crispness. And if I have one, I am gone, can’t help but finish the packet. It is amazing how I can feel some nausea, and then feel I just have to have the chips to stop it. But then, what am I not wanting to feel? Why is the nausea there in the first place? The only answer can be ‘acceptance’. Why cannot I truly accept who I really am? What am I hiding from? I can remember when I was in primary school, and going in my parent’s car to the Central Coast from Sydney, how I would suffer from car sickness. It would start with the nausea from the motion of the car. I eventually discovered that eating some salty chips during the trip stopped the nausea and the car sickness. And so, now when I feel nausea, I have this huge urge for the chips. But lately, if I have those chips, like you, the tip of my tongue and occasionally also, along the side of it, become extremely red and pain-full. Okay, a message from the body, chips are no longer okay for me, time to get off this merry-go-round. Science, and the body are telling me the truth. Let myself feel what it is I am not accepting! A very timely sharing, Dianne, I deeply thank you.
Great to read about your experiences Dianne. It’s very individual what our body needs, and this is often changing, which makes looking outside of ourselves to diets and guidelines very inflexible. Listening to the body and following through with the signals and messages it offers is very simple, so when I cannot do this easily or want to hang onto a food and keep eating it, I have to look deeply at that choice and work out what is going on for me. Hanging onto a food despite the negative effects, or pretending I don’t know what’s happening, throws both my inner being and body into chaos. It’s just not worth it to hang onto a food making it more important than my overall harmony.
Dianne I love your blogs and how you break down the ‘sugar coating’ of how things are and present the facts of what is actually going on. In this case that the body is designed to basically reflect all that we need to know to ensure we are truly living our optimum health and well-being which is who we naturally are. We just need to start listening as you say here – ‘The more I listen to my body the more I am developing the ability to be open to what it has to say so that I can pick up all the messages, no matter what odd form they may take.’
Great blog, it makes me wonder what messages I am ignoring and see as normal, I can feel that there is a lot to learn from this body of mine. Thank you for inspiring.
I really enjoy your articles Dianne and how you delightfully merge science and our body’s ability to feel. You encourage me to bring my focus to my body and I will be pleased to provide a detailed report if my body has an urge for a bucket of chillies.
Thank you Dianne, I have heard that I need to listen to my body, but found my mind wants to ignore it. These practical examples are just the thing to satisfy my mind that my body should have authority over my food choices. It just makes sense.
Thank you for making it so clear that our body does communicate all of the time; my tongue is also sending me messages at present and I am observing how I know immediately what food item has caused the bright red patch and lesion and how I then want to discount it and do more ‘scientific experiments’, just to be sure and just to have another go at eating what my body has already said no to. The body does know best, there is no denying the fact.
Your comment made me laugh Gabrielle and reminded me of a very clear signal that my body gives me regarding over eating or when not to eat. Sometimes when I go to eat food I lose the sensation of being able to ‘taste’ it, similar to when you get a cold and you can’t taste anything. In truth I knew this was my bodies way of communicating to me that it didn’t want or need food, but of course when I override this, sure enough my body develops all sorts of uncomfortable symptoms to show me that there was another choice. The one I most notice when I overeat is my eyes watering and congested sinus. The body truly is amazing.
I have been a very slow learner in the language of the body, but after reading blogs like this and many lessons learnt the hard way I am finally starting to listen intently as the body is far less forgiving the older we get.
‘Evidently my sugar meter is also a lie detector, revealing sugar in foods when it is not even listed on the packaging!’ I love it, yes the hidden ingredients! I love your writing too, this should be I a magazine .. forget about fads and diets, listen to the body and be your own scientist, our bodies really do know best. The power of our health really is in our own hands it is just what we choose. Very inspiring.
Beautiful blog Dianne, it is true how our body can show us everything. We can’t hide the fact that it is always showing us the right or wrong.
It’s incredible how quickly ones body responds to the wrong foods, when I used to eat chocolate I would get pimples on my face within hours, clearly telling me that I had put something toxic for me into my body. The more subtle signs include: feeling tired after eating, feeling racy or anxious after eating etc. Thank you Dianne for bringing a new awareness to the effects of foods and listening to our bodies.
I love the quirky funny way you write about an important topic Dianne, it’s great to get a reminder to take note and act on what our body so clearly informs us about what we eat. Listening to the messages our body tells us is the truest way to know what’s good for it, rather than following a regime that someone else has set.
I really enjoyed reading your blog Dianne. My parents gave me some good advise. “Do everything in moderation”. I love chilli, not in bucketfuls, not even in cupfulls, just three scotch bonnet peppers a day is perfect. As for sugar and vinegar, my body says no, not even when it is hidden in processed food.
I found this a really confirming read, having spent the last couple of days in digestive agony when eating what I considered to be benign foodstuffs. I’d been contemplating all the potential culprits but came to the conclusion that my system just can’t bear the same quantities any more and that I either have to become despotic on the body, to satisfy my mouth and mind over historical portion size habits and expectations, or I have to reduce my intake levels in order to honour what’s being clearly conveyed. I have come to appreciate that the more I honour my body, the more sensitised it becomes and the more new subtle adjustments are required. If this is the price of vitality then it’s certainly worth paying.
Agree with you Cathy, and an important note to note in your sentence here “…the more I honour my body, the more sensitised it becomes and the more new subtle adjustments are required. If this is the price of vitality then it’s certainly worth paying”. Diet and food intake is ever changing because we are changing and so many of us are in denial over this, wanting it ‘the same as before’. I have been finding that having the same meals on same days, even though super wholesome, are no longer supporting the honouring of a body that is changing. Is like we wouldn’t be able to wear the coat we wore when we were aged 12 today at aged 40 for example. We must go with flow, and graciously accept.
I agree, Zofia, I find that what I need can change very quickly from day to day so, even though I may buy a food, sometimes I don’t eat it because my body decides it doesn’t want that any more.
That is true for me Zofia about honouring our ever changing needs. As what works for me one day, may not work the next and that’s down to when, what and how much I eat…it’s very much a work in progress and like any good experiment, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.
This is a great article that shows when we listen to the signs, we can rely on it and we can use the body as an indicator for the truth, the body knows!
I agree Dianne. I know my body knows what it needs, when it is needed and how much. It’s my thoughts that want me to hang on to old patterns of beliefs. The only thing hanging on to old ways serves is a dose of pain or discomfort. As it is stated ‘we are what we eat’. I choose not to be a bloated windbag.
I can really relate to the portion size messages from my body Dianne. I have a tendency to over eat, even though it does not look like it in accord with the average plate size. M body always feels sluggish and uncomfortable or racy and edgy afterwards and light and energised when I listen to my body’s portion regulations. The trick is to listen to and heed the messages of the body no matter how they defy the ‘norm’, and not override them.
I enjoyed reading your blog Dianne, thank you. I particularly liked the part when you discovered that your “sugar meter” was also a “lie detector”! I guess our whole body can be described as a lie detector really. Every time I allow my mind to convince me that a certain type of food or way of moving my body is ok when it’s actually not, it soon gives me a message to let me know that I’m lying to myself. I used to be a master of overriding the messages of my body to the detriment of my body, but now by applying the wisdom that Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine present, my relationship with my body and the world at large is so much more enjoyable and harmonious.
Dianne, that is amazing how clearly your body talks to you; and it’s a testament to you for allowing it to tell you, without any attachment, what it needs and what it doesn’t want. Your blog is just beautiful and insightful and written with a joy that is quite infectious, thank you. You inspire me to deepen my listening to my own body, and just recently needed to clearly adjust the quantity of food I was eating; eating less is definitely agreeing with my body and I feel much clearer in many ways. The body knows, and we can know if we want to, no dietary experts needed!
Yes, the body is our dietician Esther
I love your lightness and playfulness with listening to the signals of your body about certain foods. I can sometimes get a little serious about it and then it seems to me very hard to listen and adjust my diet. I am so inspired, thank you Dianne.
I love this Dianne…oh how true that our body knows what works and what doesn’t work for it is using a language that we understand – pain, discomfort, bloating, ulcers, etc so to show us that something we’ve eaten or done isn’t right for us. We have a choice – listen or don’t listen, and if we choose the latter, then the messages and language used gets stronger and louder.
This blog has reminded me how sensitive my body is to certain foods. I first remember noticing at around 14 year of age that when I ate a particular breakfast cereal I would come out in spots. When I used to drink alcohol, particular red wines would give me bad cold symptoms. The list goes on, and I too have noticed my body is becoming more sensitive to even small amounts of particular foods that I know it does not respond well to, but that I keep trying to get away with eating.
Isn´t it absurd that we have to learn to get to know ourselves and our body? But that is how it is and it is a marvellous relationship that we can develop. The body has never ceased to have that relationship with us but we seem to have lost touch with it like with friends from old times we 20 years or so later meet again.
What is fascinating is what happens when we get a good knowledge of our body. I have become aware of my energy, i.e. how I approach things, am prepared for things around me, talk to people, pretty much everything in what I can only describe as my energetic state which I can also change and make myself more open to what is happening. An amazing experience.
Even more absurd Alex is that the body is the one thing we’re not taught about in school or life in any meaningful way. Thanks to Universal Medicine, we’re only now learning to build new and more loving relationship with this most intricate and sensitive of structures that houses and supports us each and every day.
Developing a relationship ‘back’ to our most natural way…does seem a bit backward… But I do agree Alex, such a marvellous relationship to re-ignite.
Once again, a beautiful testimonial to the wisdom of our amazing bodies. This fantastic vehicle that we are all blessed to inhabit, which is a constant reminder of where we are at is so often taken for granted, but it has its way of reminding us of both its strength and fragility through the sensations we are constantly given but must choose whether we wish to perceive and act upon what they are telling us.
Dianne, you describe in the utmost detail the very opposite of what most people would be able to describe as the signs of their body regarding food: the usual indulgences that taste and emotional need produce with such intensity and detail that we specifically “know” when to stimulate the senses with salty, sweet, spicy, dairy or sour substances for the purpose of comfort, numbing, reward, entertainment etc etc Two very different sciences.
Thank you Dianne for your accurate observations. It is so easy to push those little message aside and ignore them but it serves well to listen and make the necessary adjustments in time, as the signs will eventually get “louder” or more painful.
Thanks Dianne for sharing all your bodily communications – I love your experimentation with your body and your response in respecting what your body was telling you.
Diane thank you for sharing, it is amazing how sensitive our bodies become to food, if we allow ourselves to connect to this sensitivity we are able to best choose the foods that are more supportive to us. I love how you share that every message your body gives to you regarding food, it’s supporting you to heal what’s not in balance by flagging the foods that are not supportive. I find that eliminating foods that are not supported allows me to have more energy and vitality
No surprise Dianne and very timely – I’ve eaten something just before reading this that my body is reacting to with pain.
Our bodies so know what’s good for us and what’s not good for us if we but choose to listen.
The question is sometimes – What stops us from truly listening?
So right, Shevon, what stops us from listening to our bodies?? Many times I have chosen to override the symptom or I don’t probe deep or honestly enough to get to the cause of the symptom.
Dianne, you have taken listening to the body to whole new level for me -so fine tuned in your observations. What you have shared is pretty amazing!
Oh, sweet ignorance – I don´t want to know what I already know so that I don´t need to act accordingly upon it therefore I dismiss what I know and everyone including my body who tries to tell me. How else can we ‘enjoy’ irresponsibility?
Good question Shevon – what stops us from truly listening? For me it is not wanting to hear or see what’s there. I had a recent experience with a food that I know is comfort food and have come to the honesty that I eat it when I don’t want to feel something. There was something I didn’t want to feel and was looking for comfort, and I convinced and justified eating it to myself. Oh boy, I had pain, cramps and wind for the next 2 days. That food is now on my ‘no go’ list and I know if I go near it now that I have the awareness (and proof), I will get smashed if I eat it…and it’s just not worth it, and more importantly, my body doesn’t deserve to feel terrible for 2 days for just a few minutes pleasure.
Same here Shevon, I have just eaten something I knew would not be great for me and am now feeling the consequence of this choice, a reminder to bring it back and listen to my body.
It is a great question you pose here Shevon – ” What stops us from truly listening?” I have discovered for myself, that I have been aware for about 12 months that I had the idea of eating fish at the ‘back of my head’, so to speak. I ignored that, telling myself it’s only for the sake of a taste-bud, as I have been a full vegetarian for over 30 years. Yet as more and more foods fell away in that the body did not want it anymore, the fish came even more to the foreground. When I eventually allowed my body to receive some fish, it just felt right and solid and I felt truly nourished. Nowadays I might have some fish in the week, and I can feel that my body thanks me for it, by feeling warm and fully at ease.
Wow Karina this is amazing. You have listened to your body and it has thanked you for it. Very inspirational.
Thank you Dianne, this was fun to read. I love how practically you describe your communication with your body. At some point we either listen to our body or we have to keep fooling ourselves with more extreme measures.
You share some amazing wisdom here Dianne about our bodies and their messages, that if we all chose to live by just as you have we would eliminate nearly all of the main health issues with food currently experienced by most these days. Power-full!
So true Joshua. The body speaks volumes when we are willing to listen and truly recognise what is going on.
I love the way you have used your science background to explore what is supportive for your body. We all can be researchers. I also remember eating whole bags of mixed lollies after school and getting what we called “sugar blisters” on our tongues and the feeling very sleepy and cranky. I now don’t eat sugar but my body definitely tells me when I have overdone it with sugar.
Dianne, I absolutely love hearing about the way your body tells you what’s supoortive and not supportive for it. I also find it so fascinating how it can speak so loudly and so distinctly… And how your not quick to dismiss it or jump the gun but you try it out and test to just to solidify what it’s telling you. Inspiration for me to listen to what’s going on in my body and not stress about food as it knows what it needs and doesn’t need if I want and care to listen.
What a great blog Dianne – it has me laughing with you as I read the body reactions you describe – similar symptoms arise for me too – vinegar makes my tongue want to curl back and away from it as far as possible and even small sugar consumption makes my tongue feel quite strange now as well as showing up on my skin as spots or vesicles from even a little too much fruit sugar for my system to handle. Certain fruits now are simply too much for my digestive system now and listening to this has sorted out major candida problems which used to frequent my system.
I am still learning to keep listening to the finer signals and act upon them immediately rather than keep testing them out to be sure that the body wisdom is working well!
Diane, I loved reading your blog. The body is amazing at telling us what it needs isn’t it! It speaks to us in its own way, but we often pretend its a foreign language, don’t understand and ignore the messages and communications it gives us. Reading the body and what it shares is the best way of keeping vibrant and healthy.
The Body sure keeps us honest if we are willing to listen.
I have been listening more intently to my body, particularly in terms of food and its interesting to see and feel how much it actually reacts. As a result I have begun to experiment with eating less, which has been quite scary I must say! But low and behold I actually survived! I have come to the realisation that I have probably been overeating for my entire life, that food has been way more than nutrition to me, it was my drug of choice, or one of them. By eating less I feel lighter, clearer and more free, it just makes sense.
No matter how many times I may ignore what my body knows it wants or, what it most certainly does not want, it continues to deliver the messages louder and clearer until I have no choice but listen, and we’re much better friends when I do.
Yes indeed the body knows – and knows in detail what it can and cannot do and what it can and cannot eat. I was similar in that I did not want to give up the nice foods that I liked, however when the body said no more – the pain just got more intense until I had to say… “ok, enough”.
I remember a month before I got pregnant I began craving foods that had a lot of folate/folic acid, which I just happened to be deficient in and a mineral my baby would require once I got pregnant – it was necessary and helped her form, develop and grow. I can recall several times over my life where I have marvelled at my body knowing what to do next. This just could not happen without true intelligence bypassing the Brain, or any form of thinking. So I guess the big question is where did that energy of intelligence come from? What was the intelligence behind the intelligence as I certainly would want them in my camp!
This is great Diane, I have also done the dance with either listening to or ignoring those messages the body give me. Like you, each time, I try to ‘know better’ than my body, it comes undone. Yet each time I listen, respect and honor what I need, then the benefits are amazing.
I love your humour Dianne. Your blog was an absolute joy to read. Our bodies share with us constantly and very loudly too. Once we feel what it wants to share with us, it is then up to us to make the next loving choice. One thing I love about the body is that its persistent and will continue to share until we listen.
Great blog Dianne and such Playful humour too. The body is our marker of all things and you bring up another level for us all to sit and truly listen to our bodies as it always tells the truth and is constantly showing us everything, if we take the time to listen.
Such clear observations Dianne. I love doing on the spot experiments. I love the curious innocence that you observe and ask questions…Inspiring the inner scientist in us all. Thank you.
Yes, the body gives signals all day, every day. In my experience I only get painful ones when I ignore earlier, non painful ones and many signals are supportive and confirming as Dianne has experienced.
All day the body communicates and if I’m not listening then it makes me listen via pain or discomfort.
Wow, awesome blog Dianne, and how amazing our bodies are. How in essence we are all the same but our bodies are all so different, what suits one may not suit another, which makes a mockery out of the many ‘diets’ that are out there.
A wonderful blog Dianne that reminds us that yes, the body does know best, and that it is communicating its needs to us all the time. Should we choose to override these messages, ill health and pain in the body may eventuate, until we are forced to listen.
This is brilliant Dianne. It shows the absolute power and marvel of our body at work. It is always giving us little messages, which we have conveniently learnt to ignore or override, rather than pay heed and take responsibility. When we listen however, we take steps to truly support ourselves.
I love your writing style Dianne, it’s as though you’re in the room telling me all about these amazing discoveries! Our bodies are such miracles, absolute miracles that love us dearly every moment of every day. What fun (and with so much less pain) we can have when we choose to listen to our body’s experience of the after effects of what we choose to consume.
I have had a similar situation occuring with my body and it’s signals to sleep. I have been feeling really tired by 6 or 7pm in the evening and sometimes during the day. I have not been heeding these signals and been going for walks later than usual and talking or engaging with others later too, so that when I do go to bed I am not so tired anymore and cannot sleep straight away so resort to a sleepytime tea which works but I sometimes then wake in the night, or very early in the morning, in order to go to the toilet. I have been able to sleep in late a couple of times but when I do follow my body and it’s signals and rest or go to bed when I am tired I feel loads better. This is all part of trusting my inner knowing and to “Choose to do what I am being shown.” – my commitment to myself and my own well-being.
We ignore so often feelings of being exhausted or tired and just keep on doing what we do or eat something to have a little energy boost, preferably with fruit or nuts. But WHY do we do that? Why do we not want to be tired? Being tired an dying down for a rest or sleeping actually feels so absolutely good… I feel that we are so often in a doing mode… we have to get this and that done… work, meet people, write mails… finish projects etc. It`s often the old energy of having to achieve things (in a certain time) instead of letting things happen, come towards us and so create space, that makes us override our body.
Awesome Blog Dianne,
I love your writing. So simple if we just open to listening and experimenting if we are in discomfort or experiences these things after our somewhat ‘normal’ diets. I have been becoming more away about how certain food affect my body and to be honest whether its supposed to be healthy for us and yet my body is still reacting.. Who do we listen to..
The simple answer: The body never lies.
This was fun to read Dianne with some “yep, know that one” moments. Noticed lately that if I eat a certain type of nut I can bite the inside of my cheek which does not feel good at all and prevents me from eating anything else easily. Time to take more focussed note.
Wow Dianne, what an amazingly responsive body you have to food.
l have prided myself on having an iron gut. For so many years l thought this was great. I could eat as much as l wished and anything l desired. However, over time my body has slowly become more sensitive . Now l eat half as much, have much more energy and feel much lighter.
l never dieted, l just did as you did..l listened to my body until l began to hear it talking to me. Everyday l am enjoying, deepening my relationship with my body.
I find it fascinating to read this Dianne, it makes me wonder what our food choices would look like if we weren’t bombarded with so many messages about what our body needs. These messages are more often than not laced with an agenda of profit and not with our best interests at heart, our body on the other hand provides undeniable evidence, and we just have to be willing to stay open to receiving these clear messages.
Dianne I really love your willingness to listen to your body and eat foods that it’s asking for. I can relate to instantanious reactions to certain foods and doing some retesting just in case.
The results are always the same in my body is the boss that I need to listen!
Hey I know the tongue meter too Dianne – it’s an awesome sugar/lie detector and although I may try otherwise (as in slight variations of the same food!) the tongue will always sound off an alarm ulcer and I have to deal with the consequences. It’s magic how our body is always supporting us to deepen our love and thereby our choices.
what a funky and enjoyable article Dianne! Its amazing how our body will tell us these things and has an extodinary intelligence. it can be very loud at times!
The body has become my point of truth. I can think or believe what I want, but ultimately, the body will always show us, in the end. Dianne – the sensitivity you now have with your body is incredible, and shows us all how important it is to be aware. We can spend a great deal of effort numbing ourselves to avoid feeling how sensitive we are, but all I have seen that do is relate to illness and disease. Your experience of mouth ulcers is shared with me; as if I ate any sugar including sweets, alcohol, baked things; then I’d instantly get huge ulcers all over my mouth when just the day before my mouth was perfect. I was in agony, not wanting to see how a few moments of what I considered to be pleasure would cause havoc in my body.
I am so fortunate to have the sensitivity and openness to stop and look at what these reactions all mean, and see the opportunity to develop with my body in a way that is healing, not harming.
Last one for the day … promise 🙂 What I also love is the fact that you chose to listen to your body, test it out, not just because someone said, or what a book or diet said to do, but what was true for you and your body, your truth.
I love how you write Dianne! It’s so true what you say about your body knowing… My body knows too and is so much happier when I listen to what it has to say! Like you say no fad diets required – when I listen to my body i am a super weight for me and when I allow the 3 minute sugary treat high to take the reigns im bloated and get cellulite within days!
I love this Dianne. I laughed all the way through and have experienced similar symptoms especially with the sugar. Same, same ulcers that tortured me sometimes for a week or more with any form of sugar including dry fruit and many fresh fruits.. I recall one time I went out to dinner at a friends home and after we eaten their delicious chili soup I asked for the recipe as I was so impressed only to find that the celery flavouring had a minute speck of gluten in it. I hadn’t eaten gluten for a couple of years or so at the time as it bloated me terribly and made me feel like sleeping after a meal. I thought this speck of gluten wouldn’t do anything and I did not want to embarrass my hosts so I didn’t give it another thought until I woke up in the morning with the roof of mouth inflamed and ulcerated. If I recall I could not eat for about a week. My feeling was that once I had given my body that break from eating gluten my tolerance levels dropped to zero. I find it all fascinating as I have lived on extreme diets in my life, brought up on two veg and a serve of meat, to fasting and eating raw food glutenfree, to vegan, to vegetarian with gluten and then after 30 years and back to glutenfree and meat. And my body has a story for each era.
Having spent so long ignoring the messages that my body was giving me about the foods I was choosing to eat I find it fascinating that the more I listen the more refined the messages get and how smaller amounts of certain substances trigger a reaction in me. Although I would proclaim that I trust my body I can be very stubborn about not listening to these messages so that my body has to shout louder to get heard. Thank you for sharing your experiences Dianne which demonstrate that we need to be constantly open to the changing needs of our bodies.
Dianne, I could read your blogs all day, I just love how you present science as a very real practical lived thing. I didn’t like science at school but I love science and can feel so much joy in it because this makes it real. I am science.
Yes Gyl, what an amazing scientist Dianne is. So passionate with a deeper level of commitment to understanding life. What I love is how Dianne’s science has a strong meaning and support to evolution.
What I also love is that it’s not an intellectual thing, it’s a simple living science, as is our body. It could be a food, the way we move, get ready in the morning – our body responds or reacts with very clear messages – how awesome is that. Then it is up to us to listen.
Dianne, I love your blog, I love the way you write, I love your realness and your matter of fact, I love how you show listening to your body is such a real, practical thing, and the truth that your body does not lie. It is really really simple.
hear hear!!!
Yes, ‘hear, hear’ Gyl. And my how we can choose everything BUT such simplicity.
Yet what a joyful relationship it can be, to get to know and listen to our bodies so deeply – everything in life becomes so much clearer as a result.
Totally Gyl! – Real, Raw, Factual – Philosophy, Science, Religious (true meaning) and Education all together, now that’s some form of medicine to how to live life!
Indeed Diane, our bodies are amazing at communicating what it needs and it is our responsibility to to develop a level of body awareness so we know when we need to listen and not keep pressing the override button until something breaks. Thank you for a great blog
I love the way you write Dianne, your blogs are always a joy to read. It is fascinating the way the body knows exactly what is best for us and all we have to do is take the time to listen and then as you have done, by a process of elimination find the offending foods our body no longer needs.
Yes it is quite incredible that our body knows to such a fine detail what is supportive for us, and what is not. Everyone is different too – food, exercise and sleep are definitely not ‘one size fits all’; we have to distinguish what’s right for us and a rhythm that works.
What awesome sharing Dianne of how your body has shown you very clearly what it needs in every moment, and by honouring it your connection with yourself has deepened. Great observation and truth shared for all of us to be aware of and embrace.
Thank you Dianne for an informative blog showing how the body does always know. I have had a similar experience and relationship with foods over the years as my body now shows me quicker what it no longer needs or likes. I have times where I can think ‘oh I’d like that for my dinner’ and immediately I can feel how t won’t ‘sit right’ in my stomach once its there. Not wanting the discomfort most times I pay attention. I love reading what you share about quantities of food as this one i can struggle with so feel inspired to pay more attention to this.
I love this blog- and I love your loving discipline in it! Very inspiring, because there are often times I put the pleasure of food over my feeling in my body, although it is most of the time ‘only’ eating a bit too much. “First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown!” Love it*
Thank you for writing this article Dianne, I can relate to getting ulcers on my tongue after eating sugar and also found these very painful, I also used to also get headaches if I had eaten too much sugar, mostly with chocolate, I stopped having sugar because it was not worth having the pain of the ulcers and the headaches for the short lived pleasure of the chocolate or sweets in my mouth.
I really enjoyed reading this, a great blog about listening to the wisdom our bodies share with us if we choose to listen to them.
What a great sharing Dianne so beautifully offered for others to feel. Great realisations about food what and how we eat and when we have had enough .I really understand this and definitely feel similarly about different foods and also what my body is telling me.Very Inspiring thank you.
Dianne, I have always loved chilli and was fascinated to read that when your body was asking for chilli you were able to eat it in bucket loads without any ill effects. Whenever I over eat chilli from my head my body clearly tells me with severe pain and discomfort. Our bodies know what they need at any given moment we just have to listen and this is a great reminder that what supports one will not necessarily support another.
Great blog Diane, I can completely relate to what you have shared here somehow. Food for me is a big deal and hard to deal with. The sugar for instance, I did well for a year and gradually caught myself from having chewing gum on a regular basis to eventually become completely addicted. I really have to seat in discomfort for a while to then take the decision to stop having it completely as I can’t find the middle ground for it.
Great sharing Dianne, love the humor you bring to your self-evidence based research! Can so much relate to it. My body gives me all kind of signs and even eating one thing that was not nurturing in that moment my gums are swollen, get ulcers on my tongue, bloated, etc. But it is not only with food, how I am with myself during the day may lead to neck pain, headache, etc. which then numbs my sensors for other things. Thats so amazing to feel the increasing awareness in my body and to truly live from my body.
That’s true Rachel Andras. Who said feeling aches and pains was a bad thing. It’s a sign to listen and feel what it is telling us. It’s so amazing and it should be treated in this way.
I find this too Rachel. Not all of the messages I receive from my body relate to food; they can be to do with how I am during the day, sleep pattern, exercise – too much/too little, taking on other people’s issues and so on. A skill I’m developing is being able to read these messages and track them back to the activity or behaviour that caused them.
Thank you, Dianne. I love the playfulness of your explorations with food and how you marvel at the clear communications from your body. This is such a healing approach to food, rather than feeling bad, using strict discipline or continuing to abuse and dishonour our bodies.
I agree Janet. Dianne’s playfulness with her approach to food is indeed very refreshing and such a great way to look at how we eat and how it affects the body. So different to ‘the norm’ of beating ourselves up for eating something that’s ‘bad for us’ and religiously sticking to some fad diet that doesn’t give us any answers or consistent weight loss. Feeling the body and how it reacts to food (or not!) is surely the way forward…it is certainly becoming ‘the norm’ for a lot of people.
Yes, and I love how loud our bodies are at communicating with us. It must take an extraordinary amount of energy to override its messages consistently and ‘forge ahead’ with ‘what we want to eat’ regardless. I wonder how many illnesses and diseases would be completely cleared if we all accepted this open and playful approach to listening to our bodies.
It is clear to see that having this dialog with your body where you are willing to understand its messages has really supported you to change the foods you eat ~ because of the physical effects that they have and not for any other reason or belief.
Through your stories you convey so visually the utter amazingness of the body yet for so many we just take it for granted. Not only take it for granted but get angry at it and wonder why we get sick after we have ‘poisoned’ it with sugar or something. Your stories, Dianne, also show that if we listen and learn from our body rather than believing we know best, it can guide us to ever deepening awareness and understanding.
Love your comment Jonathan and, yes, we do often take our bodies and a whole lot of other things for granted. We just need to remind ourselves to stop thinking and listen to our bodies.
It is very true Dianne, the body does know. I relate to every single point you have made. I so love this about our bodies. No matter how much we try we actually don’t get away with anything. We can hide and bury as much as we like but the body is always registering every choice we make and should we choose to listen, the harmony that is possible is so much more than we could have ever imagined.
I am beginning to get a glimpse of the harmony I can feel in my body when I have been looking after it and listening to exactly what it needs to eat and drink and in what portion size. The difference compared to when I don’t listen is like I am two different people. When I don’t listen and just go for comfort and taste, I can feel bloated, lethargic, fuzzy headed, numb, grumpy and disconnected. This clearly shows how my health and well-being are very dependent on what I eat.
Yes Debra Douglas I agree. When we prepare meals and eat in accordance to our body, the food tastes much better or more wholesome and respectful. When I bloat I know I have dishonoured my body’s stasis by ingesting something that was not designed to be consumed by it. This applies not just to food, but to life itself too.
Debra, I know these feelings so well and still pay too less attention to them. It`s ridiculous how arrogantly we are often overriding our body and affecting our own health with that. The new moon cycle calls me to stop overeating and never have a second plate again and I immediately feel that this causes tension in my body because overeating helps me to not feel my deep desire for being more love and having more true relationships, intimacy and connection to myself in my life.
Yes Sara, we should listen, I am asking myself a lot why is it so difficult sometimes and why do I overwrite so easy what I feel? What do I need to numb with food? Sometimes I am still running after a set goal, and not looking after myself, than I crave something crunchy, things like nuts, seed crackers, apples.
When we are prepared to listen and follow it’s lovingly given advice our bodies give us, the harmony that is possible in our body definitely is more than we can imagine. Now that’s something to get addicted to!
Haha Katinka…being addicted to the love in our body…wowee…that would completely re-define the word addiction!
You make it so clear Dianne that our bodies are providing the only science necessary to make choices that truly support us. That research is worth listening to because it comes from and applies directly to your own body… and therefore it works.
The one and very crucial biology research project nobody should miss out on.
I agree Alex…and it’s actually impossible to miss out on it anyway, we can’t escape this one…it simply comes to down to whether we choose to be an active participant or an ignorant bystander. I choose the former.
High five Sara for being an active participant! The results feed you back and ‘speak for themselves’. I can testify there is no other place you want or need to be. It beats any fantasy or your wildest dreams – cause through the body all is known.
Well said Jenny, no degree in diet needed; if we want to know what foods agree with our bodies, we just have to listen to it, showing us clearly how we feel after having consumed something. Our bodies tell us, if only we want to listen. I have been known to hear the message, but then I let my head override it, as it was judged as ‘inconvenient’, and requiring change or adjustment. But in the end, for me no food is worth feeling dull and heavy for, or being in pain.
Well written Esther, ‘no degree in diet needed; if we want to know what foods agree with our bodies, we just have to listen to it,’ this is so simple and makes complete sense, I spent a lot of time following advice from ‘experts’ on foods, diets etc.. and none of them worked, listening to my body and how different foods and drinks feel when I have them and then refining my diet based on how my body feels works.
So our body is the best research detector and we can listen to it as our choice. I found that all the foods I had cut out of my food plan from knowing that they are not good for me, were not really healed, but just an action of ignorance. Now I am eating and trying out like you, Dianne, to really know what my body does not want anymore and to leave this foods out is then quite easy.
So true Jenny. It is our bodies that we should be listening to because when you tune into the rest of the world – man’o’man it’s confusing. …”This is good for you – this is not – oh hang on – this is now good for you – oh not is not”…and the industries that make incredible money out of this is quite scarily incredible. I was on this bandwagon for so long and tried numerous diets along the way but it was only when I started listening to my body and trialing and experimenting with different foods that I started to learn what is good for ME or not.
You are absolutely right, Jenny, yes, my body knows what is right for me, who would know better? We are all different, at differing levels of development, and have different requirements, so it is really only my own body that knows what it needs and does not need. So I am a fool if I do not listen to it, am I not?
This is how science should be taught in schools – in and from our bodies as the ultimate field of learning and truth. As hard as we may try to pretend it ‘ain’t so’, the body just can’t lie.
Victoria, it would be great to be taught this science in school. What fun we all could andwould have had in our journey of discovery of what is right for us to eat or not eat.
Love it Diane how you manage to entertain and inform at the same time – a great way to present such an important subject. I found these examples of your body’s reactions to foods really interesting, especially the refinement of its tolerance levels. I can remember having messages like these for years but became adept at ignoring them and it was definitely at my body’s and my health’s expense. These days when my body speaks I listen, although very occasionally I am a fraction too slow to act so it will speak a little louder, normally in not so pleasant ways.
Thank you for sharing Dianne, I love how you say ‘Pain for me is there in the first instance to tell me that something is wrong and that I need to find out what’s going on and then take action.’ So often we can ignore pain and ignore what is there trying to show us and just simply push on and through. The more we listen to our bodies the clearer and more obvious the signs become. Our bodies are here wanting to work with us, we just have to choose to listen!
“Our bodies are here wanting to work with us, we just have to choose to listen!” – So true James, life can be a struggle where we do our best to “numb” what our bodies are telling us, all the while complaining about the pain or discomfort we are experiencing, or we can choose to work with our bodies, to listen and address what is going on – an approach which brings not only a greater ease, but an increasing awareness of and connection to ourselves.
So true, James our body wants to talk to us and tell us what it wants and needs to be for us in total vitality.
You are so right when you say ‘ The more we listen to our bodies the clearer and more obvious the signs become.’ I have experienced exactly that. What I used to be able to consume when I didnt listen to my body was so much more in quantity and choice of food than what I can eat now. The messages are very clear.
I love what Dianne wrote about this as well, it is a good reminder for us to look at why we have the pain in the first place. Something I was not great at doing and used to override loads but am getting better at this now.
Yes and you have to wonder why we would make such harmful and unloving choices. I just heard this free audio: http://www.unimedliving.com/voice/audio-of-the-month/the-deepest-form-of-prison-2015-09.html – that looks at the choices we make and the consequences of them.
I love what you write here, James: our bodies want to work if we choose to listen. If we do, it is actually very precise in what it wants and the quality it wants to be treated with. I have been experiencing feeling so much joy for taking really good care of my body, including listening to what foods to eat in which amounts.
I agree James “Our bodies are here wanting to work with us, we just have to choose to listen!” When we do choose to listen it is ‘great truth’. I know I do not want to listen to ‘great truth’ if it exposes my past investments that have not been truth – It hurts to know.
When I’m exposed I take my time and appreciate I’m actually working with it and not against it. I cherish and be ever-so-delicate like I have never done before – I’m worth the truth I just felt !
Being gentle with ourselves when we feel feels so much more supportive than going into the judgements of ‘you feel awful’ when I choose to dip my toe in the water so to speak and question: what if I listened to my body? And then to say ‘I am worth the truth I just felt’ is amazing. I can relate to the wanting to avoid my feelings to avoid exposing my own ill investments but I never looked at my relationship with feeling in this way. In the past I never would have even considered that there was anything to feel (and to some deeper levels I would still say there is avoidance of even entertaining what more can be felt) but to actually be willing to ask ‘is there more to feel?’ is a huge step forward.
I love what you say here James “Our bodies are here wanting to work with us”, what inner wisdom we have and for me I can at times ignore this fact. But not for long now, as the after effects are very obvious for my body.
‘First I listen, then I hear, then I choose to do what I’m being shown! It’s true – the body knows!’ I read and felt every word of your blog Dianne. To have grown to be as connected and respectful of your body as you are is inspiring. You are your own science project and we can be the same. As always, the essence, is what happens at the point of choosing. I recognise the process I sometimes go through even when I feel pain and discomfort (I’ve had mouth ulcers) and know I’ve eaten something that isn’t right for my body, I’ve gone ahead and overridden what I’ve been shown. Ouch!
Your blog made me laugh, Dianne. I have had a few foods that my body was clearly telling me weren’t supportive, but like you I tested them again & again to make sure. I even tried to get away with them in smaller & smaller amounts, which did work for a while, but eventually I had to listen (or suffer the pain). Our bodies know & share the truth, we just have to be willing to listen – which isn’t always easy when it’s about ditching chocolate, coffee & chips – but so worth it in the long run.
Isn´t it amazing aswell, if you once cut a food out of your diet, you emotionally detached from the effect it made, it has no chance whatsoever to come back. For me very clearly coffee and alcohol for example. And then there are others that would still fancy you in your mind or you might come back once in a while… Our food choices+ our body reactions are the best marker where we are at!
I know that one too Carmen. It just shows that mind over matter does not work.
So true Jennifer, it’s never worked for me and God knows I’ve tried!!!
Dianne’s fabulous blog which is a text book piece on the intelligence of the body, has really helped me appreciate even more how patient, loving and forever serving it is for us to learn a more loving way to live.
I have done this too Carmin, choosing to eat smaller amounts of food that my body is telling me don’t sit well anymore. What I have found is if I continue to push away the messages from my body, my body has to talk even louder and this usually means the side effect of choosing to eat the food that is not supportive is much bigger and more painful to deal with. The body’s way of communicating is amazing.
Yes, it is a whole new world when our awareness increases to a level where we can feel our body and, especially, the messages we get from our body.
Yes I agree Christoph and those messages are super loving and supportive which makes it even more strange how often we fight them. The more I listen to and respect my body the more awesome my life becomes in every way. So here I am living in this wonderful wise body that has a direct connection to all the answers I have ever looked for… you have to wonder why for so long I looked outside and why wouldn’t I and why at times do I still not listen?!?!?
A great question Nicola, ‘ you have to wonder why for so long I looked outside and why wouldn’t I and why at times do I still not listen?!?!?’ Why indeed, when as you say by listening and respecting our bodies the more awesome we become!
Carmen and Bianca, I too have done this…repeatedly, cutting down on a food or even cutting it out, and then reinroducing it in small amounts just to be sure. But each time, my body tells me even with small amounts of a food by giving me a loud symptomatic message, or making me feel sleepy and sluggish. It just shows me how we have attachments to certain foods because even though we know they’re not supportive for our body, we still eat them…it’s crazy really.
I can say the same Carmin, I have tested and experimented too – and sometimes a bit too often to ‘just make sure’ – haha – yeah, just wanting another go really at something that I knew and felt the body did not like. Nowadays I do listen and when I feel the body’s response to something, it is so easy to just drop it.
This is very true Katie. I recall trying this diet and that diet growing up.
The latest fads contradicting the populist theory of the recent past – fat as ok and sugar as not and vice versa, calorie counting, low glycemic index and the list goest on and on and on. It is very confusing for people to make sense of any of it particularly when views change or a prescribed diet is discredited.
I have found that the only eating pattern that works is one that is tailor made for each of us by listening to what our body needs and knows. We can’t eat to another’s formula for they have not walked in our body nor lived our choices.
I can relate to what you are sharing here. I have however used the excuse that I am too busy to make other choices and used that as the reason for not listening to what my body needs. This definitely pays a price. It is definitely far better to listen to what our bodies are sharing with us.
What a sensitive barometer our body can be if we are willing to pay attention to the messages. Reading this blog I realise I need to pay more careful attention to what my body is telling me as I have overridden the signals for so long that I am not so acutely aware of the effects of different foods.
Me too Mary. When I first went to write this comment I thought that I had been choosing not to hear or see the messages that my body had been sending me about food, but then I realised that that simply isn’t true. The messages are there, and I receive them, its just that I only respond if it is easy to do so, i.e. I will happily and immediately drop something that I might like, but am not that attached to, but if the message is about the foods that I am attached to, well then I stubbornly dig in as the messages from my body become more and more clear. Thanks Diane for giving me the opportunity to reflect on this, and to see how precise we can be, and our bodies want us to be in responding to what they share with us.
Aha – yes, Catherine – I know that one for sure – I can give up the things I am not attached to very easily, so perhaps working on letting go of the attachment might work because there are several things I thought I would always eat but have no interest in now. Giving up a food before I get to that point is far harder, and as I get more self loving and listen to my body more, it becomes a no-brainer to avoid certain foods. I haven’t quite got to eating less, so there’s still an emptiness inside me that I keep trying to fill with food.
The messages I receive from my body are not as clear as the ones you get Dianne (ouch!) but more subtle. I definitely feel tired and bloated after eating gluten and emotionally less balanced after eating gluten, potatoes and sugar but like Mary I am still in the process of (being willing to) learn to listen to my body where it comes to the effects of all the different foods.
Isn’t it amazing Mary just how awesome out bodies are! Like really they share so much information with us non stop, none of it bad, even a ulcer on the tongue, a bump, or an accident everything asking us to listen.
Yes I agree Mary, we have lost the art of connecting and listening to our bodies – to the subtle but clear messages of what supports us and what does not. Overriding ourselves is one of those things the body communicates quite clearly, but we decide for whatever reason to ignore it, or turn a blind eye, or just flatly override it. Our bodies are intimately connected to nature and EVERYTHING about nature is there to reflect our divinity. So lets start to honour what it is that our bodies are saying to us and live that way.
I find that we are actually aware of the effects, and the message from the body is clear, but we don´t want to give up the pleasures, we don´t want to give up those 3 minutes and consciously choose to ignore it and ignore the 3 hours or even 3 days of discomfort, or pain, and in my case, extra emotional sensitivity. I call that overriding.
Yes we can ignore the signals of our bodies for such a long time. But since I started to receive and learn Esoteric Healing modalities and quit gluten, milk and sugar, I can not do this any longer.
Me too Mary – I have given up gluten, dairy, sugar and alcohol purely from the head, knowing it is good for me – a healthy choice. However, I know deep down that it feels right.
It is a very sensitive barometer indeed, Mary. Reawakening our awareness of its signals takes time and a deep honesty with ourselves. There have been times when I have realised that a food has no longer been working for me or supporting me. When I got to that point the most painful part was admitting that actually, that food hadn’t been supporting me for a long time, and I knew it! So, it wasn’t just the fact that I needed to not eat whatever it was, it was compounded by the fact that I had to admit to myself that I had been lying to myself and continued the discomfort needlessly. But once I got over that, it was actually a relief to know that I could let it go, and be ok!
I find this an ongoing process Naren – in the relationship I have with my body. The knowing can be there that something needs to change, and yes there are times where there is no question but to honour this with immediacy… yet, there are instances where there can be a ‘lag’… and then it’s about being willing to be more deeply honest with what it truly is that I may be holding onto – for ‘food’ is just a symptom of what is more deeply underlying.
And the wondrous beauty and gift of the body is that the more we listen, the more we are able to hear the wisdom of the body that never ceases to pour forth every moment of every day.
Absolutely Deborah, the more we listen and honour what our bodies say the more they communicate with us.
I totally agree Mary, I also need to pay more attention to what my body tells me – this goes for all situations including right now. When you do whole-heartily commit something will reveal itself. The more you commit the more truth will prevail.
Mary it’ is really about listening, listening and listening to what our body is saying and not ignoring or overriding it. Like you I have overridden the signals from my body for so long that I strugle with effects of diffenrt foods. I have also been spoilt with lots of taste buds
Recently I have been over riding my body and it is as if I am having a fight with myself that is both exhausting and frustrating.
I have been observing this pattern of fighting what my body feels to eat and what will satisfy my mind. And in this, it is so clear to see how we can make huge issues out of what starts out as one choice. To listen to our bodies or our minds.
When I give in to my mind, eat something not supportive, my mind is the first thing to say ‘oh you should not have eaten that.’ What a game and a trap I have allowed simply because of my arrogance and resistance to listen to what can truly support me – my whole body. I’ve really appreciated reading this blog again as a reminder to trust and allow what the body is feeling – and the huge difference this makes.
Absolutely true Dianne – the body knows best! How you listened each time to your body is a credit to your commitment and care for your body. This reminds me of how my body always showed I was intolerant to gluten flour as all through my life if I ate certain flours in biscuits or bread, within minutes the skin on the roof of my mouth would peel off and be red raw. It would feel like I had scolded the roof of my mouth with boiling water and I would have this pain for at least a week. Also there are certain foods that affect my tongue immediately leaving it swollen, red and lumpy that I can’t even close my mouth. Really an amazing and clear sign of what my body needs and what it most definitely does not need… no question really if I am honest.
I had to smile at this Aimee – “no question really if I am honest”… I can relate to this, and am now learning to be more honest about the fact that there is in fact no question as to whether my body is talking or knows best, but whether or not, and / or how closely, I’m listening to it!
Yes I totally agree Angela, especially this: “… no question as to whether my body is talking or knows best, but whether or not, and / or how closely, I’m listening to it!”
I also feel that is the key Karina – how much am I prepared to truly listen to what the body is telling me.
it’s amazing … our body is a living science
So true Gyl…our body is a living science ….it tells us everything if we listen.
Every time I read this blog, I ask ‘Why don’t we listen?’ Sometimes I find there is a curiosity that takes over with food which really is not a curiosity, if we’re honest, as we know before we even pop certain foods into our mouth what the affects will be. It does take loving discipline like anything else to listen to the messages from our bodies over what our minds and taste buds might be saying.
Shevon, this is so true, we know exactly before we even eat certain food what affect it has on us. Even with the amount we know it. As a child I ate more than what my body felt and it continued also later in the adulthood. There is a certain moment when I choose a second plate, even if it is tiny small – and I know it is too much. Loving discipline is really the key to learn to follow what our body say it’s good for it.
‘Loving discipline’ is so true. When I am tired or stressed I go for lentil chips as a ‘treat’, however it is not much of a treat as afterwards I get blisters on the side of my lips and my mouth has what feels like cuts in the tissue of my inside cheeks and the roof of my mouth. I know this will happen once I start eating them, but I somehow conveniently ‘forget’ when I am about to buy them. It is as you say a ‘loving discipline’ to develop enough love for myself to choose not to buy them when I am feeling flat or out of sorts and be kind to my body instead of abusing it by hurting it and therefore hurting ‘me’.
That is so true when it comes to food (and drink) it is a loving discipline. I think most people including myself have instead thought of this as not a loving discipline more of a denial of what we ‘can’t’ or ‘shouldn’t’ have. I love what Dianne has written because it shows that eliminating foods that no longer support the body can be fun and curious and it is a win win situation because you get to feel so much better after it : ) For me this also brings it back to and makes it about self-love, loving ourself enough so we do actually listen and respond to our body .. something that is still in work in progress for me.
Shevon, it does take loving discipline to choose the foods to eat or not, by truly listening and honouring our body. It really is about getting beyond the taste buds and curiosity we have about food.
I agree Shevon. it is like a game we play with ourselves and how far we are willing to push to see what affects certain foods, situations etc have on our delicate bodies. The truth is the body knows all and that is where the absolute power lies.
A loving discipline indeed. Keep coming back to that – over and over. Forget. Return. Ignore. Return. Let it go. Return.
So true. We are the scientists!
Being the scientist, allows the journey of discovery, of ourselves and our bodies, to become joyful and playful, and that which we discover when we listen, is the truth of what our body needs. How simple is that!
This is a great reminder Rosemary, that listening to our bodies can be a joyful and playful affair – it’s not something that has to feel heavy or imposing or forced, but simply a natural way for us to support our bodies to be naturally light and open…
Maybe that is why when I see science confirm what my body has been feeling it gives me such a pleasure! It is like saying to my body: you knew it! confirming the body and its intelligence and saying lovingly: you are so clever, you knew this from the beginning. Why do I override this beauty and wisdom that does not need any degree or any academic distinction?
So true Julia – there is so much wisdom our body can share with us if we are willing to listen.
Beautifully wise our body is – a sage and living study of truth.
Absolutely – the most wondrous of miracles and living science and to be deeply appreciated for its flow, rhythms and ways.
Absolutely it is fascinating to hear how much we can learn about ourselves by listening to our body
Too true Abby! In fact, listening to our body is super powerful and often far more intelligent in its messages than any medical book could ever tell us,… It provides us with an amazing level of detail and precision when we are willing to listen…
Yes, the one science class we cannot escape learning from every single day!
And a science class i want to attend – fascinating, wondrous and applies to us all.
Love it Kylie, “..the one science class we cannot escape learning from every single day!” I must admit thought I have definitely skipped this class a few times.
Me too Aimee and boy o boy do you pay for it later – as I sit here with a bloated stomach feeling tired because I thought I was too smart to attend the class yesterday and skipped it and did what I wanted. Well what my head wanted – not the rest of the body. Back to school and attending ALL lessons today 🙂
Amina I love what you’ve said, how the body is always looking to heal itself. This is amazing and needs to be honoured. Thank you.
Amina this is quite something to stop and feel – the fact that everyday we have the opportunity to feel our next move forward. What is interesting is that we are always feeling it as it is there constantly. The next question is, do we let ourselves become aware of it or what are we choosing to avoid that awareness?
My body seemed to give me no signs at all. Of course that is not true as I simply was and didn´t want to be aware of it.
But the signs have never been so obvious as in producing pain or soreness. But when I stopped having dairy and gluten for some month and then tried it again my body immediately showed me that it didn´t like it through painful symptoms. I understand that my body was so numbed and reduced in its capacity to talk to me due to excessive consumption of some foods for decades that it needed some recovery to then be able to simply tell what needed to be said and I was much more open to listening.
This is a great understanding Alex, for how we’ seem to get away ‘ with eating or drinking substances that we know are not good for us. We never really get away with it, we can just be so numb to the effects of those choices that it’s like a thick veil that is between our nervous system that gives us the messages and our mind that interprets them. As we stop making those ill choices and our bodies clean up and lighten up, it’s like that veil dissolves and all our senses come alive and we can hear/feel our bodies loud and clear again.
Lightening our load certainly brings those senses alive, creating the space to listen, notice and respond to what has been there the whole time knocking on our door.
That’s the thing Alex and Kate. No, we don’t ever ‘get away with it’, but we can surely make many choices that will keep us ‘comfortably numb’ as the old song goes.
How much richer is one’s experience of life, though, as we do make changes and then keep listening to the signals our bodies can once again feed back to us – I find it simply amazing, and my health and vitality have improved no end as a result.
Bingo, Alex and Kate! ‘Getting away with it’ and ‘no reactions’ means to me that our cells are silenced by toxicity and can’t say what they have to say. So of course we don’t hear them! Then when they’ve had a chance to throw out the garbage, they are able to shout loud and clear if we violate them with toxic stuff again. But the general understanding of people is that the body’s lack of reaction is good and any reaction is bad – the truth is often the opposite!
Absolutely Alex, Kate and Dianne, and in abstinence we create space – to feel. And when we feel, we begin to feel more and more which creates more space. The more we keep ourselves in busyness, the less chance we have to pay attention to what we feel, and feel inside our body in regards what works for it, and what doesn’t.
How true Dianne, “But the general understanding of people is that the body’s lack of reaction is good and any reaction is bad – the truth is often the opposite!” I have gone through my life feeling how odd I am to have a reaction to this or that food. Only too now realise this was my body talking very loudly to me, the only fact was I was unable to read the reading. Thank you for your article and comment.
I love this explanation that Kate brought through and you have advanced further Dianne. If Science was taught in this way I would have been much more engaged at school. It is a great injustice that science is labelled as boring by it being presented in such a restricted and for me dull manner. Yet the science in everyday life is fascinating and when it is brought to life, all encompassing of everything we do and are.
I couldn’t agree more Stephen – if science was taught as the living science it is at school, we would deeply engage with the learning about our bodies, life and the Universe -t is fascinating and resonates deeply to our core.
Yes, Alex – we sometimes need to stop consuming something to be able to feel the difference. Even if we feel the difference in our body, it can happen that we start again eating what we felt was not ok. But with time and honesty and some aching or troubling bowels, we may stop and say: ‘No, better not ever again.’
I have often found that it is my body that tells me when to stop, but I also have learnt that I can override these feelings too. So food has become a different matter altogether, one where if I tend to the care of myself in-between meals, then when it comes time to eat the choices are much easier to make. This is something I learn more more about every day with no perfect required.
I have discovered that the more I listen to my body the louder it speaks. Well it is not exactly like that perhaps better to say it is my hearing that improves because if I don’t listen it has to shout as it once did by breaking my leg. However, if I listen on a moment to moment basis then my body give me very clear and instant messages and I don’t need to have an accident for it to be heard.
I love that, Nicola – our hearing improves – that is so true, the more we refine what we eat and how we live, the more we can ‘hear’ what our bodies have been telling us all along.
The more I listen to my body and make necessary changes, the more it can tell me. Being selective about what we hear or rather want to hear is just burying our heads in the sand because the messages our body gives us do not go away, they increase and get louder until we hear and action any changes. And so, keep doing the same thing and get the same outcome, or make a change?
Yes, i experienced this similarly. I was ignoring the discomfort had always felt as i was so used to it being there from childhood – being bloated after gluten became normal, being full of mucous and gagging on dairy everytime became my not so normal baseline that i was putting up with. I was using these foods to numb out and to take the edge of life, to not feel the truth my body was showing me and speaking the whole time.
The moment i stopped eating these foods it was much easier to hear my body and when i listened intently i discovered more and more wisdom and with this clarity, it became impossible to eat gluten and diary again among other foods for their adverse effect on me was as clear as day and could no longer be ignored.
It’s then not an issue of willpower but a simple choice we make
A choice we make which our body lovingly shows us.
I have similar experiences Alex, and especially overeating is an ingrained habbit as the plate must be empty as a gesture of good behaviour. Only now after having left out certain food my body gets more clear and tells me very quick what it likes and what not.
Dear Alex, I can totally refer to that. I also often seem to feel no bad effects on my body, even after I have some chocolate which I know is not good for me. I even used the fact that I didn’t feel it as an excuse to keep on eating it and told myself that it makes no sense to cut out foods with control, we have to feel it. I guess my body is also still a bit numb from all the years with loads of gluten, dairy and sugar, but it is talking to me more and more.
Hi Alex I reckon that it has got to do with our tolerance levels. We build our tolerance up to handle the most poison of substances like nicotine alcohol salt caffeine and sugar and it seems we can handle it yet if we have a break from them and clear them from our system there is no way we can ignore the effects they have when reintroduced.
I had the same experience Alex. It was not until I had given up gluten and dairy for some time that I got to feel what I had not been able to feel for a long time, which is that neither gluten nor dairy were tolerated by my body. Both caused symptoms that were outright painful, but also dscomforting – a horrible irritability.
The funny thing is that years after giving up both foods I had a number of medical tests that showed up definite lactose intolerance and high likelihood of having coeliac disease. So finally the official science confirmed what my own science had determined years earlier.
I also understand this too Alex, I numbed my body so excessively for donkey years with sugar, chocolate and processed foods that I didn’t feel how they were affecting me. There were times though when I was so excessive that I did feel it and felt awful, but chose to ignore it. The next day I may have ate more healthily, but would go back to being excessive again the moment I felt clearer. Now I can feel the effect of what I eat within moments and am open to listening to what my body is communicating.
Very true Rachel Murtagh, back then I would call these ‘cheat days’ where i would be super-conscious of food during monday-friday, and then ‘let myself go’ on weekends knowingly with foods I knew made me feel heavy, or for comforting, like chocolate or a cream cake. But afterwards it felt so awful.. the bloated heavy and dulled feeling…and yet the lure of reward via foods to fill a life empty of love or connection with Soul, was so strong. The more we love and value ourselves the more we learn to nourish with food, as opposed to gorge or stuff to fill.
I have found the same, Alex, because I was so numb from the food I was eating I was unaware of the symptoms, but this is gradually changing, for example, today I notice my tongue is sore – I’ve had a sore mouth from salt in the past and that stopped me eating any more triangular tortilla chips, but this may be from fruit – too much acid in my body, possibly? I shall go without for a couple of days and see how it feels.
That is a great point Alex – our body can only shout as loud as we will let it – based on how we are living. I too experienced numbing and thought nothing affected me – so no matter how I treated my body I was tough and resilient – but it was almost a shield my body had developed to not feel anything anymore and just put up with what my head was wanting to do.
In breaking this down and starting to really change not just food but all other areas of my life, I have become so much more sensitive and in that sensitivity, I have been able to be honest with what caps me and what grows me,
And isn’t this a great learning – the communication to our body is the most important one!
The greatest, communication highway our body is. Multi-laned, responsive and adaptive.
The body’s wisdom remains as an enduring constant whether we break down, take the nearest exit or take the rambling road around.
After reading your comment Aimee, I feel to comment how my body now ‘reacts’ when I eat out of need. I cannot get away with it (no more)! I am great with what I should not eat (this is due to feeling my self-worth again). But it’s funny how I do not want to listen so much, even though it can affect nearly my whole day. The need sometimes is stronger than the after-effects.
What is working for me is to mark and appreciate when I have made great choices and confirm how this feels in my body – I love the clarity of thoughts compared to the constant barrage sometimes I experience with thoughts that theme “I’m not worth it”. It’s worth listening to your body when you feel ‘good’ also.
Shopping is interesting, I stand and look at the shelves in the supermarket and my body just says no to some things I used to fancy. I’ve always been funny about fish, if it smelt too much of the sea I couldn’t eat it, and as for seaweed! I knew how good it was for me, and tried it, but it was so foul I couldn’t get it down. Months later as I was making some fish soup my body shouted ‘seaweed’, my head muttered ‘you won’t like it’. Body won. I put loads in and loved it. Ever since seaweed is up there on my menu and goes into and onto all sorts of soups and veggies.
I lived in total ignorance to my body for years and years, I had learned to think think think through life, not go into any consideration of what my body was telling me. I have now since being involved with Universal Medicine learned to engage with my body messages and value the feedback dearly.
I love how the body is always responsive to the love and care I am capable of giving it, it responds gladly every single time I give it a voice and value it.