Grateful for a headache? These are words that in my wildest imagination (and my imagination has been pretty wild in the past) I would never have thought I would say!
As a very young person I started getting headaches which could easily turn to migraines.
With symptoms and pain I learnt a variety of ways to support myself with preventative strategies, and when that wasnāt sufficient, I medicated to suppress and relieveĀ ā this method I used a lot.
Since choosing to live in a way that offers a deep awareness and honouring of myself in all that I do, the headaches have reduced significantly and the occurrences are very far apart. Also, I havenāt had a migraine since I chose not to drink alcohol.
Then, yesterday morning, I found myself just out of the normal rhythm that supports me in preparing for my day. There was nothing āwrongā, but I found that something in me had shifted and there I was talking on the phone with the phone pressed between my ear and shoulder ā it was uncomfortable and definitely not supportive! Clearly I was not with myself ā this is rule no.1 for what not to do for potential headaches. Next I ādecidedā that I didnāt have time to finish eating breakfast at the table and instead took spoonfuls as I walked past. I could feel that was yuk so I did stop and sit for the last couple of bites.
During the afternoon I could feel the headache coming through and I could also feel the cause: so simple were my āearlier little anticsā, but significant enough to place me in a momentum that had stayed with me for the day and brewed up to become the warning signal ā that I hadnāt been fully with myself.
The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.
Not to mention that how I then am in the world reflects to others ā no matter how subtle or seemingly invisible.
So I am grateful for my in-built detection device, and very grateful for the presentations of Universal Medicine. With the loving livingness that is offered from Serge Benhayon and all the Universal Medicine practitioners my awareness has grown to really appreciating what and how my body naturally shows me when I am starting to go off, and the ability I have to discern this ā to listen for myself.
From this place and space of awareness I can then choose my next step to support where my body is, and what will lovingly assist it to return all of me to the natural harmony I now know I am.
By Sandra Williamson, Hairdresser, Brisbane
I have had many migraines over the years they first started when I was around the age of 12, no medication can touch them. I remember my psychiatrist years ago trying to support me by getting me to try all sorts of different drugs none of them worked, I just had to go through the process of the pain and sickness which accompanied the severe headaches. I have recently begun to consider the possibility that these headaches are a release of tension built up over many life times. That now I’m living in a way that allows my body to release the pent up energy it has been hanging on to all those lives because it didn’t feel safe enough to let go. Since meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine I have changed my life around so completely is it possible that for the first time I feel safe, hence the release of the tension in my body.
Sometimes it doesn’t have to be pain, my ear will block or ring sometimes when I need to pay attention to what is felt, but it doesn’t necessarily hurt.
Without pain we would be even more lost as human race then we are now, our body communicates to us profound messages it only becomes painful when we do not listen.
This is really where we need to go, in yes absolutely get the medicine and the medical support etc but to look at first why we have the ailment in the first place. This happened to me last night where I had to wake up and deal with a sore toe that I did not have in previous day, it asked me to look at why I had it and what part of my day did this happen at (I did not knock or bash it against anything). Since doing that the pain has gone.
Yes, a great point Gill. Pain makes us sit up and take notice. We need education that supports us to become aware of the nature of pain and how to deal with its messages for us, rather than take a pill and try to distract ourselves away from it. Illness may have taken a while to manifest, so itās not always going to vanish in an instant. As Sandra entwined in her blog, ā what I do to myself matters.ā
Iāve noticed when I donāt support myself I too get headaches. Dehydration is one area, also i get overtired. Iām learning to really value naps.
Our body has a way of getting us to pay attention – pain. When we do it can be an amazing experience. When we don’t it can be miserable.
It is awesome that you knew exactly what caused the headache for I feel that is the first step to the path of true healing … when we know the cause and disharmony we have lived, as when we know this we can then change it.
Pain is the way our body communicates with us and sometimes it shouts a bit louder.
and sometimes our bodies scream and still we don’t take a blind bit of notice. I was going to say that I remember a time when my legs routinely ached so badly from excessive exercise that I struggled to walk up the stairs and yet I continually ignored it but then I stopped in my tracks because last night I struggled to walk up the stairs even though I don’t exercise excessively any more. So for me standing here what has just come to light is the fact that because I am holding the belief that it is only excessive exercise that causes me to have fatigued legs then I ignore my fatigued legs when I am not exercising excessively. But something is going on for me to be so fatigued. Hmmm this is very revealing as to how our beliefs blind side us to what is going on in our bodies. Much for me to ponder on.
This is such a great comment because you are stopping to ask yourself what is going on and this is something we don’t give ourselves in the rush that is our day. I was pondering on this recently as I was starting to go into rush mode. What is the point in rushing after all we are all continuously going round and round in circles as the earth makes it way around the sun so eventually I’m going to end up at the beginning again. I’m going no where so I might as well take my time and by taking my time I’m putting less stress on myself.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters” Lets please get taught this common sense approach to life in schools.
One day in the future it will be more widely accepted that we are the ones who are responsible for our health, until then we will continue to look outside of ourselves, not wanting to learn and looking to blame.
And so many do – look outside themselves. Taking responsibility for our health and wellbeing will be another area which will be de rigeur in the future. Our national health services can no longer cope with the illness they are having to deal with, much of it through our poorlife choices.
On the flip side I am experiencing a lot of pain in my back today and rather than getting down about it I can feel a calming warmth in my hands that reminds me to be easy on myself. A reminder that it’s not all pain-full.
Sandra what stood out for me from the blog you have written are these words
“what I do to myself matters.”
How many of us completely disregard ourselves as we take care and look after others. It’s as though there is an unwritten rule in society especially for women that they should take care of others before taking care of themselves. but what we do to ourselves first I have discovered really does matter if we don’t look after ourselves then what we do for others is done in an emptiness that can be felt as we feel everything.
The body has many ways to tell us where we are with the way we live and can be very subtle or full on loud. If I go into frustration I know the next day I will have a headache, this thankfully is rare these days as I used to live in a constant state of frustration at life and everyone in it. Sometimes when I get an inner earache, I know that I’m not listening to myself and that something I have clocked is being ignored.
When I listen to my body I discover I have a lot of ‘in-built detection device(s)’ that I’m so grateful for else I’d never know how to take care of myself. So simple, it keeps me from going into my head and debating what’s right and wrong.
Life is a labyrinth of lies set up with the intention of distorting our connection to our bodies because the forces live with the constant intention of keeping humanity from the truth and they know well that it’s our bodies that know truth, which is why all of their efforts are targeted at keeping us from re-connecting back to our bodies. Kids know the truth of life and they know it from their bodies, it’s no big deal and not fancy at all, it’s simple and true, which is what life is in so many ways.
A message from the body, not an annoyance, something to pay attention to, because it does tells us something, what is out of balance?, what are we choosing that is not supportive?, simple questions to ask and ones that are deeply supportive…all because we stopped to notice and not react to a headache…or some other issue that shows itself.
Sandra, this is very wise to listen to the body in this way; ‘The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.’
When we’re not with ourselves – i.e. not paying full attention to what we’re doing in that moment, how we’re moving and holding our bodies – it’s easy to abuse the body because we can’t feel the full extent of what we’re doing to it. The signal from the body of when to stop, or do things differently, is drowned out by the noise of whatever else we’re choosing to focus our attention on.
I love how you do not try to numb the headaches and see them as an inconvenience; instead you learn from them and reflect on how you have been – awesome.
Sometimes the painkillers are much needed and not to be shunned. But drowning out the pain with painkillers and not taking a moment to listen to why the headache or ache is there in the first place isn’t supportive for learning going forward with ourselves. These days I find myself inquiring about the cause of the pain, i.e. my choices, THEN supporting with medication
Absolutely Leigh. We donāt have to deny ourselves painkillers if needed. But to enquire and feel when we have any symptom is key to enable healing to occur.
Sandra, what you are sharing about headaches is really helpful. I have been getting headaches lately and I had felt that me eating certain foods could be the cause, I will also now observe if these occur when I am not present in my body.
The appreciation and love for our body is beautiful and all it is showing us and a truly healing and responsive way to live from and to also learn from.
Though it may feel unpleasant I love getting the messages from my body. Today I didn’t feel great so reflected on how I had been living. Sometimes I don’t allow myself clear answers but just taking the pause to reflect is a great step from ignoring and trundling on. Today I also wondered if how I feel which wasn’t vital would be classed by others as rubbish or not bad. I decided that would depend on what they were used to and measure it from there. These days I don’t often feel vital, I haven’t for years, and that’s ok now I’m listening and making changes. What I would say is I’m feeling how I feel in relation to feeling vital – though a distant memory my body knows what that is so, if I listen, so do I.
We have to appreciate how sensitive the body becomes the more we start to honour it. There are so many things in this world that can distract us from feeling, but if we say no – then we are shown more.
“We have to appreciate how sensitive the body becomes the more we start to honour it”, this is so true Hm. I have found that my body has become really sensitive to people’s voices; if someone is talking harshly or in a way that is imposing then I struggle to not react as it feels like it’s an assault on my body.
Being present with our body is so supportive, so it makes sense that when we abandon ourselves that we can initiate problems, ‘Clearly I was not with myself ā this is rule no.1 for what not to do for potential headaches.’
Yes, it is amazing that we have this in built detection device, ‘The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.
Not to mention that how I then am in the world reflects to others ā no matter how subtle or seemingly invisible.’
I know there are times when I “power through” although its clear by my headaches that its not power I’m using but a drive to finish something or fix something. When I let that go headaches don’t come out in the same way.
Thank you Sandra, what really stood out for me while reading this is how subtle the messages are prior to a headache. I find that the slightest bit of frustration always results in a headache and as a marker, I rarely get them these days. But it’s always a great reminder for me to not go there when I do get one.
It is surrendering to a deeper level of love for ourselves because when we do we say ‘yes’ to what is being asked from our body.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” Headaches and so much more are a reflection of this and a real opportunity to love ourselves and listen to our bodies and all they tell us. Universal Medicine has been a great marker and catalyst for me in living lovingly deep caring and nurturing and bringing true honesty and change into my life and the awareness of headaches and their purpose.
The body is so loving that it tells us immediately and always what we need to be alerted of. Many times I can hear it but choosing to live it is a process.
What we do to ourselves does very much matter, we do not consider our role as role models, how when we treat ourselves rough it impacts on our whole life. How we are with ourselves is also reflected in life in how we are treated by others, we treat ourselves with abuse and we will feel that time or disrespect in our lives.
When I would get a headache before I had done the courses of Universal Medicine i would just take a painkiller and move on as much as possible. I would like anything I had done to the pain in my head. Now I can feel the different forms of headaches there are and I know that it is always a signal and that there something for me to look deeper into so I can change what I am doing to myself.
I feel really yuck these days when I donāt have an awareness of what my body is communicating. Yet only a few years ago I valued living in my head as a safe place to be. And I have Universal Medicine to thank for in rebuilding this relationship with myself.
I find it interesting how the migraines stopped after choosing to not drink alcohol. It is essential and paramount that we listen and take heed to within, the voice that knows what is true for us and not override it with that which is outside of us because of the comfort we look for and the need to distract ourselves from feeling what is true.
āwhat I do to myself matters.ā How we are, how we treat ourselves determines our relationship with everybody else. We cannot leave ourselves out or we just become empty vessels, we cannot be hard with ourselves because we end up hurting. And yes how we are is felt by others, seen and heard by othersā¦.and even when we are alone and far from other people our vibrations are causing ripples of harm or healing , of love or what is not loveā¦a beautiful science that calls us to be more and more responsible and more and more of who we truly are.
‘So I am grateful for my in-built detection device…’ To be able to read the body, understand its signals and communications from the actions and choices lived, is the greatest life tool to support evolution.
I wonder what we will find out (and for some confirm) about health and wellbeing scientifically in the future? From your story it seems that we create points of pressure for the body by dishonouring and disregarding ourselves, which can then result in symptoms. Our daily experiences provide a lot of information if we are willing to listen about what works or not to support our body to be well and harmonious. We don’t need science to validate it as we have the evidence right there in our day to day living.
Headaches and migraines don’t just happen but are part of a chain of cause and effect; and thus, when we are willing to look a bit deeper and take responsibility for our actions, thoughts and intentions, much can be revealed that then supports us to refine our daily rhythm and live with more care and love, for ourselves and consequently for others.
How often do we walk through life thinking and accepting things that are actually not true, but by virtue of humanity walking commonly with these things — think that it is accepted ‘our normal’.
How crazy is that? And how much love is there actually that awaits for us to accept as our standard, our normal.
I am hugely grateful for Universal Medicine too, for showing me how to listen to my body, to trust what I feel and to connect to the wisdom from my body.
How amazing it is that we actually have our own āin-built detection deviceā, one that alerts us on-goingly to what is happening in our body. And when we are treating our wonderful body in a lesser way than it deserves it will let us know very loudly. But do will always take notice? Often, probably not. But as you learned when you donāt the messages are incredibly clear and normally very uncomfortable.
Yes the messages from our body are actually loud & clear if we are willing to listen. And they also get louder and louder if we don’t act upon them, until we are forced to stop and invited again to look at the signals and change what we do to ourselves.
It’s so easy to write off minor deviations from taking care of ourselves as being insignificant and not worth bothering about. And easy to write off minor health issues as things that we don’t need to look at, assuming that if the body’s not screaming to us, then it’s ‘probably fine’. But what’s so clearly shown here is that the two are closely related: how we are with ourselves and with our bodies matters and has an effect on our health.
Everything matters unless we totally numb ourselves against everything. And when everything matters, life gets very interesting if not to say delicious.
I recently met someone who suffers from migraines and I was interested to find out more about what this means. From what I have learned and my understanding is that headaches and migraines are related to control and frustration and also, how we choose to live can trigger a migraine.
If we are not living the truth of who we are then we become frustrated with ourselves even if we are not conscious of this.
‘The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters…’ This is significant in terms of our own health care, isn’t it? How many of us ignore the symptoms and battle on though, creating more and more layers of disregarding choices that only result in the body having to speak louder. By observing how we are with ourselves and becoming more regarding in our way of living, it can be startling to feel how much improvement in our wellbeing there is, especially when we first start.
If we listen to our bodies to begin with we can nip things in the bud before they get too big, leave listening and ignore our bodies messages and it will only build up to be something more menacing later.
Yes, I agree with you Sam, the key is to listen to our body. Any symptoms we receive are really our body communicating to us but are we prepared to stop and listen or do we ignore these messages?
We all have this in-built detection device, yet many of us ignore it – in a nutshell this is why we have so much illness and disease.
Our body never fails to alert us to feel when we are living with love and when we are not. I love this and how this reflection is with us 24/7 and always has been since our first breath. Wise it is to develop an honouring relationship with our body so that the divine quality of our being is what moves us through our living day.
Our body is our friend, not our enemy that so many tend to think, and it will not shy away from communicating truth to us 24/7.
The lack of self care or any levels of dishonouring show up sooner or later. The question here is whether we are choosing to listen or ignore the call?
If we were to rush or push a baby’s or young child’s body we know there are consequences, but we forget we too as adults have the same delicate, sensitive bodies. Believing we are tough or disconnecting to how we truly feel doesn’t stop our body being sensitive and affected by how we treat it.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” Gosh its so simple isn’t it – we can always get so complicated and down when we don’t feel as well as we think we should, yet the bodies messages are simply a reminder to check in.
Our body is indeed very wise and our greatest friend.
So simple the innate wisdom of the body is coming through always to gently or sometimes loudly guide us back to our harmony.
Sandra your blog really does show that every movement matters and every moment matters in how this affects our health, our day and how we are in the world with each other.
Thank you Sandra, I appreciated your observation of the body showing you that being with you and honouring and loving yourself is what keeps it in harmony, and that there is an even greater reason to love and support ourselves because of our impact on on the all we are a part of.
We are so used to living with minor tensions that things like this often don’t stop us, we look for the quick fix solution and then keep trudging on wondering why we are again brought down by the same illness and disease.
I spoke to a woman yesterday who is in her sixties and still suffers from migraines. I felt to mention that cutting down, and then gradually not drinking alcohol at all, may have contributed to the end of the migraines I used to have. Your mentioning it here makes me think there could well be a correlation.
It is so easy to not go there, to not be honest and just make it less easy to accept the headache as the signal that it is. Headache is like my radar if I choose to override what my body is clearly communicating and I don’t want to listen.
Such a blessing to be reminded by the body whenever we have left ourselves and what an inspiration if we can See the Truth to this without reaction but with deep appreciation.
It certainly is a blessing that our body communicates to us. The power and wisdom our body offers us are yet to be fully appreciated by many of us. Once we understand that our body is not the enemy but our dearest friend and a great barometer for truth, then we would start to treat it very differently.
I loved reading this today on a day I have some really bad pain in my body – our bodies are remarkable in reminding ourselves that “what I do to myself matters”.
Headaches and migraines can be a great release of the tension we store when we do not live true to the love that we are.
It makes sense to appreciate pain because pain signals that the way we are moving and living requires attention and adjustment.
It sounds strange to appreciate pain, because no one I know likes to feel pain, including myself, but I agree with you Leonne that it makes sense to appreciate pain. Because can you imagine if we didn’t feel any pain, our body decides to stop communicating to us? We would ruin our body in no time at all. Signals of pain from our body tells us to stop, adjust and look at what we are doing, it calls us to care and nurture ourselves. Our body is truly amazing and it is worth appreciating and the more we do this the more we learn from it.
Thank you Sandra for it clearly shows that our body speaks to us every minute of the day, and that what it shows us and how clear that sign is is depending on how willing we are to listen.
‘The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.’ Ouch was what I felt when I re read your blog today after having had a terrible headache the day before. What I do to myself does matter, a message I clearly needed to read and feel in my body.
That is an excellent point!
I have found that when I am not with myself, I often already missed a number of pointers beforehand and it can be important to stop and really check what had been developing up to that point.
I get the sense that the body is always trying to live in its natural and harmonious rhythms, but we like to play games with the natural flow and order of things, just because we can. We can dress it up and pretend to ourselves that we have to live in disharmonious and dishonouring ways because of external pressures and pressures that we put upon ourselves, but when we look at it closely, the choice of quality to be and move in, is always ours.
Our bodies are a divine aspect of Life. Responsive to the rhythms and cycles of life but we’ve hammered out a way of being that totally goes against the natural flow of life and convinced ourselves that it’s working and that we’re having a good time. We give life a big thumbs up but our bodies are giving it a big thumbs down because going against the natural grain of life is very taxing and disharmonious for the body.
Great blog Sandra. In the past I would get a headache the next day if I have got lost in a shopping mall. I would then know that I forgotten myself altogether. Often going without food and water for hours the headache was a great indicator of my disregard if I hadn’t already got the message by looking at the items I had purchased at the time that were not me at all!
The body is our beautiful partner and friend always.
Appreciating that the more I listen to my body the less unwelcome symptoms I have to deal with and how headaches are very rare nowadays whereas in the past I frequently suffered from them.
“and consider that what I do to myself matters”, a timely reminder as I often forget about this.
‘I am grateful for my in-built detection device…’ Absolutely, our bodies shout loud and clear when we make choices that do not support its health and well-being….and even more so when we ignore the subtler messages along the way. Learning to read the body and its messages is an amazing tool to keep us on track and in purpose for life.
Our bodies are awesome, they are never shy at telling us what is going on. Each pain, scratch, cut or bruise communicate something to us. It is deeply loving to listen to these signs and make changes to support our body to be more vital and working at its best. It is always worthwhile to care and nurture our body as this supports us to connect to our divine wisdom and our multidimensionality.
This morning I woke up with a terrible headache which already it announced itself in the night. It was clearly the result of what I had been choosing the day before, starting my workday with a body that felt very tired, a full on day at my work with again a shortage of staff and there my frustration and overwhelm came up and I clearly left myself. The headache turned out to be a migraine which I had not had for a very long time.It took some time to embrace this opportunity to clear but I had to surrender to my abused body and expressed what I needed to express to my workplace in an email today.
Headaches are such a pain, literally, but they remind us of just how frustrated and controlling we have been so are great to embrace and see as an opportunity to correct our behaviour.
Great-full is a funny word as when some-one is suffering it can be seen as an opportunity for them to heal that issues. So when-ever the timing is right I will then say, that is it not great that you are full of that dis-ease and it is now showing you it is time to heal so be full of what ever it is and be great-full for the chance to release an ill energy.
I absolutely agree Trisha, there is a world of difference in our willingness to understand before seeking an instant cure.
Migraines and headaches brings us to a stop but getting the message to look at how we are living is so often missed in the need for a relief and cure. What a difference it makes to seek true healing from honesty and a commitment to listen to our bodies and change the way we are living .
I absolutely agree Trisha, there is a world of difference in our willingness to understand before seeking an instant cure.
Cherish is a beautiful way to understand the relationship we can have with our body, then any symptom is a message well received and lovingly responded to.
When we cherish the body as the amazing truth teller that it is it is easy to be grateful for any symptoms that we have as they are an opportunity to go deeper with the healing that is on offer.
Since returning to my body I have had day after day of feeling discomfort in my body. It is my marker of truth of how I have been living. There has also been a feeling of absolute exquisiteness, THAT (a BIG that), keeps getting more exquisite.
Everything in our body has a purpose, and pain, being part of our body communication, has it too. Do we listen to its messages enough?
I don’t think so Amparo if we look at the high rates of illness and diseases in the world it is very clear we don’t (want) to listen to our body, that we need to take care of our bodies first to live true health and vitality.
It is amazing that the body responds so immediately to the way we move it and how we take care of it or not. I used to ignore every message, but now I am learning to not override what I feel and respond accordingly instead.
Wow this is a great indication of the sensitivity of your body and how it continues to talk to you as you deepen your love and relationship with yourself.
I have never had a migraine myself but know of a few people who do and it always comes on as a result of stress for them, with a gradual building up and worrying about what to do in certain situations that only need you to stop and give space to and come from a more relaxed and open body.
So often migraines can be shared as the norm of the day for so many. When we accept pain and discomfort as the norm, we can often loose perspective of the vitality and joy that is on offer with making more self-loving choices in every day that are so simple and supportive in more ways than one.
I recently made a commitment to giving up sugar. Since then my body has been going through all sorts of things, from heating up, withdrawals, exhaustion, moodiness- it is all coming out. At times it is intense and sometimes I want to go back to the sugar to avoid feeling all of this but I know it will just make it more intense next time.
I remember doing that too, walking around holding the phone between my ear and shoulder…it feels painful just thinking about it. I used to have migraines a lot but I think it was a way to get respite from the pressure i put upon myself . The pain was like a release of the emotions I had held doing something that went against the grain, so to speak, and then the frustration of having done that to myself was yet another layer. I can see now that by following a way of being that isn’t true to who we are, basically making compromises, we go against ourselves and are fundamentally in self-sabotage and self abuse.
When our movements are out of the natural rhythm of life, everything that is done not from the truth of who we are will sooner or later require a correction in order to bring us back to our senses, so it is up to us to listen and make adjustments in our daily living honouring that, which lives deep within ourselves.
Sometimes we need to be reminded to stop and feel what we are doing to ourselves and a headache helps us to do that.
“Sometimes we need to be reminded to stop and feel what we are doing to ourselves and a headache helps us to do that” I feel it’s truer to say ‘Sometimes we need to be reminded to stop and feel what we are doing to ourselves and a headache HAS THE POTENTIAL to help us to do that’. The reason why I inserted those crucial words is because most of us just take a Panadol and as the advert says ‘soldier on’.
Simply appreciating just how beautiful it is to be able to now feel the body communicating instantly, or within a couple of minutes as the worst scenario. A far cry from the numbness and lack of connection I previously lived in prior to attending presentations by Universal Medicine.
Letting go of the pretence that we are fully in control is a masterful art form of life. There is so much yet to be discovered in relation to responsibility and the movements of our human bodies as we pass through space… constantly arriving at the same point again and again.
We are all terminals through which energy pours, the trouble is we have all got caught up in the identification of our terminals rather than identification of which one of the only two types of energy that exist is coming through our terminal.
I know 100% that how I am with myself affects my wellbeing enormously yet there are moments in my day when I lose sight of this truth losing myself in the doing. Clocking the moments with consistency when I am present and appreciating them develops more presence on the one hand and yet on the other clocking the moments when I am elsewhere is paramount so I give myself an opportunity to change my movements so that I can come back to myself learning along the way a dedication of love towards myself because I/we do matter.
I have really dedicated myself recently to not giving into the pressure of time, in the knowledge that the pressure of time scrambles my connection with myself. How this looks practically is that I stop myself trying to work out in my head how long things are going to take me and how I’m going to get everything done and I keep coming back to my connection with my body. Whilst getting ready in the mornings I have found it quite incredible how I am able to get many things done before work and not look at the clock but still get to work on time most days. What abandoning my body to space has done is that it has removed the tremulous feeling of anxiousness from my body and stopped the habitual planning of the ‘run sheet’ of my day/week that I used to go into in my head. The result is a very practical feeling of space as opposed to the hemmed in feeling of time.
The body lets us know exactly what is going on, for example, when ever I disconnect from God during the day my wrists start to hurt Even though it makes my job harder and I do not like the pain, I deeply appreciate the message my body is giving me.
I often think of your blog Sandra when I am standing up eating not giving myself time to sit down, I know its not good for me to do this but every now again I find myself all the same with spoon in hand taking mouthfuls and moving around attending to other things at the same time. This has been a long habit and one that is proving hard to break, but break it I shall!
Yes indeed – that’s the body for you! Constantly willing to show us where we compromise our true and divine selves for the lesser and falsely convenient other.
Recently I’ve been having lots of headaches – which is great because they are telling me in no uncertain terms, that I need to take much greater care of my body and what once could be ignored now cannot.
Sandra I know what you mean how our body reveals to us how we are living, our movements and choices. I use to sufferer from headaches, but not had any for many years, thanks to support of Universal Medicine Presentations and Serge Benyahon.
Even the smallest amount of push and drive to get things done can bring on tension in my body resulting in a headache. We are sensitive human beings so the quality in which everything is approached matters. There is no over-riding this truth.
I am finding any form of push and drive creates a tension and contraction in my body. It feels awful as it can stay for days and effects my whole being.
Some very subtle but valuable communications there from the body, which most I am sure would ignore, but it just goes to show that we do not get these uncomfortable symptoms for no good reason, and the body isn’t trying to punish us, it’s just warning us that the movements are causing a disturbance to the body and to others.
I agree Julie – it is not a punishment it is a gift to be offered very early signals that something is not quite right. What is really profound is if we respond to these even if test results might show ‘nothing’. If we know it is āsomething connected back to how we are livingā then we can start to honestly ask what is going on for us.
In the same way as we as humans build machines with safety valves and safety mechanisms, our body have mechanisms of safety inbuilt to let us know when the body is been abused or been put under pressure. Like humans pay urgent attention to safety valves or safety warning lights in machine , so too we as humans need to pay attention to our warning signals before the safety valve blows ( the headache) .,But remembered truly our whole body aches not just our head when we have a ” headache ” truly it’s a ” bodyache “
That is a very interesting observation that you have not had any migraines since you stopped drinking alcohol Sandra – one that could well be worth studying in the future.
I know this all too well and relate to your sharing Sandra. When we feel the effects of frustration in this way it is already many steps away from the original cause. When we are not with ourselves we are already in a state of illness and disease
I love the communication of the body and how the marker constantly moves. Things that I used to “get away with” now have quite huge effects in my body. For example, I used to operate with a strong force of drive. This is less and less these days but every now and then I slip back into old ways. When I do I get whacked with exhaustion quite quickly. If I haven’t noticed the drive at the time, this communication from my body often alerts me.
It really turns illness, disease, discomfort upside down when you begin to appreciate that this is the body saying ‘enough – it needs to change’ to whatever you are doing that is not in line with what is natural. We fight it because it stops us from doing whatever we want, rather than listening to the feedback and considering a change.
I do know someone who gets regular very debilitating migraines and each time they get them, they realise that there is something specific in their lives that they have been worrying about which they are constantly thinking about, but they don’t seem to be able to move through the situation without stress. And of course, every situation was about trying to control something that was happening.
When we start to look at the body as a vehicle that communicates with us we can be much more open to receive the messages instead of reacting to them as symptoms or being victimised.
Even when we ignore our body or pretend we aren’t listening, it never stops to keep loving us back with its constant messages.
Grateful for a headache ? A few years ago I would not have been able to say these words as I used to get very bad migraines from reacting to life and not expressing myself, but now I am so grateful for the messages from my body, such as migraines, as they are showing me exactly how I am living and giving me the opportunity to change. I no longer have migraines thanks to my body and my change of choices.
I think you should write a book titled “What I do to myself matters”… there is a lifetime of learning from that statement.
Good call heather – and the sequel could be the ‘Ripple Effect’.
Our bodies are our best friends and we need to listen to them, right now mine is saying I’m tired and its time to go to bed – good night all.
The messages from our body are loud and clear and i can se the gift of pain and headaches but something i did not want to feel before . However honouring my self and learning to live more lovingly really does make a difference and allows an understanding of what is really gong on for ourselves and the changes we can bring.from this.
I’ve started to say ‘thank you’ to my body when I get a pain or niggle, not all the time but the moments I do it takes the emotional reaction and blaming off of the bodies message and allows me to hear what it is saying more clearly.
I don’t think I have ever heard someone say that they are grateful for their migraines, but what an amazingly healthy way of looking at what migraines are and how they impact on you. To support you to stop and look at how you are operating in life. Instead of being really made at yourself and thinking that the migraine is just happening, amazing insight.
We are here to learn, and our bodies are without doubt one of the best tools we have to show us where we are going wrong, or the areas of our life we need to up our game in.
The body is always giving us signs, if we listen our life flows and we evolve if we refuse to listen then our lives simply become more complicated – it is always a choice.
The body is like one of our dearest friends it never stops supporting us with messages, we just need to listen to it, but at times we avoid our bodies the same way we we avoid those dearest friends who are going to tell us the truth.
When we pay attention to the signals from our bodies, such a feeling uncomfortable, we open our lives up to be lived in a way that is guided by the truth of our bodies. However it is only through our willingness to be honest with ourselves that we then can truly feel whether the choices we are making support the well-being and vitality we are naturally born to live, and arrest the unloving momentums that we find ourselves caught in.
The whole body intelligence is indeed the built in detection system and the opportunity to reveal what is not who we truly are.
I’m only just starting to embrace the communication of the body and what that means. Managing symptoms is great and often necessary but if we do that in isolation and not take into consideration what the body is communicating, when we remove the worn out band-aid we find the wound is still festering.
We have come to see good health as something that doesn’t impede on the life ‘we want’ to live… and as soon as our health does impede or prevent us from doing what we want to do – we react and address the impeding part. However, it is entirely different to have a relationship with our health in which we appreciate our bodies showing us what is not of truth, so the lack of truth can be addressed in the way we are living and our body can therefore return to it’s harmonious state.
The trouble is we can make so many unloving choices they build up, one upon another, to the point that when we finally choose to be loving, it hurts, alarms and confuses. No matter the symptoms it’s important we stay the course with what we know to be true, for often true healing as you show Sandra, takes time to remove the junk we have chosen to accumulate.
It can take time Joseph, and sometimes I can feel as I deepen in choosing self love, little things that were once ok are now not, as I have a new foundation of love in my body. It is ever evolving and sometimes if I am a bit slow to adjust headaches come back with the same loving message that ‘what I do mattersā, and not just to me but to humanity.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” who would have thought this but by discovering a little deeper this is what is going on and supports us to come home to a gentleness and loving way of living and the effect this has on our health.
A beautifull example that our health truly is within our hands … something I am still continually learning.
As a migrane suffer in the past also this all makes sense and shows how the way we lives makes all the difference and can change everything . What an inspiration for others who suffer headaches and the choices and changes that can be taken .Very inspiring thank you..
Whether it’s a headache or a fluttering of the heart or a twinge in the knee our bodies tell us when we are being less than loving with ourselves.
There are so many ways we can override simple things in the day and dishonour ourselves, rather than choosing to stay present with bodies and honour what it is communicating all the time.
I havent suffered from migraines myself, but have observed others that do and the pattern is very much like you say, as the migraine usually starts due to a tension or lack of control in a situation which just escalates because they are stuck in the emotion or drama and so then start to spiral, and voila, migraine headache.
Beautiful reflection, thank you Sandra. I totally agree with you as to the importance of looking after and nurturing our ‘inbuilt detection device’.
Our bodies are such an amazing marker of the way the way we live, the more we fine-tune our relationship with it the more we can catch ourselves when our movements are not aligned to our soul but come more from the directive of the mind which makes us go around and around with complications and worries about something that in truth does not exist.
What a great way to look at this Sandra, a built in detection device. A device in your body that is there to let you know what and when you are not with yourself. What you have shared here is very revolutionary, when you consider the amount of people who have headaches and migraines.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” How wise and knowing and such a message from our bodies. Being a severe migrane sufferer my self also this all makes sense especially as having changed the way I live , eat and am with myself these have stopped completely and any onset of a headache tells me everything and is a great reminder to stop and see what I have taken on and got involved with and to let it go.
The best friend we can ever have – our own personal built-in detection device. Although never having suffered with migraines or headaches, my body is very clear with other symptoms such as bloating, sleeplessness and general discomfort if not honouring what it needs for true wellbeing and health.
It is so good when we start to listen to the signs our bodies give us and also look at the madness of when we override these signs. I have only ever had one migraine and I certainly wouldn’t want another one but if I did I would seriously look at how I had been living. It is very interesting that you haven’t had a migraine since stopping the intake of alcohol.
Couldn’t agree more Sandra that the “earlier little antics” have their impact on the day. When I catch myself in one of those out of rhythm forays I just think of the possible consequences and how horrible that has felt in the past, and this (more often than not!) will bring me to my senses.
The more I let myself be with my body, the louder its responses to my choices are. This means a) it’s harder to ignore what is going on b) I can feel my choices more instantly. Both of which can be uncomfortable but no more uncomfortable to having all that going on anyway and finding something else to avoid it.
Amazing how our bodies can be so clear in telling us that we have lived in a way that is not harmonious!
I found it interesting that you havenāt had a migraine since you stopped drinking alcohol. I know someone else who used to be told by the doctor to avoid alcohol and chocolate and that they could bring migraines on. It seems there is a connection, which makes sense since alcohol is a poison to the body and generally leaves our head feeling far from clear and light.
How awesome is it that we all have this ‘in-built detection device’ that is constantly bringing responsibility to our attention.. Without this pull to look after ourselves can you imagine the state in which humanity would live, free from accountability and this incredibly grounding and supportive marker? We might not have illness and disease, but I do not think we would have bodies worth treating illness and disease for.
What you offer here Susie is a true appreciation of what our bodies offer us, the “pull” to be accountable so as humanity doesn’t slide further away from its true source of the living way.
Many people wouldn’t realise that simple changes like avoiding alcohol and being more gentle with themselves might be why they don’t get migraines. Whatever the cause the body is signalling that there is something that is not supporting it. I recently have been seeing how simple it is for us if the car doesn’t run well – we know there is a cause and we get it attended to. With the human body we often don’t listen, don’t look for a cause, or even ignore what we know is a cause. This is even though we live in our body everyday, unlike the car!
In built detection devices are hugely annoying when we are avoiding responsibility. But when we accept what is on offer and what is being asked of us, they are a great gift from our body.
Appreciating they signs as a great gift changes the whole understanding and therefore how we can choose to respond to the symptoms.
‘Clearly I was not with myself ā this is rule no.1 for what not to do for potential headaches’ – True Sandra, when we start rushing or becoming engrossed in things, problems, issues, dilemmas or complications we often leave/forget about ourselves so to speak and the this can very easily cause a headache, due to the in-balance of frowning at other things and not considering our own mental/physical wellbeing.
I never use to live in away that allowed me to listen to my body, I had hardened up and just kept pushing myself, just felt this was life. Any headaches I would just take pain killers, never realised how much I was far from connection with myself. Eventually it did catch up on me and I had to make changes in the way I lived. Now I can feel the smallest choices I make which are not loving, especially around rest and food.
Its funny what habits we can keep ourselves locked in, when I am feeling busy I will always eat rushed and with an intensity, this does not feel good yet I can find myself going back to the same behaviour again and again. I know it is only a choice and when I do make that choice to sit down a fully enjoy my food my whole body benefits.
I don’t normally get headaches so when they appear I really take notice. I am beginning to appreciate my body’s signals that things are not going well and that there is lots I can do to support it back to and keep it in good health.
Its funny how we can try to do everything at once. I am familiar with doing one thing while holding the phone using my shoulder to keep it in place. I have actually started not answering the phone when I am busy these days and calling the person back when I am free to sit comfortable and give the conversation my full attention.
It is a blessing that our body communicates to us. If it didn’t we could potentially wreck our body and we would not be functional. Imagine if we didn’t have any pain communicating to us, telling us we have to stop and that something is not right. We would probably not live very long according to the way most of us use and abuse our bodies. So, I agree Sandra receiving a headache can actually be a blessing.
I love this expression Sandra – “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” This is it in a nutshell and if we choose to listen and take heed awesome changes can and will occur.
Appreciation of the greater awareness presented to us from our bodies brings us greater awareness in each and every choice thereafter.
Our bodies tell us all we need to know ā meaning there is always a root cause to our headaches or ailments: how we choose to live.
I love how our choices can offer us another opportunity to learn . If we feel tension, pain or stress in our bodies we are offered an opportunity to look at our previous choices. Our choices can unlock a lot in terms of our past patterns and or behaviours that may be causing us the unease in our body and allow us the simplicity of making a more loving choice next time round.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop” I used to say to myself ‘I’ll just finish this, then I’ll stop’. My body, just like me, doesn’t appreciate being ignored and so it shouts louder until I listen.
Hmmm your words make me ask myself Sandra, have I stopped to appreciate just how beautiful, supportive and great my body actually is? It won’t tolerate abuse in any way, with anything unloving shown up in a day. Even general sloppiness and laziness is reflected back with extra tiredness and anxiety too. My body is my best friend, I can see, it doesn’t indulge me with fanciful dalliance or humour me when I am deceived, but delivers directly what I am here to see.
Amazing really isn’t it Joseph, our bodies do not hold back communicating to us absolute truth, every choices we make it lets us know loud and clear when we take the time to truly listen.
Grateful for a headache ā why not? It’s not pleasant but our body only gives us symptoms when we have gone against it, in whatever way. And thus, symptoms are great indicators and stop moments if we but take the time to read, accept and appreciate them. There is no better diagnostic tool than what our body is showing us.
Headaches or migraines are a huge stop moment for us, and a check in and reflection on what we have been doing or thinking that may have caused them to come on.
Headaches can really provide those stop moments where we feel the quality that we have been living in.
I had a headache, quite a severe one , for about 15 years onceā¦ I had no idea how to understand what was energetically at the root of thisā¦ One of the extraordinary things that Universal Medicine connects us to is the clarity of understanding of the energetic flow both within and around the body so that we can empower ourselves can really understand what is happening to us.
I have had bouts of migraines over the years and I know there is a common theme within my family. One of my family members use to suffer greatly from them and I have noticed how these have subsided over the years. What was the thing that changed? How we take care of ourselves and not going on past the point we feel to rest or stop. I have noticed then the moments when you allow the world around you to race it almost spins out of control and because you are in it trying to cope, stop it and or work it out the overstimulation gave me a headache. I wonder if it’s that simple for all of us, certainly from this article I can see I’m not alone.
Constantly meeting life through our heads instead of our bodies makes us live in constant tension of what we “have to do” it’s non-stop whereas, the more we live from the connection to our bodies the more space we create within and outside ourselves.
I often feel when I get a headache it is a release of being not content with myself and therefor not treating myself well. Your line: “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters” – then makes a lot of sense. There can build up a great frustration when we do not deeply care for ourselves which releases in a good headache in my experience.
A built-in detection device! That is so cool!!!!
Really interesting to read how your headaches come from not being with yourself. I know someone close to me who gets headaches all the time and it is awesome to have this blog to read and see how a headache is related to not being with ourselves. A really beautiful reflection.
The symptoms we get are not the enemy. They are just a reflection of how we are with ourselves and of how we are treating us. They are our best friends.
I love how loudly our body speaks to us; we may ignore because we think, expect or have pictures in our head of how it should look, feel, the way in which our body speaks to us or what it shares, when all along it sends us messages all day. It could be to not eat a certain food, to sit down and eat, to do the washing rather than sit on the couch or rest, it could be as simple as uncrossing your legs.
I love what you share about the ‘pictures’ we have in our heads. I’m realising I can have a headache because I’m holding a picture about how I think something should be. Holding a picture contracts the flow of my whole bodyās physiology – hence the headache, and also stops the flow of the possibilities energetically about what is true and available.
Changing our perspective on life is literally life changing. If I feel reactive or emotional or hurt if I say thank you to my body it cuts the self critical or spiralling thoughts dead.
The more I learn to appreciate my bodies messages the more I learn how these aches and pains are not a punishment from my body but actually a form of loving support. To put a stop to unloving choices in life. I very rarely get headaches but after eating a lot of salty food yesterday my body is loud and clear in it’s message with a stonking headache. It pays to listen to these messages rather than react or ignore them.
I used to get frequent bad headaches that in hindsight seemed to be the result of being very sensitive and not shutting down this sensitivity but instead absorbing everything from my environment āthe noises, smells, emotions (mine and others), thoughts, beliefs, pictures etc. so that I didnāt have to deal with what this sensitivity was alerting me to. That is, I was choosing not to be fully aware of everything at play in myself, my life and the world. When I reached overload and could not take in anymore, my body would have to release this tension by way of a headache. The greatest lesson I have ever learnt thanks to the teachings of Serge Benhayon, is to observe life and not absorb it. So simple but so life changing and by putting this into practice my headaches have naturally subsided.
Thank you for sharing this Liane. It explains much about my past migraine attacks which always felt to come when I was about to go into overwhelm with the world and all that was going on. It makes sense that I was taking everything on instead of observing it. Which explains why I haven’t had any migraines for the last couple of years.
I used to wonder why some people could get away with so much and their bodies not seem to suffer for it, now I am beginning to understand that while it may look like they are ‘getting away with it’ their bodies are in fact storing the insults at a deeper level which will require more healing further down the track… so in fact it is a blessing to have a body which instantly and loudly tells us when we have gone astray so we can learn what is true for it, and what is not.. and in honouring its truth, what we have available to us is our greatest ally and friend along our path.
Great point Annie – I still remember the despondency towards myself that would overcome me with a hangover. A very wise practitioner offered me a loving truth that it was my body’s way of letting me know that alcohol wasn’t needed or liked in my system and to feel this message as the blessing it was. Which I did and when I was ready, I listened to the wisdom and intelligence of my body.
The more I appreciate and simply listen to my body I understand what it is telling me. The messages are very simple, it’s the mind that chooses to not understand, feel confused or adopt denial. It depends how much I’m invested in something that my body is feeding back that that particular choice isn’t supporting harmony with-in. Hence the pain indicators, the more they are ignored the louder they become.
I too love how simple it is Sandra, our body tells us exactly what we need to know when we listen to it. Our body is the best friend we always wanted and to think we are with it every single moment…what a blessing.
My daughter gets occasional bouts of ‘asthma’. They annoy her and frustrate her and she doesn’t much like it. But she is also grateful for what it has taught her and she appreciates and acknowledges that she has an extraordinary relationship with her body and a deep understanding of self-care because of this occasional ailment. That’s not to say that she always listens to what her body is calling for, but there is no question that it has taught her a huge amount and that this relationship with her body is far deeper than it would have been if she had been 100% healthy.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters” This would be a great quote to be seen in waiting rooms in hospitals and doctors surgeries, it gives us a opportunity to see the bigger picture.
All these little things that we do in a day that are not really done in a way to support ourselves, can build up and end up as a tension in the body – a tension that says “I am not living in a natural way, and I know it”. This can then build in the body to the point where we can get headaches, or other ailments and conditions for that matter. I love what you have presented here Sandra, about how headaches can definitely be related to what we ate or drank, but also about how it is related to how we are in the every day as well. This is a far more ‘whole’ approach, which is much needed.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” I rarely get headaches now, but if i do it is usually because i have not stopped and been on the move. My body tells me quickly when I have got caught in this.
I have found this too Amita. Since I have been resting more and not driving myself so much the headaches that I was getting have diminished considerably.
Being grateful for these warnings is proof that you are prepared to make the changes that your body is calling for. That is a great way to be living.
When I feel you claim the truth of why you experienced what you did Sandra, I feel a huge space and healing within my body that confirms to me that such an expression is the truth of what went on. It contrasts to other experiences where I have heard myself or someone else say what they claim is the truth and it actually feels like it tenses the body up and hardens it and does not feel so spacious or yummy at all! Truth is clearly felt not just understood in the mind.
Everything we do matters because behind that doing is a being that is either in expression of the love that it is, or a being that is in expression of everything but this love. If the sum total of our daily movements equate to living this love, then the body through which this love expresses will be in accordance with that which is being expressed and as such there will be a certain harmony and flow from this lived state. Accordingly, when our movements are not made from love, we create a divide and thus a disharmony that will then need to be addressed when this gulf gets too wide and our body is left to bear the brunt of this shock.
Dis-ease and illness explained with divine simplicity. Thank you Doctor Mandalis.
There is so much that the body is continually presenting to usā¦ In fact it is like having a inbuilt nav-sat that is permanently set onā¦ This way to a truly connected and conscious life that is going to bring extraordinary fulfillmentā¦ We just have to remember to turn it on and look at it!
Headaches are indeed a very clear message from the body that something needs to change and that we have been living out of rhythm and in disregard of some kind. What a great ally headaches and migraines can be, as are all the other symptoms the body produces for our sake and in response to what has come before.
The body speaks often and we receive clear messages if we stop to register what is truly going on. If we saw a dangerous situation we would stop this in order for ourselves or another not to be harmed. Why is it different when the body is sending the same message? A simple reminder BODY FIRST!
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” What a great help it would be to have this sentence on plaque in all hospitals and doctors surgeries.
Awesome blog and reflection, thank you. Although I have never suffered from headaches as such and never had a migraine in my life, my body lets me also know just by niggling in different areas of my body when I am out or not present or aware. It pays to pay attention to these niggles as, if unattended and ignored,eventually they become bigger niggles- all so that the body can be heard and its messages be heeded.
It is great to share this and reflect on the choices along the way that led to the migraine. Sometimes we don’t want to stop and consider this, we are caught up with moving forward and don’t want to be stopped but it is in the stopping that we get the opportunity for healing.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” When you put it like this we can see that all pain, illness and disease no matter how bad is an opportunity to learn and and evolve.
Thanks Sandra – a great insight into what is going on for you and the importance of staying with your body. It’s quite interesting to hear you appreciating headaches as a marker for how you are living. This is a whole new way to look at the body and how it communicates with us.
I find it so annoying when we are slightly out of sync with what we are doing, you gave a great example Sandra. Like we might be moving around the house but be worried about what is next.
‘Grateful for a headache?’ Yes we can be grateful what our body is telling us and to look honestly where we have left ourselves behind. It is never to judge ourselves but to see it as an opportunity to become more of who we are and to evolve and take our body lovingly by the hand.
So true- where we have left ourselves behind- great expression!
Prior to Universal Medicine I never listen to my body, I always overrode what every signals I got. I never realised the importance of all the messages. I am now working on catching as many messages now to ensure I support myself and my body.
This is such a simple reminder that our body is constantly sending us messages. Instead of simply trying to fix the pain, I too have developed the habit of asking myself ‘whatās going on here?’ These days I can often track back and identify what I did that started me on the road that led to the discomfort. Unfortunately just one unloving move can easily lead to another and another. The good news is the same can be said for making one simple loving move, which paves the way for the next, and the next loving move.
āThe pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself mattersā. This is such an awesome reminder that we need to teach children from very young, then I am sure that we would not have another generation of adults who ignore the pain and discomfort in their bodies until they are finally brought to a grinding halt by illness, disease or an injury. Stop, feel and listen to the bodyās messages; the best prescription we could ever be given.
When the staff at work come to me with headaches I always ask them to take some time out to just feel what is going on for them that brought on the headache. This combined with taking painkillers also helps with their headache. The body really does know what is going on.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” So true and I am finding that it now needs only subtle moves away from myself and then a head ache can kick in – often being due to the frustration I have felt (self-chastising) because I havent stayed with myself – double whammy. Ouch.
I do not tend to get that many headaches but if I do its invariably because I’ve been emotional during the day.
I often catch myself eating standing up whilst rushing around doing something else and the end result for me is total exhaustion and no time for me. Contrary to what I want to believe, when I take the time to eat properly and nourish my body, space seems to open up, I’m not tired and there is plenty of time for me.
What a great reminder that our ill disconnected movements join together in a whole momentum to the point where our bodies reflect to us to stop and feel how we are treating ourselves. Allowing for a different choice to arise to change the quality of our movements.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” Can I se this sentence on the entrance to all hospitals and doctors surgeries please?!
Most of the time we cannot relate the incidence that has lead to the symptom as we are not trained to observe ourselves to that degree to be able to tell. So what you share here Sandra, is very inspiring as it shows us how every detail counts and needs to be considered if we truly want to address illness and disease.
I have found that my body gives me heaps of warning signals before a more serious health issue so it is important to not dismiss anything as ‘oh its not that bad’ which is what I did in the past. ANYTHING the body is flagging up is happening for a reason its just the messages have to get louder that is the only difference.
A warning signal becomes a great support when we choose to listen to it and learn from our choices.
It is very beautiful how our body is able to tell us when something isn’t right, and indicates that we need to pay attention to what is going on.
Recently I have been getting headaches too, and have realised that I am constantly straining my eyes in order to see the computer or look at my phone etc. It has taken me some time to realise that I actually need new glasses, but even when I realised this, it has taken me a while to book in with the optometrist to get my eyes checked and to get new glasses – the biggest excuses have been coming up for me (I’m too busy, I will do this later, glasses are so expensive etc etc! And this is crazy! Why is it that we allow for such a lack of care and keep making excuses? And so I have now been to the optometrist and have ordered the new glasses and am looking forward to getting them soon as I know this will strain my eyes less and it will feel so much better to be with myself – in fact I will get to feel the care and love that I have given myself and how important I am, how much my eyes matter! And, then the headaches will be gone (at least the ones from eye strain) – but I suspect that by allowing myself to feel more and feel what was needed, and by being more with myself, then this will make a huge difference! Thank you Sandra for the reminder to keep tuning into the body and how it feels and what is needed in each moment!
It is gorgeous that our bodies support us in this way, always letting us know when we have gone astray and reminding us to come back to live the harmony that is possible.
I have had bad head aches on and off since I was 19, they were so bad at one stage that I medicated with pain killers nearly 5 to 10 times a day, combined with recreational medication of course. At that stage of my life I was not willing to see that I was creating more pain through the drinking, causing myself more head aches. I now realise that the way I live in each moment is what leads to a head ache.
There is much to consider, learn, appreciate and adjust when we tune into our own bodies.
Sandra you have really highlighted a new level of wellbeing that impacts our health – our ability to lovingly be with ourselves, not compromise or ignore what feels loving in our choices (no cutting corners so to speak), and to realise that when we do this our body gives us signals to feel we’ve stepped away from our natural harmonious relationship with ourselves.
Our bodies are so clever in how it communicates with us, to remind us to stop the communicates harmful we might have got into. Sometimes just simple movements or choices we feel are normal or ok, are the things we need to change as our body really does not like. So a simple thing as a particular food could trigger off a headache or migraine.
It is so wonderful to know that we all have these āin-built detectionā devices but unfortunately they donāt come with a manual and we donāt get taught about them as children, as our parents were never taught about theirs either. So they lie dormant and as a result we often endure pain and discomfort that you have shown, could otherwise be prevented. To learn to understand the wisdom of our bodies from a very early age, and to take total responsibility for the care of them, would certainly change the quality of our health and our lives.
Our body is a gift to share with us what is going on all the time. Having headaches is no different – a beautiful sign to stop. And it is our choice thereafter of if we honour what our body is saying, or not.
Goshā¦ Imagine what would happen if everyone started to listen and to attend to their built-in detection devicesā¦ wouldnāt the world move at a different pace
Yes Sandra, our bodies will always let us know when we aren’t taking care of ourselves
Sandra- thank you for sharing your experience with persistent pain/ headaches and how you dealt with it.
What a great message reminding us to stop, feel and read what our body is telling us, through pain or an ache.
Our body is a marker of truth, revealing if our choices are loving and nurturing or harming and abusive.
With the surge of illness and disease in the community are people listening?
Our in built detection device.. Love it! Only are we prepared to listen to its honesty, much less its truth?
What I am finding more recently is how much and how constant these messages are, before I could only hear the loud STOP messages but actually the body is non-stop talking to me. The mind will and has said ‘it’s all too much to handle this constant communication’ and thus reacted to the messages constantly by saying what it thinks is the message. But here’s the thing – when I listen to the message the pain is not required anymore and leaves, if I listen to the reinterpretation the message/pain remains and does not cease until I listen. This is further confirming to me that to understand the messages requires me to go straight to the source and not rely on the ‘middle man mind’ that tells me things but hides so much more.
When we get any symptom, whether it is a migraine or back ache it is our responsibility to feel into why it has happened, if we connect deep enough we will always be given the answers and it could be as simple as needing to drink more water or expressing something that needs to be expressed.
I love the simplicity shared here Sandra, if only we were all taught at a young age to listen to the wisdom of our bodies our lives would be amazingly different.
Hello Sandra and we live in a day and age that you just take something to make the pain go away and continue what you were doing. So, “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” It would be ok to have the pain medication if we were also given a disclaimer that we needed to feel our choices prior to the pain. It’s not that the medication is the issue as it’s a great support but it’s the way we use it that seems to need the attention. Awareness of an issue or a relationship should be always deepening and refining. What was a headache at one point may change into something more subtle and so the way you live will need to also change to support ‘seeing’ the subtleness. We, at times can think we are better because we have healed or changed an extreme when just underneath is a more subtle behaviour that may not look or hurt as bad but hurts just the same.
I had a headache yesterday and normally would ignore it and push through but instead decided to go to bed early and rest. lt was the best thing I could have done, this morning I feel much better as the choice to honour myself was exactly what I needed.
The physical out play of an aliment, in this case a headache, is like it being the end result of a dis-harmony that was already present within or around the body. So being forced to rest, until the symptoms have left the body, does offer, at the very least, opportunity to retrace any events, situations, behaviours or reactions that predisposed the body to respond with an ailment.
Migraines, like many other debilitating illnesses, are our body’s way of telling us all is not right, that it is time to stop, listen, and take responsibility for the ill choices we are making and to choose otherwise.
It is so easy for us to blame every thing, everyone, God and whoever and what ever for our illness when actually we are totally responsible due to the choices we make moment to moment.
When we listen to our bodies and read what is going on, then, when we have pain in our body we can learn from what is occurring by looking at how we are living or have been living that is contributing to the problem. This is a level of responsibility we all need to live with but most do not want to as it deems us responsible for all illness and disease.
Hi Sandra, a little self-care goes a long towards supporting us to stay well. I lived much of my life in disregard, trying to keep up with the demands of life. Tension headaches were an every day occurrence and eventually developed into migraines. As I reflect back I realise I almost welcomed these episodes because I would stop and make space for some gentle loving care by resting and whatever else was needed. Today I have changed the way I live and am more consistent in my rhythm and the choices I make. My diet has changes to GF, DF and SF also no alcohol and the headaches and migraines have disappeared. Choosing to be more attentive to the way we live our lives and what we consume has been a support and healing experience.
It is so easy to find one little thing leads to another then another and before you know it you are way out of whack. For me the warning signal is my digestion and or sleep. I too am thankful that I can now recognise these symptoms as my body’s early warning signals to come back to myself.
Hi Sandra, I am also prone to head aches and in fact have a mild one today so that is why I decided to read your blog. Thank you for the reminder to check in with “the warning signal ā that I hadnāt been fully with myself.” I have let my shoulders drop now and ceased the mild frustration that has been running me today and am feeling the tension release. Thank you once again.
I love how simply stoping and reflecting on why and how we feel, is the beginning of a new beginning.
When we stop and support ourselves we are able to support our body back to a natural rhythm that in turn supports us back.
That is amazing Sandra, allowing ourselves to feel our body and how to eat and build a life in relationship with ourselves and feel what we need. And to feel why certain things arise!
Imagine if we didn’t have these in built detection devices; would we continue to make disregarding choices for our entire lives without registering the effects they had on us and our bodies? There is so much to appreciate here about how our body consistently offers us opportunities to develop a loving self relationship, where we take care throughout the day rather than just push our own feelings aside.
Such a great reminder to truly honour our bodies when they speak to us, for the niggling pain or frustration not looked at today can be the migraine tomorrow, and having suffered severe migraines for some years due to my disregard of my own wellbeing, I now readily listen to my body and truly appreciate its messages, and migraines are now something relegated to the past.
This blog clearly demonstrates how our bodies are willing to speak loudly the more we listen and act on the messages. Thank you Sandra.
So beautiful how the body automatically tries to bring us to a stop when there is something that we are doing to ourselves which is not supportive to our natural flow.
When I choose to listen to my body it reveals to me exactly how I am living…. I used to have regular migraines but have not experienced one in about eight years since giving up dairy and alcohol and ending a harmful relationship.
Itās so true Sandra. Everything that we do to ourselves definitely not only matters but accumulates, and that’s why there is such a strong relationship between how we choose to live our everyday and the lifestyle choices we make, and illness and disease. The sooner we all wake up to this fact the sooner we can start to turn around our societies escalating health statistics that if continue at their present pace will cripple and possibly even bankrupt our already overburdened health care system.
This is an important blog, because often pain is seen as something burdensome to be overcome, but Sandra’s approach helps us to see that pain can actually be communication from our bodies as they talk about energy.
Thanks Sandra, a beautiful example of the fact our bodies are a living science, reflecting perfectly the subtlety of choices, however small or insignificant we might like to think they are, on the otherwise harmonious state that is natural to us.
“what I do to myself matters.” When we ignore the messages the body is so clearly offering us we have to live with the consequences and when we honour and live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the body we live with the benefits. The choice is ours.
Our bodies are a great in built system of supporting ourselves – it strikes me that we often don’t appreciate how amazing they actually are!
āThe pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.ā Yes our bodies definitely let us know, gently at first but sometimes quite insistently what is not working for us, and through listening to our body we realise that what we do and how we treat ourselves does matter.
Through the comments there is a similarity for people that alcohol is a significant cause of headaches. There are many other similarities that are evident as well. Yet it is interesting that there is a culture of promoting well known activities that support headaches and migraines and our responsibility for presentation comes up short of choosing to say āNo’ I’m worth more than a few drinks and a headache/migraine.
A great example of how the little things, those little moments of disregard, build up into a momentum that culminates in the body needing to give us feedback about the impact of our actions.
Hi Sandra, I also stopped drinking alcohol as even the smallest amount gave me the hangover from hell. It simply was not worth it. Alcohol is clearly a poison to me and then following on from that anytime I poisoned myself in any other way whether it be by doing something that I did not feel I should be or going all day without checking in with myself I also would find myself with a headache. So I am right with you when you say . . . “So I am grateful for my in-built detection device, and very grateful for the presentations of Universal Medicine.”
Beautiful and so simple.. Everything that our body shows us – is a reflection of connection it disconnection we had with it.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.”
It does matter and we are so worth deeply caring for.
Thank you Sandra, I love how our bodies are always supporting us to come back to our natural rhythm. Our bodies are registering every choice we make and that is something to truly appreciate.
Sandra, this is great that with gradual changes and an understanding, you have been able to essentially ‘get rid of’ migraines which can plague many people on a day to day basis. Migraines are really no different to any other medical condition in that it is a way for the body to get our attention and say ‘Listen to me, there is something about the way that you are living that is not supporting me!”. But how often do we actually stop and listen to make the changes before the headache hits? And how many times do we then just seek to take a painkiller to handle the awful symptoms, and then get relief (or not always) and then just get on with the day as before.
Illness, disease and conditions don’t just randomly appear. They are a means for the body to communicate with us that there is something that is ‘going into’ the body that it then needs to detox. This something could indeed be a food or an environmental factor, but most people stop their searches here – instead of looking deeper and seeing how it is that they are treading in the world, speaking in the world, expressing in the world. Illness and disease are a result of energy – so what energy is it that we are fostering in our body that then turns into a migraine (or other condition)…there is much here to ponder on.
āā¦my awareness has grown to really appreciating what and how my body naturally shows me when I am starting to go off, and the ability I have to discern this ā to listen for myself.ā
Our body will show us if our choices start to come from thoughts, beliefs, images and ideals. For example, it will gain weight if we are eating to numb or dull our awareness and seek a false protection. The same is true for tension: the body will contract when we operate from thoughts and lose presence with it. We can either continue this process or we can use it as a marker to recognize that we have chosen mental energy and to re-connect to feeling the loveliness of our body and accept and deeply appreciate the grandness we hold within. Living in this way offers us liberation from the way we just thought it would always be, to a way that offers a lightness and harmony to be our everyday experience.
I used to live in a way where I pushed things into place from a perception in my mind and hence would regularly get headaches. That was what led me to study & practice Chinese massage, Shiatsu & Yoga, to learn how to release them. Whilst they certainly subsided as I changed my way of living, a tension and level of pain persisted in my body. The only pain I experience now is directly related to choices that I make; my body shows me if I have strained it with exercise or stressed it by going to bed too late.
This significant change has come about by seeking to be energetically aware instead of choosing to numb my body from feeling, which the previous techniques did so successfully; from recognising the importance of allowing myself to feel rather than think my way through life; from letting myself be and taking responsibility rather than using discipline ā from detaching from the struggle and allowing gentleness in my life. Each of the Esoteric modalities have had their role in supporting me with this.
I was drawn to read this today as I am currently deepening with this process. It is great to reflect on what has changed but it is important that we donāt simply rest on this change and feel that it is enough, for the body is constantly calling us to greater levels of harmony and awareness. I am learning to understand that living from the inside-out is a moment to moment acceptance of the awareness we are receiving and not living from the old way, of choosing from a belief or an idea of something that has worked before.
How awesome is our body? lets us know exactly whats going on so that we can care for it properly and learn from it.
Dear Sandra,
I am back reading your blog this evening, as there are many people that suffer from daily headaches and or migraines.
What you share here, in relation to not being present and with our bodies is so telling. The simple fact that a headache was a result of this is scientific proof that our presence in what we choose to do in our days is important, not only to deliver the best we possibly can, but in doing so, to support our body in full while we are doing it.
Headaches and migraines are very different in my experience. I can work through a headache, it is a clear sign to me to stop, that I have neglected myself, be it by not drinking enough water, not eating, being too stressed, taking on too much, not choosing the time for me. Yet rage is a build up of many times I have negated those simple warning signs. It takes over my entire body and shuts it down. Eyesight goes, logical thinking goes, sounds are like an orchestra has the entire brass and percussion section in my head. Moving in my sheets used to be too much movement. I used medication and diet to control them…they did not go away till I brought how I loved on a day to day into the picture. Then true healing took place.
Migraines or any other signs from the body are such a simple realisation that the body is calling out for attention. The inner siren is blasting!
Love it nb – the inner siren is certainly blasting to get our attention!
To have a deep appreciation for my body that reveals through illness or dis-ease that I was living in complete disregard, unloving and un-supporting way – amazes me too. Migraines were my bodies gift for me for over 30 years – it took that time for me to truly surrender and honour all of me. Now through the amazing work of Serge Benhayon, Universal Medicine and the highly professional Esoteric Practitioners I have a new self-loving self-discovering pathway to travel. In re-reading your honest, open sharing with us all Sandra, appreciation is high up there on my daily lived choices and what my amazing body shares/reveals to me constantly.
I just love how the body just keeps showing us the things that we are doing that are working and the things that are not. How much simpler could it be for us to make loving choices?
It is so simple Elizabeth, and the more this is appreciated, and responded to the simpler and quicker our bodies reveal the truth. A twinge has just as much information as a headache or migraine. In fact more so because a twinge is instant so can be related and connected to what just occurred. A headache is an accumulation and moved away from the initial moment of contraction.
The wonderful thing is that we all have this āinbuilt detection deviceā we have just become so used to ignoring it that it has seemingly become invisible , and yet , the signals keep coming, whether we pay attention to them or not.
They do Chris and if we choose not to hear they get louder. Sometimes it only takes a moment to tune into exactly what it is that we need to hear, but we do need to follow up and pay attention.
Instead of looking at pain as being a burden or an inconvenience but as you share wisely with us Sandra to feel the pain as a ‘gentle reminder’ to stop, reflect and consider that what we do to ourselves really does matter. Our amazing bodies are wonderful barometers that soon reveal exactly how we are truly living.
Sandra, itās great how you can now be āgrateful for a headacheā and use it as a barometer to indicate that you have not been making supportive choices. This shows a deepening level of responsibility for your life. Too often we just blame the pain without realizing what we have done to bring it on. The body is an amazing ādetection deviceā but we are the ones who read the daily results and if we donāt do that we miss the messages that are being offered to us.
It’s so important to realise that everything we do matters. I don’t really understand why, when I know this, I then forget it in the rush to do what I think I should be doing. Every moment I am in a position to make choices and this can be as supportive as I want it to be. I take these choices out to the world. It gets back to love and my responsibility to everyone. We all support all of us with this and this feels very beautiful.
I have also found that at times when I have had a realisation and am in the process of clearing an old pattern that is no longer serving I will get a migraine and this is different, as it is releasing energy from my body that is not part of who I am.
I can have such clearings too Kate, it can be confusing though, at least that is what I experience. It has made me aware of the pattern of judgement I choose when I had migraine in the past, blaming myself for having gone in frustration..again and of course this made my migraine even worse.It is still something I have to be very aware of and just be loving with myself whatever my body is communicating with me.
It is amazing how we don’t realise that when we are in pain our bodies are alerting us to something we need to pay attention to. We see it as an inconvenience that needs to be avoided at all costs so we can get on with life. This is the way I used to live – I have had many migraines so understand the agony! I have found that my migraines were there to provide a stop to an ill momentum I had been living in, to show me I had gone off course. When I made some significant lifestyle changes the incidence of the migraines reduced significantly.
It always feels so joyful when hearing others have the same experience Kate. “When I made some significant lifestyle changes the incidence of the migraines reduced significantly.” There is something deeply healing in making choices that support our well-being to limit needing a migraine in the first place.
I love the way our bodies are constantly sending us messages, and the more that I am willing to listen, the less drastic I am finding the messages need to be. For example, this morning I had to go back and check whether I had locked my car after I had parked and it was an instant marker for me that I am wasn’t actually with my body when I got out of my car and had gone into auto pilot… I then was able to feel how I’d been ‘before’ I left home and could feel how I’d been in a rush… And then I could feel how I felt tired when I woke up which resulted from not going to bed earlier the night before… Amazing to consider how one tiny thing can reveal a whole lot more about our choices if we are willing to go there.
This is great Angela, I can so relate to the purpose of following the trail back to the original choice of not being with my body. This way we can have an honest understanding and not dismiss the latest moment that actually does stand out to us saying “Hi remember me?” as a one-off. Nothing is a one-off, everything we do is inter-connected and it all matters as part of the whole.
I’ve been pondering the build up behind aches and pains – the decades of my body going along with my will, being made to do things that haven’t been very supportive. It’s never too late to listen to the signs and lovingly adjust as required – usually all it takes is a simple moment to reposition, or feel a tension and release it gently.
Sandra I’ve been talking with a number of people recently about migraines and how draining they can be, I know I used to suffer badly from them and now hardly ever get headaches but when I do its a great reminder about what I’ve done to lead me to that position. Its normally when I am trying to cram multiple things in together, and in that loose the care for myself.
I agree David it is in the care for ourselves that prevents a tension in our bodies that builds up for a re-lease: the headache is underway and I find intensifies until I can no longer ignore it. Starting with care makes how we choose to approach what is before us so much simpler and tension free.
I hardly ever get headaches, however I do detect ‘pressure’ in my head and when it builds up, as subtle feeling of stiffness in my neck. Now, whenever I feel this begin to occur, I know I am disconnected from my body and not honouring a loving rhythm in my day. So it means coming back to what ever I am doing at that moment and being with myself as I do it. Then the quality of the movement or posture takes me deeper to the love within. It is truly remarkable how much power we have in connection with our bodies and to be celebrated that Universal Medicine is around to present this.
I absolute agree Simon. The celebration and deep appreciation for Universal Medicine for the presentations that support us connecting to our bodies is total gold. The overall well-being and vitality that comes from this awareness can’t not be measured easily but the more who choose this way of caring for themselves the more the benefits will be noticed by humanity, The double bonus will be much less pressure on the health systems.
“Clearly I was not with myself ā this is rule no.1 for what not to do for potential headaches.” It seems Sandra that “not being with ourselves” is the number 1 rule for what not to do for all types of illnesses, disease and accidents!
So very true Samantha, the more awareness we can bring to the obvious signs like headaches or accidents the easier it is to observe the more subtle signs leading towards illness and disease. One of these that I’m becoming increasingly aware of is dementia. The indications are very subtle however I’m sure not being with our selves as we do things starts to put us in a habit of switching off.
I grew up with headaches and migraines from when I was a child at boarding school and they became part of my life but since understanding my body more and making loving choices in how I live and eat and being more aware of my body these have gone and are a rare occurrence always showing me something too.Thank you Sandra a great reflection!
Beautiful to read Sandra, listening to our bodies gives us great insights as to how we have spent our day; simply taking the time to observe what is happening can bring us back to our selves, more and more I am able to catch myself when I have gone astray. I love these words ” what I do to myself does matter.” I have lived a life where I did not matter, but not anymore.
I agree Jill knowing “I matter” is now with me in every choice. Whether it is lifting something or attending to anything. In the simplest and gentlest of ways I check in with myself at every moment I can to feel if I’m considering all of me and present with my body and the task.
And that is the answer to the issues we create ourselves. Yes I agree the pain is our best supporting friend.
Thank you Monica, pain can be our teacher if we allow it.
Thank you Sandra, I have no experiences with headaches but this pattern is familiar to me; ” I ādecidedā that I didnāt have time to finish eating breakfast at the table and instead took spoonfuls as I walked past. I could feel that was yuk so I did stop and sit for the last couple of bites.” As soon I do notice that I am doing things checked out, I stop doing it and claim to be conscious presence with myself. I do realise this a lot during my busy day, and with this is growing my awareness.
I agree Monika, there are definitely moments to allow space for the simple supportive tasks and functions we need to honour ourselves with. I know I’m still observing doing things on the move, however gradually these are passing without the āshoulds and should notāsā. When this happens I become even more aware and present in the moment appreciating I’m stopping for me and worth every moment or minute I take to complete what ever it is.
It’s taken a while in fact years for me to now actually say that I too was grateful for my headaches/migraines. They were the big stop moments in my life where exhaustion became the norm and little pulsing headaches were not listened too, migraines were the big obvious reminders that could not just be waved by and really packed a punch for me to slow down and rest. As you share so well Sandra our “inbuilt detection devices” are amazing.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.”- Sandra, isn’t it great that our body can let us know when we are in disregard, before we get sicker or are in a accident to force us to stop and look at the way we are living our lives. Great blog!
Stopping and feeling my body these days is like a miracle cure to headaches. This happened the other day, I had a headache and actually chose to lie down and feel my body and also asked what was there to reveal it’s self. In just a few minutes I understood what was going on and the headache started to clear. It’s real and it’s definitely worth giving it a go- but no thinking allowed through this process just feeling and surrendering to the body.
This is wonderful to share Sandra, Surrendering to the quality and feeling of our body is pretty much like taking the first dose of medicine for the pain or symptom the body presents.
I love Sandra how you talk about your in-built detection device, it is true we all have this and to me it seems like the best form of education would be to teach our children how best to access their own. I am sure as a result we would see illness and disease rates fall if we did.
I don’t really suffer from headaches, but if by chance I get one, to me that’s alarm bells tell me that I need to stop and reflect on how I have been living in those last few hours or days. “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” How beautiful it is that our body gives us these gentle warnings, so we can reflect and make some changes.
My body has developed to the point where it is like one of those lollipop people at roadworks, Wwo just turned the sign and say stop! You will not go any further until you have really listened to me. At times painful, at times embarrassing, yet what is at stake here is beyond any pain and embarrassment as it is absolutely essential to listen to our bodies, and not to anything that wants to override its messages.
A great visual you offer Chris, yes we get to choose to charge pass the stop sign with its potential consequences or gently apply the brake and a range of options in between. But whatever choice we make the point is we make it – in every moment. Becoming aware of this is something to really appreciate in ourselves.
I agree Sandra and Chris, I am learning this too how it is absolutely essential to listen to my body and how I have ignored so many signals lately which is causing me a lot of pain. Then the next comes in to appreciate that my body has given me a very clear stop sign and this is so different from what I used to do, beating myself up of having done something wrong and going in giving up on myself. It is still something I am familiar with but I know it is a side way to avoid the responsibility I have towards my body and the way I have treated myself.
This is great Chris, I am also becoming aware that external signs from outside my body also show me when best to stop. Like when driving I may swerve slightly or take a wrong turn these are all wake up calls for me to become more present and to feel what is really going on in my body.
Its great when we clock ourselves and stop going into old familiar patterns/habits as you share with your No 1. rule. What not to do for potential headaches. Those signals come loud and clear. After all It comes back onto us to choose the next step to be taken self loving or otherwise!
This makes me wonder why it is that we override our bodies signals in the first place, even if they are uncomfortable, it is still a message from the body which is sharing with us a truth and in doing so supporting us to be who we truly are
It’s a case of don’t shoot the messenger. Your comment Josh has me pondering if we over ride the signals our body offers with pain etc. how often do we automatically over ride our bodies other senses and messages it offers us? Our bodies are constantly communicating everything we need to support our connect to ourselves, but which other messages do I dismiss because I am choosing to think my way through something rather than feel what its truly needed?
This principle you describe in relation to avoiding headaches has a universal application. By developing awareness – essentially listening to and discerning from the body – we then have the space, the knowing and all we need to be able to choose our next step, a choice that can only ever be either healing or harming, but one we are always fully responsible for.
I used to get headaches all the time and these came from absorbing the tension I could feel around me, both in my environment and from others so that this external tension became my internal tension. This would then just sit there and brew and brew until it had nowhere left to go but out. Thus, my headaches have always been a sign of a ‘release’, kind of like an internal storm. And while it does indeed feel amazing to let go of what has come to imprison me and feel the cool breeze of clarity once more, it is also agony to feel what I have allowed to accumulate in order to mask this inherent divinity. I am now learning as you share also Sandra, that if we do not let the air pressure rise, we will not need wild weather to bring us back to calm. In other words, if we live in the quality of our natural stillness, we will not need to create a storm to return to this.
So true Liane, the foundation for our entire well-being can be found in the quality of stillness we actually are at our deep center. When we hold that stillness storms created by others can rage all around but we don’t have to caught in them. We are actually our own safe, secure and trusted base and living from this is our divine right.
I really love this blog: Mona Lisa ā an Inspiration for the Modern Woman. It introduces what it can feel like at our deep center where our stillness innately is.
Isnāt it amazing that we have such incredible yet simple inbuilt radars in our bodies that allow us to detect the slightest disturbance to our inner harmony? I have found that it is a continual process of refining this. It is not so much that we have to āimproveā this radar by way of strengthening it, but more so we need to learn to discard the seemingly protective layers that have come to obscure what is already so perfectly functioning. That is, we already have all we need to live a life of absolute beauty and truth but due to our unloving choices along the way, we have come to override this very innate faculty. Thank God for Serge Benhayon and the students of Universal Medicine who have made it their loving way to return to living this truth ā our truth ā once more so that others can see that this is also the truth of who they are also. We are magnificently sensitive creatures and we read it all, all the time, whether we are aware of it or not.
Absolutely Liane “Thank God” for Serge Benhayon and all the Students of the Livingness, other wise my radar would have completely been very wrecked by the multiple layers of protection I was under the misguidance where “helping’.
Prior to Universal Medicine I had realised nothing was helping I was only looping around and around with relieving symptoms and pain. However on meeting Serge I discovered that connecting back to me and not going out to solutions started to support the tension to ease and with this the headaches started to ease and the beautiful part is my radar is becoming a finely tunes instrument once again and headaches are almost a distant memory. Migraines certainly are an experience of the past.
Our body is constantly communicating to us what we are feeling, it’s up to us to listen to its wisdom.
I’m also feeling how surrendering to what I’m hearing within my body is required other wise I can keep looping thoughts around my head.
It is pretty amazing how our body is constantly communicating to us.. it is like a barometer, a gauge indicating what’s going on. If we were orientated to this as a child, and taught to read and understand these messages, i’m sure public health and wellbeing would be in a healthier state
With the awareness that we are all learning and our own experiences shared here I feel there will be generations of children to come who will absolutely be understanding how powerful and supportive it is to listen to their bodies early and respond responsibly.
What an absolute turn round on what pain means for us “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” I have had pain in my body and although at times I have resisted it and reacted to it. When I allow myself to feel all of it and observe where it is and perhaps why it is there, it has enabled me to have more clarity on where I am at in life and it offers me a moment of grace to consider how I could respond in an alternative way to how I am living and what I am doing.
That is so true Linda, ‘the more we value and honor ourselves, the deeper our appreciation of who we areā. I know mine is forever deepening with the loving support of ‘The way of the Livingness’, Serge Benhayon and a heart-full of thank you to Chris James for an amazing 4 day retreat – a wonderful deepening connection to my body.
Our bodies are wonderful at communicating to us so yes it’s wise to be thankful for the messages it’s sending through rather than criticising it because it’s protesting, be it a sore knee, sore back, bumped elbow – all of these are clues as to where we’re at and how we are living and what we need to address if we choose to listen.
I agree Deborah, it is always a choice to listen, and the message is clear and simple if we do.
This is exactly what happens to me also Sandra and a great realisation as to how I live and how I feel too.. Taking care and time for myself and my rhythms is such an honouring way of living and brings and end to headaches and migraines
unless my body is showing me something to see also.Thank you for this amazing sharing to truly learn from it.Feeling the real me ‘what a beautiful aspiration and way of being for us all thank you for sharing this so simply. The consistency and love offered to the world by Serge Benhayon is the gift of gold if we choose to open our senses and see it
The basics in self care is to feel whats happening in the body as we all get plenty of signals through the body when things arent right
and reallyā¦ We all have these built-in devices and warning signalsā¦ Everyone of us, the signs and markers are always there for us letting us know how in harmony or not we are with ourselvesā¦. Universal medicine is like the ultimate guide always pointing out to us where we can observe ourselves, how we can observe ourselves, but we need to be observing, so that we can start to actually be in tune with ourselvesā¦ What a great gift to humanity
I agree Chris observing plays a significant part to being able to listen to our bodies. Listening with a gentle, loving appreciation that we are learning.
I’ve discovered if I listen with any criticism, harshness or should’s then I shut down the listening and the observation and the willingness to be aware goes away. But the actual physical symptom doesn’t it just gets pushed to the background to rise up again with more volume next time.
A great blog and very timely for me thanks Sandra. I never get headaches but on rare occasions I will get a visual migraine, I got one a couple of days ago which didn’t surprise me as I have had quite a busy schedule with work for past 2 months and was feeling quite exhausted. It was a ‘stop’ moment for me and I went and lay down for an hour until it settled down and then I continued to stay very present and gentle with myself all day. This visual migraine really showed me the way I had been living has not really been supporting me and that my body was asking me to take my self-love and self-care to a much deeper level now.
Anna I can feel how the magic of a migraine worked to bring you back to you. It is a gift how our bodies will say: stop a minute please you are worth so much more than the current approach.
Let your body do the navigation through life and the journey will be so more pleasurable
To stop and listen to what our body is telling us instead of looking for immediate solutions is remarkable.
My headaches turned into migraines when I was a teenager and I have just felt they were a signal for me to feel how I allowed myself to become so disconnected from my body by staying up late, drinking alcohol, working under pressure to achieve the best results at school and at work but also by going on the Pill. This gave me a disconnection from my natural cycle a woman has and it has deprived me from the monthly clearing my body had before going on the Pill which gives a superficial clearing but not what it is designed for. By my migraines I got the clearing my body needed from the frustration not living in connection with my body and thus me as a woman.
I have also had this experience of headaches recently. Having only had headaches associated with the self-abuse of late nights drinking alcohol in the past I have been a little concerned that I have had headaches more recently when I have made so many choices to live in a way which is so much healthier and with regard to my true wellbeing. From this blog is inspiring to read that these carry a message from my body to look further at how I am living my day as to where I am not allowing time and space for me or not fully present with myself, thank you Sandra. The way in which our bodies communicate to us to support us in continually refining our choices and to bring greater awareness to the consequences of our actions is amazing. Lessons in responsibility from our own body.
That’s a great highlight Richard “are minds are trying to be somewhere other than with ourselves.” It doesn’t matter what/where our minds are ‘trying to get to’ itās the fact they are ātryingā is what sets up the warning signs.
It’s interesting to note that we usually think there has to be something majorly wrong with us before we would even consider to slow down and take a moment… At that point 9/10 we have missed all the warning signs and do end up with something going “wrong” in our bodies or life.
Yes, agreed Jaime. Us humans are usually quite stubborn creatures who wait until our bodies make us stop before we will perhaps consider how we got to that situation in the first place. Even if we do track what has happened we often promise ourselves that we will take better care in the future only to go back and do the same thing all over again!
The ‘promiseā to take better care but not sustain it, is a very good point Helen. For me I’ve been discovering that it’s a constant choice of commitment to me with the ‘what I do matters to my body.’ If I can commit to any other purpose, project, person etc. itās important to have the equal commitment to my self care.
All of the awareness I have experienced about listening to my body and taking care of my entire well-being has been inspired by the teachings and presentations of Serge Benhayon. It is with a depth of appreciation that continues well beyond any measure, that choosing to live self responsibility supports our health and well-being. Yes I have to choose this and live it for myself, however the loving guidance and support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine surpasses any former understanding of how to care for myself.
I have just come out of a 2 day migraine spent mostly sleeping to dull the pain. I can vouch that taking better care of myself, given myself tenderness has greatly reduced the severity and occurrences of migraines in the last few years. So now that my head is clear it is time to revisit what caused it, what disregard triggered it, to discern and feel that everything is connected.
Yes, I agree Patricia- migraines or headaches don’t come from nowhere- it is the body calling out disregard.
I used to get bad headaches from drinking coffee 3 times a day- and when I stopped drinking I had a migraine that lasted for 3 days – reminding me of the momentum of disregard.
I agree Patricia and Loretta, at some point we choose to re-visit as you say to see what set off the motion.
I get the sense it’s like swallowing the bittersweet pill…which for me has been a more loving pill than the default numbing pill.
This weekend I could feel a headache and a eye strain coming up, it was a great moment for me to stop and realise how I had not stopped to nurture myself or take a moment of rest, I had got caught up in doing, I had forgotten to to drink water and my body was dehydrated. Normally in the past I would not stop I would just take a pain killer and keep going. This time I stopped had some water and gave myself a few minutes to just sit and connect. It only took that small stop and connection for my headache to disappear, his amazing is that. It is really about being aware of our body and listening to it
Amita – yes that is amazing and so simple- just water and a few moments of being with ourselves and it’s like magic. What’s also amazing is Us and that we choose this simple medicine.
We all have both the auto pilot mode and the auto-detect mode… Unfortunately, we can’t use both at the same time! Each time we turn on auto-pilot we have to turn off auto-detect (or put lots of effort into ignoring the signals being sent!)
How beautiful Sandra, to become so aware of what, in it’s wisdom, the body was telling you. I am becoming more aware of the constant communication my body is giving me, the joy I feel in my loving connection and the reminder when I bump something or become anxious, just to stop and feel and come back to me.
This is great Sandra, for me its not a headache but tension in shoulders and back that in particular speak to me about choices I am making and I have even begun to feel tension in my abdomen that is reflecting if I am being truly accepting of the grace, power and beauty I hold within me and can live with. Through subtle adjustments of movement, posture and bringing more gentleness to activity, I can feel these parts of my body letting of as if it is appreciating my choices to listen to it.
Simon this feels really honoring, thank you. I appreciate you mentioning the tension in the abdomen; this is something I’ve also been noticing. When I feel it asks me to check in with all of me and be still for a moment. You are spot on about making any adjustment with posture and movement when feeling the tension anywhere in the body.
Our body is a great teacher of self responsibility. It lives with the consequences of all our choices therefore what it reveals to us comes with great authority, and we know it to be true even if we don’t want to go there! If we choose to listen and take action to support our body, we start to feel its response to our every choice instantly. How gorgeous is that – the more we lovingly support our body, the more it reveals where it needs more love!
There is the attitude of being a prisoner to our pain, one that is founded on living without responsibility for our choices, or as a best friend to our body, we can choose to listen to its subtle (or not so subtle) messages it gives us and continue on to enjoy life in love together.
These are great awarenessās Giselle. Our bodies are the best companion we will ever know, so very worth honoring and being 100% responsible for. Our bodies rely on us and we on them. What could we be thinking if we choose to ignore or harm in any way?
I like how you refer to a headache as a built in detection device Sandra. Our bodies are constantly communicating with, what they need and how they feel after we eat certain foods, or after exercise. Have we pushed are bodyās too hard or been in our heads and thoughts and disconnected from our bodies?
As I start to listen, slowly more and more my health, and my life improves beyond measure.
I Agree Thomas. As I was logging onto this site I was having a playful chat to myselfā¦”I love a good headache (as I was chuckling to myself), otherwise how would I know that I was off track to care for myself if there was no warning?” The absence of headaches for very long periods of time are also marvelous signs to be deeply appreciated, that self honoring and care of all of me are being lived with tender loving consistency.
I love the appreciation you have for your body and how you recognise that it is guiding you to see how to be in a way that deeply supports you or gently remind you when you are not… Allowing you to either listen and choose differently, or continue and feel the discomfort of living that way. Awesome.
Your blog Sandra connects us to the very practical realities of what happens to our body is a direct result in how we are being with it. Recently I have been aware of my body doing something that it doesn’t normally do. To begin with I thought is was a certain food. I have since realised that in this instance it was not the food, but that I had taken myself to another level of love in my body and I was not living this with myself each day. My body complained loudly, so now I have adjusted this and connected to the deeper level of tenderness that my body is now needing.
I agree Monica; it is easy to dismiss the little things. However it’s the little things I’m realising are holding huge amounts of awareness.
It is an awesome thing to realise that every pain or twinge from the body is a message to be heeded. The general consensus out in the world is to override that message by taking a pill. We can still lovingly take the pill to ease the symptoms but at the same time deeply heed the message.
The body is so a built in detection system Sandra it not only holds all our choices but through illness reflect the emotional issues we have not dealt with and need to clear. What you describe is the amazing wisdom of the body and how it must follow the natural order of laws.
It also seems to be unfolding that if I’m not choosing to live to my potential the headaches are also present. This is giving me an opportunity to deeply consider that what I’m doing isn’t just affecting the me now it is impacting on my body as my future comes towards me. That is if Iām ignoring something my body has already become wise to, Iām actually harming myself in advance.
It is great how the body gives us gentle reminders that what we do matters, giving us warnings signals like a headache or a migraine. Theses signals really give us an opportunity to reflect at how we are living and what choices we are making. It gives us an opportunity to make another choice which is more loving and supportive to the body. If we choose to ignore the warnings the symptoms would intensify.
I love this sharing on how you are open to listening to your body and what it is telling you – and the healing that comes when you stop and reflect on the choices you have made which may have impacted on you and your body. This is true intelligence, to understand the root cause of something.
All the we see on television is about how to reduce pain and keep on going throughout our day. There is no stop, no reflection. Great to reduce pain, but if we do not stop to feel what our body is telling us then we will continue to live in a way which does not honour our true needs – coming from our ‘head’ and how we think we should be living through the various roles we play out at work and home.
This is so true Monica. To think we can hide and no-body will know is ridiculous but this is how I used to live… I thought I could get away with it! When we know and we all know this truth that how we are with ourselves in everything we do affects everything, it changes everything in the way we view life. We have a responsibility and “we really do create our own misery or joy and it’s our choice.” Just imagine if we were educated in this way and the impact this would have in taking responsibility especially for our health in our world today!
Very inspiring and interesting to read this blog. I hear quite often people around me talking about their headaches and what you offer here, gives a whole new perspective to headaches and migraines. Most people just take an aspirin and that is it, but what you reflect here goes beyond the aspirin and is about how we live and the responsibility we have for our choices.
We have been so conditioned to just get rid of any pain we have either with drugs or other more invasive techniques such as surgery rather than wondering and identifying why we have the pain in the first place. Sandra your sharing is showing us another way of healing. Gorgeous!
Thank you for your blog Sandra. I need to stop more and listen to what my body is telling me. Just yesterday I had prepared a light but nutritious meal but I ate it without presence and my body has been showing me this. With reading your blog I had to stop and feel that presence, being with myself, is needed and my body is telling me out loud.
I’m experiencing the same thing when eating as well Katinka. If I eat with distraction or too quickly my body lets me know. Awareness of the message and continued appreciation for them is a bonus of loving natural well-being support.
When the body speaks to us we have two choices, listen to it and move on and evolve or numb it out and remain in a constant cycle which keeps us from this evolution. I have a slight headache this morning and can trace it back to what I ate yesterday and the day before. No surprise there as I knew at the time I was making bad choices.
It is truly a gift to have reconnected to that inbuilt ‘early detection’ device called the body. It speaks so loudly when we listen and allow it the space to do so and it is always trying to bring us more love, more light, more joy.
Thank you Joel for highlighting the grander purpose of our bodyās communication: bringing more love, light and joy. It is an amazing gift to be deeply appreciated and honoured and listened to.
I have learnt through the teachings of Universal Medicine our bodyās communicate with us all the time and the more we ignore our body the louder it communicate with varying degrees of dis comfort as warning signs that something is not ok in the way we are living whether that be in the food we are eating, our sleep patterns, our communication, the way we move, walk, think and all other way in our livingness. When we look at this holistically and responsibly we are able to see the impact our choices have on our health and well-being. My experience has been though connecting with my body talking the time to listen to what it needs whether that is rest and or medication a trip to my GP and esoteric practitioner along with the required life style changes I feel are necessary.
Hearing someone say that they listen to their migraines and what it is telling them is so refreshing.
I love the point, that our body is communicating to us all the time – warning signals, loving signals. And it is our choice, to override these signals or to be fully aware. Great blog Sandra, thank you.
I am too am so grateful how to understand what my body is reflecting too. The reflection clearly shows me how I have been in my day or my day before, as my daily rhythm will reflect to me. For example if I am extremely tired by bed time, that’s just shows me, how much I have pushed myself in the day
I love what you have shared here Sandra, as I also have grown to appreciate and listen to my body after years of disregard . “My awareness has grown to really appreciating what and how my body naturally shows me when I am starting to go off, and the ability I have to discern this ā to listen for myself.”
What I choose to ignore now and continue to make ill choices around food or play small in the world is so quickly reflected to me by my body there is nothing but room for more self-responsibility.
I feel that sometimes I get a headache because I have been trying to do too many things and in this have compromised myself. There is a frustration because I know this is not the way to go and yet am still doing it. In this particular case, it is as you share; it comes as a super warning sign and plea for change.
This makes sense Elaine as I have noticed this week has been very much like that at work – doing three jobs at the moment doesn’t help and by the end of the week I ended up with a headache. But looking back at the week I can identify many occasions when I have overridden what my body has been saying to me and pushing through doesn’t help, so no surprising a headache is the body’s way of saying stop and look at your choices.
Elaine I agree frustration is a key word here in what is going on. I don’t know that I’ve ever connectd the two before but I can feel that they are now and will pay much closer attention.
Wether it be a headache or something else, our bodies will always speak to us, letting us know something is not right within us.
Drugs are not always the answer, all they do is deaden the pain.
We need to visit life changes on occasions, and do a reality check.
It’s true Mike, if drugs are used instead of seeking the true cause, then they only deaden the pain but change nothing of the cause of illness. Worse, I’ve always felt that taking pain killers instead of looking deeper is like switching off the fire alarm instead of dealing with the fire! Pain is a messenger and tells you where you are at. It will also tell you, when it ends, that the problem is solved and this may occur without needing drugs. So the best thing is to find out where the problem is and address the cause of it. Then if the pain is still a problem sure, use pain killers now that you know what you have to do to prevent future problems. It’s OK to turn off the fire alarm once you’ve found and put out the fire.
This last sentence is such great wisdom and a very real and supportive way to approach what is happening in our bodies Diane.
I love it!
Love what you have written Dianne, especially the last sentence. Supporting our body, and relieving pain, once we have addressed the cause, is truly caring for ourselves.
I love the simplicity of your example Sandra. How great it is when we stop numbing the body and start listening to and are able to understand the messages that it’s sending out loud and clear. It’s a lovely feeling to have this intimate connection with the body.
That’s great Deborah, it is lovely to feel the intimate connection with our bodies. What I felt when reading this is it is lovely to feel and appreciate all the messages our bodies are communicating. If some are uncomfortable not to label it / think any less than the lovely and loving communication it is offering.
I haven’t been back to this blog for a while, but a recent migraine prompted me to return and add something. Although my 5-days-a-week migraine history is now 12 years behind me, I sprang one just 2 weeks ago at the start of a meeting I had to attend. In the old days I would have said: “Oh blast! I’m trying to work and now I have a migraine that will knock me out for 2 or 3 days!” But this time was different. The migraine clearly had a cause-and-effect relationship with a buildup of frustration about this particular meeting. The moment the meeting began, I could feel that the energy had shifted, progress was now possible, and the months of frustration were over. And bingo – instant migraine! I realized then that the migraine was the physical culmination and point of letting go of all that built-up frustration, and was therefore a healing and clearing. It was uncomfortable for a few days, but not devastating as it had been in the past. I felt that progress had been made, lessons learned, eg. don’t ‘hang onto stuff’ and allow frustration to run my body. A very different view of migraines!
Your comment has really inspired me to reflect differently on my recent migraines Dianne. After having Migraines for about 20 years they stopped as soon as I started to introduce self love and self nurturing into my everyday. Then out of the blue a few weeks ago the sensations of a migraine came into play. Took me by total surprise. Instead of getting all ‘heady’ about it and trying to work out the cause – I certainly felt tender and fragile for a few days but this in itself was my body communicating clearly to me that I was still carrying around with me certain habits (frustration being one of them) that would bring a return of some painful reminders.
Marion it’s true that we must be “still carrying around ā¦ certain habits” for migraines to reappear for no apparent reason. After all the physical changes we have made in our diets, etc, that have apparently dispatched the migraines, it becomes obvious that there is a level where the problem still lies, a level that is not solvable by purely physical means. We must look to energy for the cause.
It is amazing to be able to now be aware to the degree of watching your day and can back track to the choices that we make that lead to headaches or the like. Once upon a time I would have just thought that it was chance but now understand the origin. The responsibility has increased with the awareness
Great article Sandra- reminding us that ā¦”what I do to myself matters.ā
How often do we override what our body is telling us, until we are forced to stop, feel and listen, through an accident or illness? By listening to our body we can then make more loving choices to live in a way that supports and nurtures our body.
I used to suffer a lot from headaches, migraines were very rare, but have experienced a few. I no longer suffer from headaches, unless I have had something dairy then my sinuses and head starts to ache. Great clear signs for me. In the past when I experienced headaches, having reflected back, I never took care of myself I was always busy doing and my body never got rest. I am not surprised with my headaches, my body was trying to show me to stop, but I just kept ignoring the signals as I had no awareness of headaches was warning me something is wrong. Our body gives us so many messages, if we understand this and are able to listen and feel the body, we can make choices to support it.
Our bodies are quite extraordinaryā¦ They are continually giving us a message after message, letting us know exactly what is going on within us, and indeed around us, and what we need to do to experience a lovely balanced connected state of harmony. All we have to do is listen, feel, reconnect, the simplicity of it is confounding.
What you share Chris is so profound “the simplicity is confounding”. Yes that is why we get headaches! I’m smiling and laughing to myself at the beauty and simplicity of the depth of what you share. We are a funny species, why we make something into an issue with our mental thoughts that we then turn in on ourselves to make us unwell. It doesnāt warrant even thinking about the insensibility of this. The reconnection as you say is in our bodiesā¦ no wonder our heads hurt when we try to take over and tell our bodies how it is done from our minds.
“…what I do to myself matters.” I love this simple sentence as it is so true Sandra – it matters a lot and I am appreciating this more and more and it feels so lovely to say to myself: “I matter”.
Yes how true does it feel when we say it with all that we are; and I feel like you Judith, I am appreciating this fact more and more, that I matter.
A headache, sore limbs, aching body, a knock or bump, a cut finger, twisted ankle, an illness (the list could go on and on) are all messages to the mind saying hey, remember me , I’m your body, I was there but where were you? Its so good to recognise the call to come back and realign with oneself before the call becomes a shout or ups to a scream.
I noticed that many people seem to have migraine attacks and give each other advice to relieve the symptoms. They do not want to hear it might me a sign of their body telling them to have a closer look at the way they are living. Why? Because that would mean they would have to give up a thing or two. If I keep on gently reminding them and make sure I am listening to mine consistenly you never know what might happen.
I agree Ilja as a living testimony to listening to our bodies and enjoying the responsibility that comes with that ā¦ not to mention the wellbeing that comes with doing this, people are much more open and receptive to discover there is possibly more available than just treating symptoms.
I’m visiting this blog to support me in staying with myself. It seems there is now another level disconnect going on that is triggering headaches. Much to ponder and feel what is going on … but there is an internal dialogue running recently about the to do list. This is an amazing opportunity to transfer and connect with the ‘to be space” and let go of the ‘to do list’.
Sandra, as I read your blog I realised how I also follow some of these patterns and sometimes not even give it a second thought. Such as eating breakfast standing up at the bench and sometimes taking a bite as I walk past whilst getting the children ready for school. Something for me to consider, thank you.
Wow, amazing what changes, if you simply choose differently. Beautiful how you shared, that it starts with only the little things and what a big effect this has and how a “weakness” and its effects can be the greatest marker to not fall into old behaviours.
It is truly amazing the gift that our bodies are to us when we choose to connect and listen. Thank you again Sandra for this beautiful appreciation and reminder.
Sandra – its great to hear you share how getting a headache is actually a great marker as to how you have been choosing to live.
I certainly never saw it like this in the past and was always the ‘victim’ to uncomfortable pain – without really acknowledging my role in how I had been living.
It is inspiring to read that as you have been more aware and made better choices for yourself, a long term symptom is no longer part of your life, save for a reflection from time to time. Could this be true, and complementary medicine?
Awesome Sandra – the level of care and detail you have gone to to support yourself is really inspiring!
It sure is worth listening our bodies Nicola. Our bodies deserve all the honoring we can bestow on them.
The body speaks to us. Sometimes in a softy voice. Other times out loud. The body is like the car. The moment in which you are driving it in the wrong energy, suddenly a light indicating a problem turns on. We can choose to ignore it but it is there all the time communicating with us.
Great point you make Nicola- that a symptom like headaches can be seen as the medicine if it makes you look at the choices you have made prior to getting the headaches. However, if you suppress the headache by taking painkillers you are just burying the issue, and the ill behaviour will not be made aware of.
And I agree, our bodies are definitely worth listening to!
I just heard an audio excerpt from the Esoteric Medicine series where Serge Benhayon was speaking and he said something along the lines that the illness itself was part of the medicine. I thought that was such a great point. We would normally say the headache was the illness and take drugs to get rid of it, but the headache as you have shown in this case was actually the medicine and pointing to the ill which was you not being with yourself. Our bodies are so wise and wonderful, it is worth listening to them!
It sure is worth listening our bodies Nicola. Our bodies deserve all the honoring we can bestow on them.
My headaches relate to feeling pushed for time. The moment I get anxious about getting somewhere on time or not having enough time I can feel the creep of tension in my neck and up into my head. Like you Sandra, if I just come back to be fully present and with myself when this happens I can stop a headache coming, but if I go into the push and drive, I’m gone!
Just reading your words Libby I can feel the simple appreciation of listening to the early signs and paying attention. And the honoring of not pushing through is palpable.
I have the same symptoms through anxiety and nervousness, especially getting tension in my neck and up to my head. I also find that I can stop the headache developing as soon as I come back to me and allow myself to let go of the tension.
I very rarely experience headaches but when I feel anxious especially about getting things done my digestive system soon lets me know. Our bodies are remarkable in letting us know how we have been with ourselves and when we do stop and reflect and feel what our body is saying we can prevent the headache or in my case an uncomfortable stomach. I know when there’s tension in my digestive system, my stomach feels tight and I can feel bloated; more often that not it is because I have lost myself in the pushing and driving trying to get too much done in the day.
Monica, your highlighting of “our private moments” is very true. As anything that we allow to affect us, will flow on from us to whatever we are doing and who we are doing this with. There isn’t an invisible force field stopping the movement of energy between us. In fact there is an invisible source of energy always present no matter what we do. That’s why what we do matters and which source of energy chosen matters.
For many years I was able to stave off an incoming migraine if I took note straight away, and did the honourable thing, took some aspirin and went and lay down for an hour. If I tried to push it, well that was the end and I would be out for 12 hours.
I’m just coming out of 4 days with a headache. I rarely get migraines nowadays and I know this is thanks to my choices. Reflecting on the last four days I sense that I was disconnected, going over and over an incident at work, trying to finish projects before going on leave, organising to meet friends and family… Everything was happening in my head. It was in pain and telling me to let go. So yes “what I do to myself matters” not only for me but the way it reflects on others.
It’s quite incredible how dead lines and activities get put before how we feel. Having it all happening in the head is a big pain- that’s so right Patricia.
It’s true caring for me, and that means my body,has to come first. The wonderful thing is that the more we stay with ourselves, as you say, and the more we allow ourselves to come back to feeling our selves when we go out, the greater we get to feel how lovely it is to be in our body and the more we can literally enjoy ourselves in whatever we do.
I agree Elaine ā feeling connected to my body is a very yummy thing. But I also seem to get used to not having that at times which seems crazy when I know how great it is to have that.
Ah Elaine – so lovely and an expanding truth for me š “… the greater we get to feel how lovely it is to be in our body and the more we can literally enjoy ourselves in whatever we do.” mmm, yummy – sometimes I ask myself why would I want to feel any other way?
“What I do to myself matters”. This is so true and luckily we have our in-built honesty system (our body) to remind us. Really it is only our spirit (that doesn’t care what happens to our physical body) that thinks otherwise. On paper it seems crazy to do anything that will harm ourselves. Yet often it takes being stopped by tiredness or an illness for us to realise how delicate we are. More and more I am seeing how if I am not caring for me, it affects all of my interactions and the quality I can bring to my day, work etc.
Thanks Sandra. What is the energy that makes us put ‘doing’ ahead of ourselves? It would seem more natural to sit at the table and enjoy your meal, and then move on after its completed. I know i have been caught in this before. Its when we make our life more about ‘doing’ rather than how we feel and the quality in which we are actually living. Its a world-wide plague!!
Your right there Harrison being in doing mode is a plague. I agree sitting to eat is one of the most self loving opportunities I can choose for myself…no phone, reading, hurry etc. just be with me and the actual nourishment of my body. What could be more important than that in those moments?
Oops! Thanks for the reminder You Two!
Sandra even when not in any pain your blog is a great one to read, to be reminded to be loving and tender with our bodies throughout our day.
That is such a great realisation Bernadette…why wait to have any pain etc. to remind ourselves to be tender and loving?
Yes I too have signs that my body tells me how I have been with myself. This was a great blog to reconfirm this awareness.
Monica it’s great reading these words “ā¦.fully accepting them as a giftā. My immediate response was āwhere am I not accepting all information offered to me as a giftā? Thanks so much for offering me the opportunity to go deeper and wider.
Sandra I really love what you say here: “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters” – so often we do discount ourselves, feeling we don’t matter, because we’ve not been valuing us. When we start to love ourselves, and treat ourselves with deep consideration or regard, then we realise our value, and treasure this, or at least want to look after ourselves more attentively. When there is very little valuing or self-consideration, it’s a sign of an absence of love, and in this self-compromise or dismissal is easy to do. Pain in the body alerts us of this dishonouring, and so becomes a register back towards the need for valuing/love. In this way I agree with you, pain or discomfort can be considered a blessing.
I love this line “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” This is relevant to so many things, giving attention to detail without getting caught up in being perfect or right.
So true what you offer Nicole attention to detail without perfection. The need to be perfect always caused me a very big headache!
I love how you have shared importance of responsibility through being present. This is a beautiful act of love that is foundational, for yourself and for humanity. As all that we are with ourselves, we share with the world. And this is such a testament of how our bodies are always reflecting to us, as is my experience also, the way to return to our true and naturally harmonious way. What you have presented here is a beautiful reflection of how powerful it is to listen to our bodies. Thank you Sandra.
I love your in built detection device, I have one of these too. My shoulders get tense or my digestion is not ok or I get really heavy legs.
It’s beautiful how you share that by being aware of how we are treating ourselves we can keep returning to the love that we are rather than going further out and ending up with a migraine or other ‘shout’ from the body, where coming back is a bigger deal.
It’s the subtle moments, most think are nothing to take notice of, that are the most indicators – as to where we’re at with ourselves.
Such a simple blog, Sandra, and so revealing, thank you for being so honest about your “little antics”. I know those too, and we can’t get away with anything. I love how you say “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” I love the GENTLE reminder, not the blame I can direct towards myself when I have made a mistake and neglected to listen to my body. And the pause is so important. This reminder is invaluable for everyone.
I love that too Joan. It is the way in which I now deal with situations where I realise I had been neglecting my body that makes the biggest difference in how much I enjoy my life. I am now simply able to be loving with myself (without perfection) as I understand now that being hard on myself just is not going to make it better either!
It is incredible how the body will reflect back to us how we are treating it! The key is to listen and observe, not override. The beauty of this blog is that it shows that once we have built a connection with our bodies, we are able to notice straight away when we are doing things that aren’t loving or supportive to the body, and it will be almost instantly reflected (if not soon after) in the body with some kind of symptom or reaction. Truly amazing science.
“From this place and space of awareness I can then choose my next step to support where my body is, and what will lovingly assist it to return all of me to the natural harmony I now know I am”, I love this line Sandra, our body is an amazing marker of where we are at, it is there, as a constant reminder of our moment to moment choices, and that then gives us the choice to change our behaviours, how wonderful is that!
This is a great discussion on the messages from our body to let us know how we are treating ourselves. I have always bruised very easily and tried hard to cover up the loud purple messages my body was giving me. As I get older my hands are particularly susceptible to bruising and I know it is a clear message that I have not handled myself with the care I deserve.
I love how simple you make this Sandra. I haven’t suffered from migraines myself, but absolutely relate to everything you say, it’s like the pain and injuries just came out for me, in different ways. I can only agree that living without presence and connection may seem ‘no big deal’ but in my experience it has had a very harmful effect on my health in every way.
Headaches are definitely a message from our bodies to us and i have suffered from these my whole life too. Thank you for sharing this as it makes sense and i have learnt by changing how i am living listening to my body and being more love how these have reduced to a rarity to notice and learn from also rather than being the normal way to live with them constantly and so debilitating to my health and life, it has been such a turnaround in my life to listen and really care for my body lovingly and others too as a consequence All thanks to Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
I agree triciaNicholson the turn around is huge. It’s worth every moment of choosing: “will this support my body or send me on the path of pain?”. The more loving supporting moments I choose the easier they are to choose and the simpler and clearer the whole thing becomes.
Sandra, the sensitivity you are allowing in your body is lovely as these shared realizations came from the pulsing threat of a migraine without its full blown intensity. How many messages are we being sent from our bodies that go ignored until the pain is strong or the repercussions more significant? What an honourable life to allow space to feel, understand and heed the early warning signs given by our bodies.
It would seem to make much more sense to head the smaller messages and not let the disregard accumulate into a more serious or painful manifestation.
Deanne this is a great description “the pulsing threat”. It is absolutely worth every moment it takes to develop a listening gentle heart so as to understand the messages and read the signs our bodies are giving us in every moment. And it’s never to late to start to take care.
‘The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.’ it’s amazing that even seemingly small things can have such an immediate effect on our day. Great blog Sandra
For many years I used to get occasional migraines. What I learnt in time was that if I honoured the fact of when I was getting one by immediately resting, I could stave off the worst of the effects. In time, I came to associate migraines with periods in my life when I was deeply frustrated at work, or with things in general. This year marks over 7 years since I had a migraine, and it is no coincidence that in that time I have worked hard on dealing with my need to control life, and the ensuing frustration that follows when things do not go my way. This is not to say I do not get frustrated, but no longer do I allow it to build without acknowledging what is actually going on for me.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters” So true Sandra, what we do to ourselves so so so matters. The more we can see that, the less harm we do to ourselves. And the more we bring simple steps of living in a way that we show more love and care to ourselves, the more we can see when we are doing things of harm to ourselves and choose differently.
Hi Sandra thankyou for sharing this vey simple but powerful blog .I too suffered from migraines , I am now aware that it is my choices that lead down the track of a migraine , so no longer do I suffer from them although I still have the occasional one , but now can clearly see my choices through the day that resulted in the migraine , so now I see a migraine as a marker that keeps me true to myself and the choices I make.
Hello Paul and I agree with the ‘self responsible’ approach to things like migraines. Like you say, “I too suffered from migraines , I am now aware that it is my choices that lead down the track of a migraine”. So we don’t just end up at any given point for no reason, there have been choices and what’s important, is that we have been a large part of those choices. We can be responsible for ourselves and the choices we make in every moment of every day, it’s not about being perfect but it’s about being honest. Thank you Paul.
Never in my wildest dreams in the past before Universal Medicine would I have ever considered that everything I needed was inside my body and that to access that, requires a lovely consistent chosen presence. It makes so much sense now and something that seems totally natural to know, like, of course my body is the key, it lives everything that I choose, and is the marker of all of my choices.
That is so true Julie “that every thing we need is inside our body”. I love how you share the ‘key’ – lovely, consistent, chosen presence. Thank you.
It definitely makes sense Julie to be present in our body and just listen to what it is sharing with us. Like you say it is so natural how could we not live this truth and yet that’s what we do or have done.
It’s interesting from once looking at this as a disturbance to now seeing it as a reflection and using it as an opportunity to stop and more deeply consider your needs.
So true Kristy, our bodies communicate so much to us if we are willing to stop and listen, rather than see an ache, pain or such just as an annoyance.
Great blog Sandra, your sharing is a gentle reminder for me to always listen to my body. I usually get headaches from food and I can pretty much pinpoint what food is causing them as my body is very quick with the messages that I have eaten something I shouldn’t have. So, to listen to my body and know not to make the same choices again but to be more aware and make loving choices then the headaches do not need to occur. My body gives me clear messages as to what I can and cannot eat. It is constantly adjusting and fine tuning to show me what I need to eliminate that is no longer supportive for my body.
Hello Sandra and I love what you introduce here. Anything ‘good’ or ‘bad’ that goes on with our body, relates directly to a way that we have lived prior. I have never really experienced bad migraines but people in my family have but I have experienced things go wrong when I have made a choice not do to something I have felt to do. It could be as simple as you say as eating breakfast on the run or similar. It’s great to wake up to the fact that things don’t just happen, i.e. I don’t just get a random headache. There is a part I can play that directly effects how things are for me and I can make a change at any time. Thank you Sandra.
That’s great what you share Raymond “Itās great to wake up to the fact that things donāt just happen, i.e. I donāt just get a random headache.” As I’ve been discovering it is any symptom the body offers, even feeling a bit more tired at the end of the day. They are not random symptoms that arrive with no connection to the way we actually are living. Symptoms are all a direct connection to the choices we are making.
Absolutely Raymond, me too have no experiences with headaches and migraines, but I can rely to what Sandra and you are sharing. There is definitely a big part that we play that effects how our health and life is for us. My own responsibility is my bringing part when the body cries for attention.
I had migraines every week almost in my younger years and monthly as I got older. I know now it was the pressure I put on myself and the overriding I did of my body to achieve unrealistic goals.
Now that I have learnt to listen to my body and be so much more gentle, kind and loving with myself they are very rare, just arising if I have put myself into drive or quandary again.
Yes, the body is a wonderful tale teller when we slip away from being connected and feeling what is going on within and without. Beautiful article Sandra, thank you.
I can relate on your blog just because I have occasional headaches especially when I’m starting my first day work in the week. I can feel than that I’m frustrated to get to work and in the end of the day I have headaches painful as they are. They are really a good reminder of us to show us where we are with our self.
Nayme thatās great you can feel the frustration triggers the headache. Yes they really do show us how we can step back towards prevention.
‘The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.’. You’ve expressed exactly how I feel when I have period pain and I am not being gentle with myself. Every move counts, always, but particularly when my body is at it’s most sensitive. During this time I am reminded minute by minute that even the slightest rough move or feeling of anger or frustration can exacerbate the discomfort in my body.
Our body is always trying to tell us something but the question is do we listen. Pain/discomfort etc is telling us that something is wrong. What a great marker of truth the body is.
Very true Elizabeth, when I truly listen to my body it guides me to make loving choices. Sometimes when I want to speak and I feel a rush of energy throughout my body, it can be quite intense. I used to override it and go ahead to speak and express my thoughts. But now I realized when my body feels this way it is because I was running on nervous energy to get my point across. I have now realize expression of truth comes from stillness. My body is so amazing when I stop and listen.
Sandra, I too love my āin-built detection deviceā that lets me know when I havenāt been caring for myself as well as I could. For most of my life I thought I was looking after myself well, but as my body was regularly sick or injured, I know now that I really wasnāt. Now with much greater understanding of my body, as well as every facet of my life, from the wisdom and common sense presentations of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I have been finally able to acknowledge that āwhat I do to myself mattersā – six little words, but what life changers they have been.
I agree Ingrid, they are simple yet very powerful words indeed.
Such a great way to view any form of disease -as a warning signal. It has been an amazing experience in Universal Medicine healing sessions and workshops, to rediscover my sensitivity and recognise how even little aches or pains or tensions are also signals to come back to myself and be more caring and tender, instead of allowing them to crescendo into illness or disease.
Beautiful words Simon, our body gives us many warnings, and we hear them, but do we listen? If not aches and pains coming from the body telling us that we have over gone the signs. Do we want to feel this and learn with it, or do we look for substances to dull and burry deeper with disregard? It is our choice, and the body has to put up with it.
I appreciate coming back to this blog of yours Sandra, a great reminder that my body is telling me everything I need to know about my choices. While learning to listen to these communications often I have come across a belief that I can’t understand these communications clearly or as if there is something wrong with my body because it is not communicating in a way I can understand and an expectation that the body needs to give me ‘clear messages’ before I will follow them. But what if I am the one choosing to not accept how simple and clear these messages truly are? If my body communicates the quality of my choices then what is it about my choices am I not wanting to listen to?
What you have highlighted here Leigh is great. The way we ignore the bodies messages because our minds donāt like whatās being presented. As you say the body is quite clear with itās communication, itās the head that sets up the complexity and interference. Why would we choose racy head thoughts over the simple plain evidence of what the body shows? As you propose what is behind the choice?
I feel at times there is a stubbornness to accepting that the choices that I have made and the situations I find myself and my body in were created by me and are not of a true quality I would be proud to claim or be willing to take responsibility for. Thus there is a stubborn attempt to try and hide and ignore the fact that it was a choice that I made (or many over many years). But what I am finding is that my body also can be open to feeling a level of understanding and willingness to let go of that stubbornness, once again, based on my choices.
I used to get a lot of headaches. I hardly get them at all now, but your blog explains a lot as to why they occur. “During the afternoon I could feel the headache coming through and I could also feel the cause: so simple were my āearlier little anticsā, but significant enough to place me in a momentum that had stayed with me for the day and brewed up to become the warning signal ā that I hadnāt been fully with myself”.
I had headaches and migraines from a young age just like you Sandra. I never could tolerate painkillers they made me even feel more sick. I was carrying so much frustration and resentment towards others and I was very judgmental to myself and others. Since I now make more self loving choices and live from what I know is true, the headaches and migraines are only occasional. And I see it as you say, “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters”.
Thanks Sandra, more and more I am being made to listen to what my body is telling me, for quite some time I haven’t fully listened but the more I ignore, the louder or bigger the reactions I get. I think the time has come for me to sit up, take note and fully listen.
That’s great Kevin. Like you it continues to be my time to sit up and take notice of what my body is telling me. The more I do this the easier and simpler it is to listen and the more it has to offer as well.
Itās a refreshing and awesome, to be grateful for whatever ill symptoms one body is showing us, and to stop and listen and make changes. Thank you Sandra for sharing this.
What deep revelation your blog and the comments have offered. Although I rarely get headaches or migraines it has clearly highlighted the connection between our actions and thoughts and the life we get to live into. Messages from the body are loud and clear however they present….. if we choose to tune in.
I love the responsibility you share here Sandra. We can be so quick to blame our bodies for ‘having a headache’, or blame another person or situation, in order to avoid taking responsibility for the choices WE have made that led us to the point of having a headache.
It’s so true for me too Sandra that if I don’t catch something “out of whack” in the morning I get “whacked” by the afternoon. It is so important to feel what is going on in every moment.
Libby I can relate to feeling whacked ā it doesnāt always turn into a headache, but it is the same experience of losing myself to something outside of me and then feeling a drain of my energy. The same processes as you say – it can start in the morning and then catch up in the afternoon. As you say it is so important to feel what is going on in every moment, and the perfect prevention for not arriving at the end of the day “whacked”.
Yes indeed, it is important to catch the hint from the body to understand and to learn from. I do learn a lot at the moment, being busy with work and people and challenges, but I also learn to be most important myself in it and working according my body and its signs. It speaks very loud to me lately when I am overdoing the signals, I can’t treat my body in disregard anymore, because it feels so horrible that I know straight away that I have to make a change.
Headaches are such a clear message from the body to be mindful and listen to self. I am in awe of the body and how it tells me when I am not present. For me it’s the gut where I blamed food, leaky gut and allergies, but now I am aware that I was also eating a diet of anxiety and self judgement. Thank you for the reminder to bring awareness to the seemingly small things like how you held your head or rushing food that takes us away from being present and from the natural harmony that, I too know I am.
Kathy reading your sharing I can feel the connection between everything we do that reflects back to our bodies. The state of our digestion in relation to the physical and energetic diet we feed ourselves to how we care and respond to out bodies in every moment when it is dealing with said diet. From the macro to the micro there is information for us if we can slow down enough to start to listen.
Without pain we would carry on, on our little self-destructive paths with nothing to say stop. Thank God for the stop, who knows what state we would end up in without this very necessary reminder that we are ‘off track’.
Thanks Sandra for your wise words! Our bodies really do know what is needed and it is unfortunate that we haven’t been taught this from birth. I have noticed that apart for feeling much healthier overall, there is so much more space in and around me when I stay grounded with myself and regularly check in with how I am travelling.
The body is always communicating. An amazing gift all of the time if we but want to listen
Sandra how incredible will it be when everyone has the same relationship with their body as you do ? It will radically change our feelings about illness and disease and also revolutionise the way that we live.
It will be incredible Alexis, a life without suffering from preventative health issues. How much more lovely will our daily lives be when our bodies arenāt compromised by pain but have a freedom of movement and even a deliciousness within.
The body is so honest and if we listen instead of overriding those messages its all very simple. Unfortunately we do tend to ignore messages until they get so loud we can’t! Learning to listen is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.
How many times do we over rule the ‘warning signals’ our bodies clearly give out to us – for me so many and yes I did end up with Migraines. Our “in-built detection device” is amazing if we read the label on the back it will say “Handle with care” always! Thank you Sandra for this great sharing.
I love what you have shared ā bingo! ā Handle with care ā alwaysā This is such a pearl of wisdom for every moment. Thank you Marion Hawes.
Richard your question āWhat is a hangover?ā resonated in me strongly. I could feel when I read it that the term can be applied to anything the body needs to clear that is not 100% supportive to itās true state of well-being. While the effects are much more subdued than the hangovers of the past, I can still feel the familiar feeling in my head and dryness in the mouth on waking, if Iāve eaten something possibly too sweet or rich for my system.
After all, what is a hangover if not our body saying āI donāt like alcohol and need to cleanse myself after having itā? Spot on Richard, and I agree, our bodies are very wise and send us messages all the time, which mostly we ignore , as we get so caught up in the ‘doing’ and the recognition for doing… My life completely transformed when I slowed down, and started to listen to my body through my commitment to self care and self nurture which has deepened my relationship with my body; whereas in the past I had no relationship whatsoever with my body, making it easier to abuse it with toxins and poison such as alcohol and Sugar.
It is profound how one event can lead to another.
As you have explained, when pressing the phone between your shoulder and ear in an unsupportive way, this began a momentum that distributed how you would normally operate.
Our constant awareness and the choices we make will determine how we live and present ourselves in every given moment.
Great sharing Sandra, as you demonstrate how the body so easily gives us initial warning signs indicating that something is not quite right. If we listen to these warning signs, then we have the opportunity to address and adjust something. It also shows how we are meant to live harmoniously, but when there is a ādis-easeā happening, the body responds in a way to restore the balance. Awesome article, thank you
Thank you Sandra for sharing how you use your body as a reference or guide that lets you know how you’re living and if it is supportive and loving or not. It makes me question why we are not brought up to understand and care for our bodies in this way?
Sandra, great simple post on a complicated ailment. I have suffered migraines and started to realise that it was my body’s way of bringing me back to me – as if I was to sink back into myself and consider how I had been living up to that point. Very powerful and painful.
Our bodies are a great gauge of how we have been living and how we are living. If we choose to listen to it, it gives us the opportunity to change our behaviours and to be more honouring of what we can do to support our healing process. It’s about taking responsibility for how we have been living and being willing to change those old ways that haven’t supported us in the past.
“…what I do to myself matters.” This is a powerful statement, Sandra. It certainly invokes much to ponder on. Thank you.
Sandra, I have never suffered from frequent headaches but on the occasions I have had headaches, there has always been a reason. This week I was preparing a presentation and using a spray glue without sufficient ventilation and very quickly my body responded with a headache to warn me to change how I working.
Hi Sandra- I love your revelation that our body symptoms can be “stops” for us rather that irritations that interfere with our day. I have had a head cold recently and did feel myself getting frustrated with my body for “letting me down” as I was quite busy at work! I was getting caught up in the busyness and needed to stop.We have a choice as to whether we listen to our body or not!
Itās a huge step forward when we begin to see aches, pains and discomfort as friends. This is how the body speaks to us. When we stop, listen and reflect on our day and ourselves, as you did Sandra, it is often possible to find the source of the problem. Then we can do something about it, if we choose to.
I agree Kehinde so often we see pain and illness and disease as the enemy that needs to be defeated or suppressed but what if we embraced these things as messengers telling us very important information about how we are living and what needs to change? It is a case of don’t shoot the messenger!
I really like the awareness to appreciation you bring Kehinde. We are taking a huge step forward in self-responsibility for our well-being and response to what our bodies need. Initiating prevention rather than requiring cures and solutions. This is truly an excellent step forward for All.
Great blog Sandra. I have also found that headaches appear when I haven’t been paying attention to looking after myself. When I choose unhealthy foods that are high in salt I get an instant headache or when I am dehydrated. Sugar does the same thing, I used say ‘Oh, I have a sugar headache’. Headaches are a great reminder for me too, to look at what have I chosen to lead up to how I am feeling right now. Bringing awareness by paying attention to my body and making choices that are loving and supportive more and more each day is the key to great health.
I remember the days of always having pain killers in my handbag because if I was to be around people I would generally end up with a headache. It was in dealing with how I contracted around other people that I now have much fewer headaches.
I am just having a course of antibiotics and ever since I started them I have had quite a few headaches – the bacteria dying off in my body and the supplements I am taking to deal with the antibiotics all seem to lead to me detoxing more than normal.
Surprisingly often a thing like a headache or becoming suddenly emotional with little reason can have an underlying physical cause – I find that that is worth investigating.
Yes and worth to listen to our bodies, when we do we know what we have to do next and we can trust into this amazing functioning body that knows and has it all that we need to live life just simply being ourselves.
No need for medication when we hear, accept and act on the miracle of symptoms and ” signals from our in built detection device ” which offers us the opportunity to return ( and return ) to the natural harmony we are.
Thanks Sandra, to me this is true science – open enquiry, awareness and observation. Our body can tell us so much if we stop to listen.
So true Sandra, that the signals given by our bodies are telling us something about how we have lived our lives up to the point where we have ‘the head ache’. Therefore, as you say, in a way we should be grateful for a headache because it is a clear signal for us to consider the choices we have made to come to this point and provides us with the opportunity to make different choices from there. How lovely how this is is designed, all to support us in returning to the true lovely being we innately are.
Sandra, your blog gives a clear picture of how our bodies function in and out of their natural rhythm. I am growing to appreciate more and more how my body is a marker for all my choices.
I can totally relate to this in association to some pain that I would very often get in my left hip that would radiate down to my left knee. I had this pain from a very young age maybe about eight or nine when I was playing netball and I would spend a lot of time at physiotherapist and doing stretches right through till my early 20s trying to manage this pain: it’s only recently that I realised that this pain has almost completely gone and I don’t experience it very often at all. The way I realised this was one day when I did actually feel the pain for the very first time in a long time I knew that it was because of how I was moving with myself. So now if I ever feel that pain I know that I’m being too hard or fast or disconnected in my body in the way that I move, so now I’m grateful to feel that pain as it’s a warning or a marker telling me to slow down stop and reconnect – and when I do these things the pain actually goes away – what an amazing warning system.
Its wonderful to hear that you have such a strong marker for when you feel like the energy in you has ‘shifted’ as you put it and that you can listen to what your body is telling you at that moment. I have a similar occurrence where If i start to over think or just go into my mind about things, i immediately feel that I can make a different choice and then I feel my whole body shift and the first breath that I take is different. this is when I know i have come back to my body.
Thank you Sandra, your blog reminds us how to not go into any criticism of self when an aliment presents, as itās the bodyās way of showing us that there is disharmony happening in the body, likely by the way we have been going about our day or activity. It’s an opportunity to āresetā, āreclaimā and āreturnā back to a more harmonious way of being. Such a loving approach to having aliments!
This is so important. For a long time I took it as a criticism if something went wrong, now however it is much easier to take it as a blessing. For in each moment that I feel and connect to my body and what it is showing me there is an opportunity to make another choice, one far more loving than that which I had been choosing up until that point in time.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.”- Yes this is very true. And the more intimate we get to know our bodies i.e.connect more deeply we begin to understand what is underneath the pain. What is our body trying to say to us about how we are choosing to live?
Then by making more self loving choices the pain disappears.
Having a headache is always such a great sign that something is not right. As too is getting other pain and discomfort throughout the body. These can be such great measures for us in where we might be or not be.
This is awesome. When I read about the things that set off your headache I realised that I do many of these things on a daily basis. I don’t get headaches but I do get a lot of pain in my back and shoulders… Up until now I have acknowledged this but have continued to act as though I do not matter. shovelling food in my mouth in an effort to ‘get it done’ among various other things. I love the insight that we are not ‘with us’ when we act as though we do not matter. Thank you Sandra – there is a lot for me to feel here (my shoulders feel better already and they thank you too).
Great reflections here! Thanks Leonne, I can totally rely to what you are sharing. eating on the go is a NO!
Play-fullness, fun, joy, self-honour, just a natural amazing way to live. All we need to do is accept its simplicity.
Aaahhh that’s it!
Yummy feelings are arising in of me reading and aligning to the feeling of simplicity – it seems to be my magic word, when things are complicated.
Another beautiful story highlighting the amazing wisdom of the body – we only have to choose to listen to it, and that, in my experience starts with taking time to stop and just feel my body – it always has something to reveal.
Yes I agree. Our body is like our best friend – he wants to support us best – if we just listen, we can learn to understand his signals..and change to more loving behaviors.
Sandra, your rule number 1 relating to not being with yourself has also come to me recently. Thank you for offering this practical reminder.
As someone who has suffered migraines for most of her life the mystery was really opened up for me when I saw Serge Benhayon about 5 years ago. Since then it has been continual learning and understanding of what my body is saying to me. As you refer to in your article, I have questioned recently the momentum I carry into each day, particularly if I start to see a regular pattern of headaches. Thank you Sandra.
What we do to ourselves does matter as you so clearly exposed in your blog, Sandra. It is great that we can listen to our bodies, or not, and the story is written in it so clearly. Thank you for your sharing and the gentle reminder to listen to that loving, quiet voice that tells us all.
A great reminder Sandra that in every moment we have opportunities to care for or harm our bodies.
Pushed for time when I was speaking with a friend one day I popped the phone between my ear and shoulder rather than speak up that this wasn’t the best time for me and within 24 hours ended up in hospital with transient stroke like symptoms.
Many tests and a few specialists later revealed that it was a migraine!
When I choose to be present with myself and how I’m feeling, there is space and time to be aware of exactly how supportive I’m being and no allowance for anything less.
Whilst pharmacotherapy is very useful for headaches and other ailments, understanding our own body’s messages empowers us to live in a way that honours us so that the symptoms need not be part of our everyday.
The body really does speak, if we only listen. Thank you Sandra.
Great blog Sandra. It shows so eloquently the simplicity of life that comes from the quality we choose in every moment.
Hi Sandra, I guess we all have our own ‘ in-built detection device’ if we but listen, for some it will be a physical pain and for others it might be more of a behaviour like being emotional but its there for us all. How often do we take a stop moment to feel what it might be telling us and change what we have been doing. Great blog and a reminder to listen to my body.
Perfect blog for me to read today Sandy! I tend to spiral downward when I start losing myself in what I’m doing. Just today I was challenged with being in the presence of someone quite intense. I wasn’t ready for it and was caught off guard. The experience left me feeling quite frazzled for some time which led me to making silly choices to calm me down, like reaching for very non supportive yet comforting foods…which ultimately made me feel worse. I could feel I had a choice to make…continue the self sabotage or choose to stop, re-assess, re-connect and then move forward. This time round I chose self sabotage….It’s been a few hours and I’m now choosing to re-connect in preparation for a good sleep and new day ahead. The choice can sometimes be hard when you’re used to doing it the old way.
A great blog, Sandra. Many times I have clocked something being āoffā yet chose to continue with my activities, and yes thereās always something later that would pull me back to that moment. Allowing those āstopā moments the space and time that deserve really change everything.
I really relate to how you have described what happens for you Fumiyo.
It is bizarre how we notice we are off yet continue more of the same behvaiour.
yep, indeed – this stop moments when we are aware of the wrong doings, is when the magic happens. We can align back again to what we know is true and most important – looking and caring after our body and allowing us to be the real deal.
The quality of what I do counts more than what I do ā this is something I learned from Serge Benhayon and it made me feel much more alive.
Built in detection device indeed Sandra! If we understood how amazing our bodies are at supporting us, we would consult with it before we did most things and because it is the job of the body to deepen itself in harmony, it will have the correct answer ~ every time!!
So true Bernadette: to come to understand the amazingness of our bodies and how that they are always trying to get our attention, has the potential to change our lives. And in my experience, from deepening this understanding of my body, āmy in-built detection device” is growing stronger and stronger each day and as a result its messages are so much clearer; I now know that I ignore them at my peril!
Wonderfully simple, yet so super honouring.
“The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” Such simple advice given from our most wise of teachers, our bodies. Every little thing we do is magic if we are truly nurturing ourselves first.
Sandra this is great, it is amazing the opportunities we are given to feel into how we have been living. Our bodies offer us such a great reflection, one that if we listen to we can clearly see what choices we have made, by seeing this we can then choose to make different choices that will be more supportive and loving for us. Thank you for sharing.
Wow Sandra- Loved how you said ” The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters, ….how I am in the world reflects to others”.
So poignant- when you realise it is our responsibility how we are in the world. What are we reflecting- true love and evolving another? Or, are we saying OK to staying the victim, or being in denial to what our body is telling us.?
that is amazing Sandra from going to being a victim of headaches and looking for ways to get rid of it to being an aloe to your body and respecting and honouring what it is telling you to then surrender and feel into what was the cause of it. This not only a great level of responsibility but it makes having these reminders of our body a hugely different and easier to be with experience.
It really does make it hugely different and easier to be with our bodies when we surrender and feel the responsibility. Thank you Carolien.
Yes, indeed – and we get to learn every time we catch us in the overwriting of our body with doing, that it is in our hands how we feel, and the quality of our life.
These 2 sentences you said are so simple but so powerful, I felt to share again…”The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.”
“Not to mention that how I then am in the world reflects to others ā no matter how subtle or seemingly invisible.”
An awesome blog Sandra …and a great reminder to remember to listen to our body and to be aware of how we are with ourselves everyday. It all matters and can make such a difference. The body definitely talks to us, it gives us signals through sensations pains etc… the more aware we become and listen we will know when we’re not in line, with the natural rhythm of our own body.
Sandra so lovingly expressed. Our bodies gives us little signals all the time, which allow us to feel how we have been treating or mistreating ourselves. A true miracle and blessing we all have innately built within us all.
Your blog is such a great reminder to stay tuned in to the body Sandra. Just taking a moment to feel where there is tension or pain results in a big “thank you for listening” sigh from the body.
So lovely to be reminded Sandra, ‘that what I do to myself matters.’ I still find myself becoming caught up in the ‘doingness’ of the day. I forget how to connect to myself and to be self-loving in the little details of how I move my body, distribute the weight of my body (I have an old habit of allowing my right hip to drop while I put strain on my left hip) and generally being with myself in conscious presence. When I do connect I have a beautiful day – and like you when I neglect these details I end up with a headache.
As I arrive for the retreat my body starts to ache and I have – neck tension/headaches. A couple of people where discussing that they also felt a headache and I remembered this can be the experience of a few people leading up to presentations by Serge Benhayon. Then I started to join the next dot in the chain of headaches. Are our bodyās living the truth of where we are at with the much larger picture of: – where we ‘thinkā we are and where we could truly be if we allowed it. My friend the headache is just detecting I need to keep up.
Great way to listen to yourself in that way.
Even a headache can tell you something (who would have known)
Every step we take, movement we make, they all matter. I am experiencing the same. So-called little movements unloving to me, my body can indeed build momentum, if I don’t become aware of it and stop. I know this with pressing myself, I end up rushing, feeling the hardness in my body, rushing to get my train. And guess what not only do I feel it in my body, but I start loosing my keys, forget to bring things with me. After several situations like that I am chosing to stay lovingly with me and not let pushing energy in anymore. When it does occur, just like you Sandra, I stop and make a more loving choice, it is so much more worthwhile.
Lovely Sandra what your describe in your blog is awesome. “What I do to myself matters” that is a great realization and let nobody out. So everyone is asked to take care of oneself and also take the whole responsibility for what is going on in their lives.
So true Sandra little things do matter.
That’s great Kathleen, thanks. I was just feeling that I can still get a headache that coincides with the full moon. This cycle is letting me know that I have allowed an accumulation of āover riding my body anticsā during the past few weeks. Itās the little things that build up ā not in themselves enough to quite trigger an instant headache at the time. But when they are all put together the natural rhythm of body has its release valve so āitā can be cleared out. The fabulous in built detection device of the headache is what gives me the opportunity to approach the next month is a gentler more caring way. And so the cycle continues ā every month Iām supported to feel that the little things matter.
Sandra as it happens I have a headache since yesterday but not an incapacitating one like in the past. My body is prodding me to look deep, reflect and rectify my recent choices. The best friend and teacher I can have.
This is a great reminder that our responsibility to being fully ourselves at all times means exactly that – all of the time.
So true Lee and Sandra, it is an ongoing development to be with myself all of the time and my body lets me know when I have checked out from it.
Great reminder Lee – all of the time, not just a bit here and there or when it is convenient. All of the time is where it’s at, getting better at it and room for more? Of course!
I can so relate Sandra, I too suffered headaches that intensified as I hit menopause. I had already given up alcohol thinking that was the cause but in fact I came to realise after attending a course ā ‘Embracing Menopause’ recently held by the College of Universal Medicine āthat the headaches were a release of the accumulation of frustration from a life lived compromising myself up until that time. So my body was telling me that this change in life better count; Now over 10 years later in post menopause if I even think of thinking a frustrating thought I feel a headache coming on!
The amazingness of our body warning us that we are off track for a moment, and give us the possibility to return. So lovely to read this blog and feel how if we overwrite our true feelings our bodies will let us know.
Thank you Sandra I enjoyed reading your blog, especially the line –
“From this place and space of awareness I can then choose my next step to support where my body is, and what will lovingly assist it to return all of me to the natural harmony I now know I am.” – beautifully said!
Sandra, your words ‘The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.’ have really made me stop and consider how I usually build the momentum that sets up my day. It never ceases to amaze me how my body looses its rhythm when I overlook even the smallest detail. Thank you.
Helen I love the fact that you highlight āthe smallest detailā. They matter just as much as the more obvious ones.
Yes so agree, it is so important to notice everything and not brush some ‘minor’ thing off as nothing, especially knowing now that nothing isn’t really nothing but truly something.
“What I do to myself matters”… Sandra, I love the simplicity of they way you have listened to your body, your ‘inbuilt detection device’. It’s been perfectly timed to read your blog today, as I can also feel the call ā from signals my own body is giving me ā to look after myself more deeply.
The signals are there for us to pay attention, if we are willing to listen. Crazy, isn’t it, how sometimes we need a bit of a proverbial ‘thump on the head’ to ‘get it’, yet the amazingness of the body, is that it keeps broadcasting its messages, regardless. What a miraculous process, and true gift, if, as has been stated, we are willing to listen, and make what we do to ourselves, the whole way WE ARE with ourselves matters, as you’ve so eloquently shared. Thank-you.
I agree Sandra how strongly the body can speak to us if we are prepared to listen , the maker of all truth – our bodies.
If the masses of population could learn similar skills in self care ,”Big Pharma ” companies would be showing dropping profits for heads ache and pain killer drugs, instead there usage and profits growing.
Gosh a great reminder Sandra, thank you, of how the little acts or things we do, add up to take us away form our connection to ourselves.
I particularly could relate to the walking past your breakfast and taking spoonfulās (rather than sitting down and eating).
Yes me too, and even standing in front the open fridge and eating out of the cold bowl, so unloving and not really nurturing. I rather take my time to sit at the dinner table with a candle on and with a delicious meal that I have cooked for myself. This can nourish the body on many levels and it feeds me back.
Yes I do the same too, and it feels so lovely to give myself this attention too and the food tastes so much better and the body feels so much more nourished as well.
Sometimes I still go into reaction when my body talks to me with symptoms…but, more and more I am remembering that these symptoms are indeed a blessing. We do have a choice to listen or not, but our bodies keep talking to us anyway.
When one has developed an awareness to be in tune with oneās body, one knows when one is not, and one can be brought back to be in tune with the body. This is very simple yet very profound. Thank you Sandra for reminding us all to be in tune with our bodies.
I am going to take this blog to my day Sandra, a beautiful reminder for me of the power of honouring our bodies. Thank you
I can relate to this as there are some days where I can feel like I wake up and I am chasing myself and I have realised that the choice I have made the day before can mean I start off in catch up mode. There is always the choice to pause for a minute and make a choice to stop the crazy rhythm or go with the chaos and then I watch it get bigger and bigger.
I am experiencing more and more just how much the body speaks to me, loud and clear, when I am willing to listen to it.
As you say, “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.”
Thank you of your blog Sandra.
Beautiful sharing Sandra – I do so agree that whilst we may not enjoy illness or dis-ease when it happens, it is really just our body saying to us that we can take more care of ourselves and handle things differently – with greater awareness and greater tenderness for ourselves. I love how you gave the examples of wanting to eat on the run or to listen to the phone in such an uncomfortable position – it is indeed in the ‘small’ details of how we go about things that the big picture can be seen! Very inspiring!
Thank you for the simplicity that you present here in your writing Sandra. Listen to our body, as it show us what type of relationship we are having with ourselves. We always have the choice to listen to the signals that it gives us which sometimes are subtle and other times very loud and clear.
I remember as a kid being offered a pill by my mum whenever there was a headache or pain of any description. I never wanted a pill, but could never articulate why, when my brothers didn’t have a problem with taking the tablet at all. I always felt that if I had a headache or whatever, that it was there for a reason. I can now see that I knew inside that my headache was the result of my actions/behaviour and that I had something to learn from the pain. Thank you Sandra for expressing so clearly your learning process in relation to the headache.
The offer of a pill is so common Paula. Just a couple of days ago when my neck was stiff and I was being gentle with myself at work, someone asked if I had a painkiller to take.
I’m smiling as I gently respond with ‘no thanks it’s good to listen to my body, then I won’t over do it and make things worse’.
There is a danger of cutting off the healing process when, even if we do start to listen to what our bodies are telling us, we can so easily start to try and fix the problem by working it out and finding a solution or cure, whereas doing nothing and continuing to feel the symptom, more will be revealed, a deeper truth about the root cause of an energy block that we have created in order to protect ourselves from feeling what is really going on.
This is well put Joan, working on a problem is creating a new problem this exposes the need for doing!
Love it Sandra, our body truly is the barometer of truth – let off warning signals if we choose to stop, listen and feel.
Thanks Sandra for such a loving reminder to listen to our bodies, it is so easy to override it, not listen to it. Then berate yourself when you have chosen less loving actions. I too am learning each day to listen more and act on what my body shares with me. Not always getting it right, but being loving with myself in the process.
That is the key isn’t it Raegen – to be loving ourselves in the process, even if we at times may choose to not listen at first …
This morning I have a reminder to listen to my body; itās a fairly reasonable size neck ache that wants to be a headache. Yesterday I did some fairly normal activities but could feel a twinge of tension in my neck. The thing was I didnāt ignore it totally but chose not to stop and attend to what was going on.
So here I am pondering my actions yesterday and staying with myself to the very best of my ability to not be even the tiniest bit harsh on myself. Itās the tender, gentle loving path thatās going to bring me back to me so I can support my body to clear what needs to be cleared. Itās this tender loving support that will also support me more deeply to stop a little earlier if there is a next time and even potentially I won’t ever choose to over-ride my body again. That is an awesome revelation.
So simple Sandra. I too have found how even what I think are the subtlest of choices affect my whole body – and it lets me know. I too am grateful to Serge Benhayon for the Gentle Breath Meditation that has been key in me developing a reconnection and awareness back to myself.
Thank you Sandra for your blog. Isn’t it so simple to listen to our bodies? It is so easy to not listen to our bodies. But it isn’t easy! The mental struggle that goes on when we make things complicated – to not listen to our bodies – takes so much effort. Our bodies register it all and attempt(!) to tell us what we are doing and what we have done. We don’t listen until it is too late: hence the pain and the suffering.
Thank you Sandra, we have indeed become masters of ignoring the obvious when it comes to listening to our bodies. I had a similar headache onceā¦ it was quite intense and lasted for around 15 years. It was grindingly painful and I tried every treatment both allopathic and alternative I could find to shift it including neurosurgery but nothing worked. I was even put on a TPI (totally and permanently incapacitated) pension and told that I would never work. I was so out of touch with myself that I had no idea of how to listen to my body even though the messages it was sending were in retrospect blindingly obvious.
One of the most fundamental awarenessās that Universal Medicine practitioners and presentations have enlightened me with is precisely that, how to simply listen to myself and my body, and in this I would definitely have to say that I am a forever student, still learning to listen.
Absolutely perfect timing for me to re read this again, “so simple were my āearlier little anticsā, but significant enough to place me in a momentum that had stayed with me for the day and brewed up to become the warning signal ā that I hadnāt been fully with myself.” I love what you say here Sandra, it can be the smallest things we do that are not honouring, that then builds up to something more sinister- great reminder thank you
Sandra, I find it so interesting how you describe when you are not with yourself , how this is playing out in eating in a rush and later on eventually in a headache. I know how the energy can accumulate in the head when I am too much in my head instead of feeling my body. So it is a crucial law to stay in my body in order to be able to listen to the signals of the body and making choices from this place. This supports me in being more in harmony with my body.
Listening to our body is the best medicine we could take. Although I am not against painkillers at all, when you check into your body, you know immediately what is actually going on. It might not disappear as fast as relieving the pain with pills, but it changes the pain from the roots and you become your body’s best friend.
Thatās spot on Steffi ā it does change the pain from its roots. Which I have discovered gives the opportunity for new foundations to be laid.
So simple, yet not so easy to do. For me, I am only just allowing myself to truly feel what my body is offering me. I have come to realise I often don’t want to feel my body as I have a loaded expectation that I will feel calmness or stillness and that if I don’t I should be able to achieve this. I don’t simply allow myself to observe and feel. If I observe I want to fix. It is healing in itself to just feel and allow what my body is showing me.
Reading your blog today was so helpful Sandra. Sometimes instead of being still and listening to what my body is trying to communicate I treat it like an enemy, and then I become more frustrated! As I read your words and all the comments I allowed myself to slow down the pace, and this minor adjustment was quite awesome! Thank you.
Great blog Sandra, on a subject that everyone can relate to, especially in a world that is so fast paced and full of box ticking and doing doing doing. We drive the very thing that is to do all of those things never once considering it and even getting frustrated with it when it does break down in some way, as this hindrance stops us from getting those things done. Even as I write that, I feel how awful that feels as I too was in that boat. Now I am enjoying more and more being with my body and feeling how I move and do things, itās still a work in progress and there are times I need to be more tender, but I am feeling more and more, how much I miss myself when what I am doing becomes more important than feeling me and my loveliness. Now my own tender quality confirms me and feeds me back.
A beautiful reminder Sandra that our presence and connection to our body, is a wonderful gift to ourselves and everyone else.
Thank you Joseph for the reminder that our conscious presence is a wonderful GIFTā a very precious gift to be shared and not dismissed and overridden.
I love the simplicity of this blog Sandra. I too used to have migraines a lot, there just needed to be something stressful and I would have pain in my head and sometimes even a migraine. Since starting to listen to my body more and caring for myself as in giving myself moments of rest, headaches are now rare. I also can see when I have one what caused it just like you described, and sometimes it just fades away after I have felt what caused it, which I could have never imagined before!
Is great you have acknowledged that when a headache does start to come in, that simply by feeling the pain and checking in with what Iām doing, or not doing (ie breathing gently) the headache can pass as instantly is it arose. This is a miracle from my past experiences. Thank you Lieke for reminding me how far Iāve come.
Beautiful Lieke and well put Sandra. There is a lot of power in honouring our bodies by listening to its messages. So simple!
It was so confirming to read your blog again Sandra. Now that I am more willing to understand the aches and pains in my body and that they are there as a support and not a hindrance, the pain is beginning to lessen and change or sometimes move elsewhere. All I need to do is to connect within and then I will know that my body is leading me along a path that will eventually lead me back to my heart and a deeper connection to God.
Sandra, I love the simple way in which you have described how loud and clear our bodies are talking, but only if we care to stop and listen.
If I was with another person and he or she asked if we could stop for a minute, I would, of course, listen and stop.
It makes no sense not to listen to my constant travelling companion, me.
Hi Sandra, I like the simplicity of your blog. It reinforced the importance of always being aware of what’s happening with your body
Your blog Sandy has reminded me of my childhood, with my mum taking me to countless practitioners including nutritionists and kinesiologistās trying to help me and my aching head over the years. No amount of bad tasting pills stuffed into bananas or strange clicking helped me and my sore head.
In the past there was always a focus on fixing me rather than understanding me and why I might be experiencing pain and outbursts of bad behaviour and frustration. Not until more recent years when I encountered the loving support of the Universal Medicine practitioners was I asked what was going on for me and how was I feeling? From here I developed understanding and self- awareness as to why I was getting headaches. Who would have thought? Our choices and adopted emotional state contribute to how we feel. I now know we can take pain killers and bad tasting pills yet it pays to consider why.
Thanks Sandy for the reminder of how amazing our bodies are when we take a moment to read the signs and truly listen to what it is communicating. We certainly can heal ourselves through understanding this simple truth.
Sandra, thank you for your blog; it is such a powerful yet gentle reminder to constantly and in every moment listen to our bodies “talking”
What we do to ourselves certainly matters, matters to us, matters to those around us and matters to humanity.
Your expression has inspired me to be less in motion and more in the stillness required to listen to my body.
So for me Shirl, this blog of Sandra makes an inner space where I can allow a deeper understanding for issues and pains.
I loved returning to this blog as it is a great example that our bodies are not the enemy or to blame for how it feels. At the same time feeling our pains and then bashing ourselves for feeling such only creates more bad feelings due to said bashing! Our bodies are amazing and the more I am re-learning to feel all that it has to say (Which it constantly will do!) the more I appreciate that not only is it our marker of bad choices but beneath those aches and pains is a warmth from within that is worth feeling and not making bad choices that cover up said warmth. The aches are just the bodies way of saying āyou are more and you deserve to feel that grandness and warmth within. You are worth your ability to make choices to feel how amazing you are. Donāt settle for the momentary relief, it doesnāt make the pain go away.ā ā this is something I am building at the moment and to have those such as Serge Benhayon and others within Universal Medicine showing me and us all that that inner warmth is worth more than any outside temptation is inspiring.
“So I am grateful for my in-built detection device”……I am too…I ignored it for so long (still do some days) and now I tune in much more and try and listen to what it is trying to tell me. It’s pretty wise!
Everything matters! How we treat ourselves and how well we listen to all those little early warning signs all adds up.
How beautiful we have an early warning system, so we can keep learning what is right for our body and wellbeing.
Love it how you so simply describe that our body is not our enemy, but our best friend we should always, but always listen too and never ignore!
It is great to see so many blogs being written that all have the same underlying message; that if we choose to listen to the messages our body is communicating to us, we can begin to heal our deep patterns and truly address what is going on. I was once told, “pain is good”. As a person who has lived with back pain for more than a decade I pondered on how an intelligent person could say such a comment. Now I fully understand what this person was saying. Without the pain being felt in my body, I would I not have broken the patterns that were unloving and to feel what these choices were doing to my body. Now I’m grateful for the pain I feel as it makes me aware of my choices and what I need to work on and look at.
Ah Sandra, those little antics we get up to!
The cradled phone, the eating too quickly… and here is a good one, not speaking up when something needs to be said. There are a host of little ways that we do not fully take care of ourselves.
A good one for me is twisting my body all out of shape to just do this very awkward task at work..it won’t take long….And then the backache starts.
Yes, this beautiful body speaks to me all the time and I am learning to listen to its messages with respect and appreciation.
Yes Rachel your spot on with the back twisting to do awkward tasks – (for me itās on clients). This needs absolute attention at the moment, thanks for shining a light on it. Itās one of those ātrickyā things, except the body is speaking so loud and clear. I say tricky because I havenāt been honest enough with it yet! (I’m the tricky bit!)
Haha, I can add: yes I will take a rest soon, just another thing to finish and then I will take care of myself, and then the nervous raciness is getting louder, wants to drive 100 miles, no time for a stop – have to finish this, and that…
Just all illusion and self created obstacles.
One of the biggest healings, that I experienced with Universal Medicine, is, that I have a different view on symptoms, illness and disease. It’s not something I have to fight against or I have to avoid. As you say, Sandra, I can embrace them as welcomed signs to remind me that I have lost myself. And then get all the support from loving people in western medicine as well as complementary medicine to connect to myself again.
Beautiful said Felix, with much love in it! An illness or disease is there not to fight against or to avoid, but to embrace and welcome the signs. It is such a great learning from there, once we have embodied our true way with it, it is getting simpler dealing and being with the disease and putting up our level for our responsibility.
I am so pleased to have found your article this morning as I experienced a headache last night. You remind me to gently listen to the messages my body is conveying and to review when I may not have been with myself during the day. Thank you Sandra.
Yes, I agree: ‘what I do to myself matters.
Not to mention that how I then am in the world reflects to others ā no matter how subtle or seemingly invisible.’
And it sticks out like a sour thump if you normally take care of yourself and do that less instead of deepening it. It is the foundation for our relationship with ourself and from there with others. People (family, friends and colleagues) feel so much and my experience is they are ‘disappointed’ if I don’t support me completely.
This is very true Sandra our bodies are the messengers of all, especially if we choose to listen.
Thank you for your loving reminder.
I understand what you mean about being grateful for a headache, you could almost say that you’re lucky to have an inbuilt meter in your body which lets you know when you are not honouring yourself. Our body’s are helping us to come back to truth through its variety of signals, and the love and beauty that is there is amazing.
So thank you body for helping me come back to me. :))
This is great – I will take this with me: Thank you body for helping me come back to me. :))
A very simple and clear message in your blog Sandra… how listening to our bodies symptoms we can learn so much of how we have been living and how our bodies react to being treated in loving or unloving ways. I know as soon as my shoulders start hurting because they are so hard and tight, that I have been tensing my body when I’m doing certain activities. I appreciate these gentle reminders from my body, and find it interesting when I then focus on when my shoulders start tensing and look at why.
Just this week my body has been loud and clear about the disharmony I was running my body in, it is pretty amazing – go into drive and I will have to let that out of you – I won’t go into details but it’s not pleasant.
Indeed it is not pleasant to feel our own created crab.
Great to re-visit your blog Sandra. To be reminded that everything matters and the knock on affect of one choice to the next until our body gives us a loving nudge to say ‘ stop, what about me?’
The knock-on affect as you point out is very real Anne-Marie.
I can also feel the very real request from the body in its call out āwhat about me?ā Our bodies will twitch, wiggle, whisper, speak-up, call out and eventually scream to attract our attention. And we think weāre the smart ones ignoring and numbing to make it all go away.
I so loved your article Sandra. I now know from my own experiences that I too have an inbuilt detection device that also lets me know loud and clear when I am not with myself. Another thing that I am just beginning to explore is that my depth of connection to myself is changing offering much for me to consider in the coming weeks.
I found it amazing how the body gives us signs that we are disregarding it, or that we have gone out of ourselves and need to come back. The body tells us everything, for example it tells us what food works and what doesn’t, what time to go to bed so we can truly rest, how to dress our self’s so that we can emanate all of our beauty, or how to drive lovingly and not in a rush. The body is extraordinary!
Super clear and simple to read. I have never suffered from migraines, but I had a wow moment when i read: ‘ I havenāt had a migraine since I chose not to drink alcohol’. I realise that this is in combination with your self care and self honoring, but to realise how simple the solution can be to stop migraines, is a super support for people who do suffer from them, knowing that each one of us has the power to heal ourselves and the positive impact this has when making different life style choices.
Thank you Sandra, this is yet another testament to how sensitive our bodies really are when we dishonour them. And it reminds me of how much hardness and protection we build up to not even feel this dishonouring. Your sharing is a great reminder as this moment I am aware of my posture as I type here at the computer.
It is truly beautiful the way our body works with us to let us know when we are out of balance or harmony, your article is a wonderful reminder of this, thank you Sandra.
What a lovely reminder Sandra for us to be present with ourselves in all that we encounter in daily life, so simple and yet how our choices can affect our body and wellness so deeply–and instantly.
Thank you for sharing your experience of headaches/migraines. I used to get splitting headaches a lot and reading your account shows me how different it would have all been had I known about the teachings of Universal Medicine then and the fact that my body was trying to tell me something. And of course, today I don’t get headaches anymore because there is no reason in my life and in my body for them to be there.
What a beautiful refection you offer us Sandra through your story. A wonderful reminder of how every choice we make, builds a momentum. Thank you.
I take that with me – Every choice we make, builds a momentum!
So true Sandra I am learning that I simply can no longer ignore the little things, that for so long I had told myself didn’t matter. A negative momentum can build so quickly but thankfully my body is always there to stop me going too far and its messages are becoming louder and clearer, or perhaps I am just listening more closely.
Our body really is quite loud in telling us if we are not treating it in a way that is loving. I too am listening to my body more and enjoy having this constant conversation. Sometimes it can be painful but I truly appreciate what my body is saying!
What struck me when I first read your article is how often we blame someone else for what is going wrong in our bodies, often God, I don’t know how many times I have heard “what have I done to deserve this” or “why does God hate me”, thank you Sandra for so simply and easily sharing with us how loving our bodies are. Constantly sending us signals to let us know we are not treating ourselves well. Similar to a car warning systems, letting us know we are running out of oil, water or petrol. These things are simple enough to correct, once we get that warning light, but if we ignore, which has been known to happen, the consequences are much more severe. Thank you Sandra again for a great read and reminding us to catch the warning signs quicker.
It is amazing how our bodies speak to us in an instance when we do not honour ourselves.
As you say Sandhya, it does come in an instant. I can feel this is a miracle in the way of great intelligence for us if it can be understood for what it is and not just how to get rid of it. Be it pain, ill health what ever.
The headaches are the worst! I’ve only ever had one migraine in my life it was so horrible I remember it clearly. What I have been coming to realise is the reason behind why I get headaches. What I have noticed just recently – if I have had an argument with someone and choose to not fully express all that I needed to – instant headache…and is usually the reason why I stop with the argument and start being civil again.. It’s a great reminder to come back to me. Although i don’t like the discomfort, it’s good because it reminds me that I just need to make a differnt choice..
Sandra your āin-built detection deviceā is what I call my āsmoke detectorā ā something you definitely want to listen to instead of just turning off by whatever means! I suffered terribly from migraines for many years and did every treatment and preventive I could discover, but still had problems with them. However they were indeed a blessing: I stopped exposing myself to smoky parties, stopped red wine, chocolate, and a host of other processed foods that were triggers, moderated my exercise, attended to proper posture, went to bed earlier, drank more water, treated myself especially tenderly during my periods, checked in before running with emotionsā¦. All changes that might not have happened were it not for the insistent messages of those migraines!
When reading your experience Diane I am reading the exact parallel to my own path, back to re-connecting with a much more supportive way of living. The question that popped in is the extent this goes on for all humanity. And still endless promotions and even support are reported to state that some of the items youāve mentioned are beneficial, i.e. chocolate and red wine have health benefits.
It used to be said smoking was good for youā¦until it was so so evident that it isnāt.
Letās head toward the point when it is truly recognised that none of these substances are beneficial and in truth are harming to the well-being of us all and our bodies.
What a beautiful blog you have written. I can relate to those mornings where indeed nothing is ‘wrong’, but I find myself eating something before I have taken a seat or where I hold my cup of tea very tight. It just shows me to sit down, breath in and out very gently and put my cup of tea down. And then picking it up again, while being with myself and in a gentle way.
We send our children to school to be ‘educated’. Does anyone teach them that the best and first lesson to learn is to listen to our own body? Our body is always on our side and supporting us to let us know when we are being greedy, indulgent or not caring for ourselves. Learning to live in true honour of ourselves and our body is the most important lesson for us all to learn.
Great teaching you give us with you blog Sandra: āwhat I do to myself mattersā this is so much neglected or not given te attention and appreciation that it deserves in our societies. This attitude is shown all around us, so living in this neglecting state is easily done and it is supposed to be the normal way to live. But this is not true. The truth is that that what we do to ourselves matters, since our body is the only marker of our truth. It is our beacon to a true way of living.
Our body our detector for truth – if doctors would tread illness with giving back the responsibility to the client – still with support and medication, but really, wouldn’t this be a total different world.
Headaches and other messages of dis-ease from the body are there to help us feel, as you said that “I hadn’t been fully with myself”. What you wrote helped me to feel how there is always refining I can attend to around this in my own life – which is awesome to daily commit to – and I so agree with you, Sandra, that with this understanding we can be grateful for headaches or any other uncomfortable symptoms in our body.
I love this sentence…”The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters”. It’s a gentle reminder that says I matter… and in fact we all matter. Thank you Sandra.
I never stop being amazed by our bodies and that amazement keeps deepening. Initially my amazement was because of how it functions and its intricacies, now it is for the incredible guide it can be to live in harmony if one listens to it.
Yes the unwelcome messenger in our head – the headache. For me they were particularly inclined to offend on a Monday evening driving home from work, which I always thought was odd considering I’d had a weekend of ‘unwinding’ from the stresses of a work week.
I later understood that it was the excessive exercise, partying, lack of adequate water and food over the weekends that, in fact, compounded the stress levels in my body.
Like you, I now rarely require the messenger to bring me back in line, having been shown by Universal Medicine that there is another way to live, with responsibility and care for me that my stress levels generally remain in the ‘green’.
My body is so loud and clear about what i can and can’t do, and same as what you experience, if i don’t listen and override it i feel sick by the end of the day, usually with a massive headache. I used to get headaches almost everyday, now, quite similar to you, very few and far between. I learned with Universal Medicine to just be honest about how things feel in my body and make my choices from there.
Reading your reply Kate jogged a memory of the extent of the frequency. At one stage I was prescribed tablets to prevent migraines. I have such deep appreciation of what is shared in the way of self care and self-responsibility presented by Serge Benhayon. We can choose caring preventative medicine, rather than damage control after the fact.
Very cool Sandra, I like how you observed those little things that could be the cause instead of thinking a headache comes from out of no where.
It really is amazing what my body has been telling me all along, I just had to stop, listen and trust – it’s been a revelation – thank you Sandra for sharing your experience – it confirms my experience.
Have to love those built in warning devices oh my gosh they can be deafening
They sure can Jamie, you opened up a reflection on the times I’d choose āmetaphoricā ear plugs to dim the noise.
They can certainly give you a big wake up call.
Thank you for writing this blog Sandra. I used to feel that i’d been bad somehow if something went wrong with my body, thank goodness that with the help of Universal Medicine I now view it as the absolute treasure of a teacher that it is.
Thank you Sandra for so simply reveling why a head -aches. I have always felt that everything comes with blessings and now I see the gift of the head-aching.
Reading your comment Andrew I can also feel the blessing that comes with choosing not to let myself get as far as the head-ache, thank you.
Hear hear Andrew, I like this- that everything is actually a blessing – even hurts and pains, if we take responsibility and the opportunity to heal.
It is often easier to blame the outside, ( the weather for example ) instead of really listening to why does my body react like this. Could it be a way of not looking at it, is the possibility to numb ourselves with painkillers, instead of checking in and feeling what’s going on after the pill. Being a victim of our body’s reaction won’ t help us to grow and understand ourselves.
This article made me think about pain relief advertisements and the messages we are fed from the marketing teams of Pain medication companies. The images we get are of people just ‘getting on with it’, popping a pill and soldiering on. It is no wonder that we as a society have learnt to ignore and numb our pain until one day our very own body brings us to a complete stop.
Yes, that’s true Vicky. From these adverts we are shown to take pain relief and just get on with it. I also am reminded of the phrase, “when you fall off a horse just get back in the saddle again.”… There is no stop, or consideration for checking for bruises, nocks or bumps. Just an encouragement to ignore the hurts. Its no wonder then we will only listen when a bigger calamity befalls us and the choice to stop is no longer a choice but a “given”.
The pill popping at a very early age was how I started out in life.
It is so so easy to go to the quick fix and get on with it – as you say Vicki.
Especially if this is all that is presented as the way.
However we can and some do live another way.
Just slow it all down a little and breathe gently along the way.
How simple is that? Live this practical way in front of everyone so they can see that it works.
Well said Vicky, bringing the greater responsibility to life and every little situation. Numbing doesn’t really help the main issue, it just helps to make a delay and creating a bigger louder issue next time for another round, until we have got it and taking responsibility.
Thank you Sandra. I suffered with migraines for days for many years. The very rare glass of wine may have been a cause but I believe it was more my lack of self-respect. I still get mild headaches but nothing like in the past. So next time the symptoms start to appear I will pause and reflect and indeed thank the headache for the lesson it teaches me.
“I will pause and reflect and indeed thank the headache for the lesson it teaches me’. Awesome Patricia, and certainly turns things upside down in that the usual pattern when we have some sort of ailment is to take a pill and get rid of whatever is causing the pain, which is fine, but your approach is to Uncover the ‘root cause’, by having a willingness to look deeper which supports the healing of all our woes and ailments.
Cool that you have found the link between how you are with yourself and then the headaches. So you can actually trace the cause of the headaches back to the way you are living before they come on – and then taking responsibility for that, fully embracing yourself/how you are with yourself as the ultimate cause.
“what I do to myself matters”. A lovely claiming of the fact that absolutely every choice we make has en effect in some way, and that we are worth taking the time to know that this matters and that we matter. Very beautiful and very inspiring.
Only because of the teachings of Universal Medicine I know to take notice of every little ache or pain I get, as they all mean something. I can’t get away with anything these days without my body letting me know. In the past I would have put it down to bad luck or an accident but now I know whats really going on.
Thank you for sharing your experience with headaches and migraines – I found it so empowering once I realised that there was something I could do to support myself in the way I lived life. Like you I began to look at what was causing the headaches and over the years they occurred less frequently as further parts of the puzzle fell into place. However, it was not until I began to have sessions with an Esoteric Practitioner that there was a major shift. Eventually I changed my diet and the pattern of the way I lived life. I now realise that having a headache is an option – if I choose to live life lovingly I do not have headaches.
This beautiful,simple article gently reminds me that our bodies are quite naturally always in communication with us. Sandra your lived experience shared here shows, in choosing to listen we can in turn naturally respond….gorgeous
This is true connection to your body Sandra – it is telling you when you are acting in a way that is not loving – by the simple acts of rushing or not speaking on the phone in the right way. How amazing.
Some people can go through their whole lives harming themselves and numb their bodies from trying to tell them it isn’t supportive. They get away with it – or so they think.
To actually live in a way where we are so sensitive to what is not loving – is amazing in itself – and so lovely to read! Bring on the sensitivity I say!
Hi Sandra, it was great reading your blog and explained a lot around migraines. It was interesting for me to read that as soon as you began to deeply nurture and care for yourself, your headaches reduced significantly, along with cutting out alcohol. While I have never suffered from migraines, I know several people who do, and can send this blog to them which I feel will be helpful and very supportive.
I very rarely get headaches but when I have done I have started to see it as a clear sign that I need to slow everything down and take a lot more care of myself. Within the headache there is a tremendous opportunity to be more tender and gentle with myself, and that this is for all the time, not just when I have a sore head.
Yes Stepfen, and this can be used for every sort of pain and issue. Taking this opportunity to stop and to take more care this way. The body is an amazing thing, that knows what it needs to be in divine designed service, once we listen and live according to the signs.
It is truly incredible how once I have taken similar steps as yourself Sandra in taking care and supporting myself, when I take even the smallest sidestep from a normal routine of mine, there is a reminder there waiting for me. This actually just occurred the other night when I over-rode a feeling to just go to bed, and instead had something to eat. When I attempted to put the spoon away I knocked the whole jar into the sink and it went everywhere! This really showed me how I needed to listen to what my body initially urged me to do (prepare for bed) and was not with myself when I knocked over the jar. Such a simple thing, as you mentioned Sandra; but itās in these little things that there can be big messages for us when we are listening and have committed more deeply to caring for ourselves. To me, this feels like Godās way of speaking to us and keeping us on the right track towards more self-love.
Thank you Sandra, yesterday I was getting frustrated with my computer not working how I thought it should work, and started to get a headache. I was able to make this connection as a result of reading your blog, and brought a new light to the situation as I focussed more on being less frustrated/the reason why I was frustrated, instead of adding more frustration at the fact I had now got a headache!
Jessica I love what you are describing – the ‘compounding frustration ‘ . Situations can easily magnify if a moment isn’t taken to stop, ask and feel what is going on in the first place.
For me, its not migraines.. but depending on the way I work during the day the pressure can build up in my head so I end up feeling foggy, and my head starts to pound. As it builds up through the day it is usually my family that get the worst of it towards the end of the day.
Yet there are plenty of other days where I can feel as clear as a bell.
Ultimately its all about how I work and am with myself through the day, and my body is a very sensitive barometer that warns me when I am going about it in the wrong way.
Our “in-built detection device” is such a powerful and clear communicator if we only listen to it. Thank you for sharing Sandra.
Great sharing. I have really started to notice that if I get a headache coming on or an eye strain, that is my big warning that I am out, I have gone out of my rhythm and gone into my head. Too much going on in my head, gone into a doing or a controlling pattern. It’s great that I am able to recognise this now more easily and so I can quickly make a different choice to reconnect back to my rhythm. I love how my body talks to me.
Thank you Sandra for such a simple sharing of how our bodies speak to us and how if we listen things can change.Beautiful
Thank you for a lovely blog. I used to have bruised thighs quite often because I used to bump into things so much, amongst others things like cutting my hands when chopping vegies and burning my hand on the iron. These small but painful incidents were regular occurrences in my day. I now recognise them as a clear sign that I am not taking care of myself, that I am not present and probably busy in my head. I am aware of this now which has meant I pick this up early and so injuries rarely occur now. This is symbolic of how I care for myself generally.
This is great – and the world must hear this from all of us! There is a way out of suffering and illness. We all have this amazing experiences and can share them with everyone.
“Clearly I was not with myself ā this is rule no.1 for what not to do for potential headaches” how you wrote this made me laugh but is awesome awareness to have, that any sign of something not right like a headache is potentially a sign that we have not been with ourselves or are not with ourselves. To have this sign means we then have the opportunity to look at how up to that point we have been living and change it. Medicine at its simplest.
Thank you Sandra for such a simple and direct sharing of how our bodies speak so loud and clearly what is beneficial and loving for us if we listen to its communications.
Thanks Sandra, I used to suffer a lot from headaches and medicate to get rid of them. Now it is very rare I get them and as you say, it is when I am in a momentum that is not my rhythm they creep in. As soon as I recognise this and make a change they just start to fade away. With support from Universal Medicine, I am able to have a greater understanding of detecting signs in the body.
I love it, paying attention to your own “in built detection service”. A very reliable service it would seem as you already knew when you were not paying attention to your wellbeing and were able to trace your headache back to its source. Being able to do this is such a powerful support in keeping us well and stopping making the choices that cause dis-ease in the body.
“what I do to myself matters.” This is a powerful sentence Sandra. Yes it does matter. Our bodies clearly tell us this. It is up to us to care enough to listen. Thank you for your beautiful reminder.
The words in your last paragraphs touched my heart Sandra :
” discerning when I am starting to go off !”, then choosing what will ” lovingly assist it to return all of you to the natural harmony you know you are ”
Yes, I agree, what we do to ourselves does matter.
I agree Wendy, if I start to feel something is not right with what I am doing and stop and then start to take care of myself, my experience has been, that a headache does not come on or it settles down. If I try and push through then I often end up with a headache or feeling sick.
Lovely to reread about headaches and migranes again and ones choices on how one is living.
It is great to really realise how much our bodies are trying to tell us if we listen. The less we listen the louder the message has to be ! Thank you for showing this so simply in your everyday life Sandra a great reflection.
The way we live our lives and the changes and choices we make are all in our own hands.l
The natural warmth I feel when connected to my body and have been taking care of myself is exquisite. Therefore when I have pain, especially period pain, my body is showing me that I have been disconnected along the way, but it is another opportunity to look at how and where I have been mistreating myself, rather than focusing on painkillers to take away the pain.
Thank you Sandra, I appreciate reading your article as it has reminded me that I used to suffer with headaches all the time and would have to take pain relief almost every day. I now no longer need to do this since listening to my body more and making more loving choices.
Sandra I’ve also found that when I do get headaches its normally because of something I’ve been doing leading up to that point. Before making changes to my lifestyle the headaches/migraines would be a daily thing and I’d be relying on pain killers. Now its far less frequent, no migraines and normally when there is something that I need to do that I’ve put off doing and I get frustrated about. So my body certainly shows me whats going on.
Dear Sandra
Your blog has inspired me to really take notice of the subtler messages my body gives me to say I’m not with myself -rather than wait for the loud and clear physical ailments resulting from my attempts to not be with myself. I am finding the more I am willing to look at what I used to want to ignore the less I choose to be distracted or seek ways to not be with myself.
I like that Karin, “the more I am willing to look at what I used to want to ignore the less I choose to be distracted or seek ways to not be with myself.” There is great power and an offer of great understanding in this line. Thank you.
Our bodies are amazing indicators of how we have been living. It is up to us if we ignore the signs and symptoms or if we listen and honour our bodies communication. This is a real blessing, it is like having a loving friend gently ( at the beginning) telling us something you are doing is hurting me, please stop and treat me with love and respect I deserve.
From this I am learning that the more I am with myself, the more aware I am , and then the more I receive my bodies messages. I then have a choice to reflect on where this may have started, what was I doing, and how can I be more loving with myself.
Lorraine my body is my best friend too and I have learned that it is worth it to listen to what the body try to tell me. If I did not listen the next massages my body sent to me is even louder and if I still do not listen the body did not stop to talk to me but the next massage is so loud that it is not so easy to not listen. Normally this massage is painful. So therefore I learned it is better to listen to my body as soon as possible!
I love reading this blog and the simplicity of all it offers . The reminder to listen to our body and pay attention to what it is telling us is invaluable.
Living life listening to my body i am now finding is amazing with the messages it has been telling me all along and very empowering.
Thank you
Thank you Sandra for your piece on headaches. I’ve always been prone to them but
I’ve never made the connection to the cause. I shall be extra vigilant now!
So many people I know suffer from headaches and migraines.
Listening to our bodies is priority in terms of healing the root issue.
But do we want to know?
Why is it then that even knowing it all, we do ignore the signs again and again?
It is the momentum we are in – what do we want to feed – is it the pain or truth?
There are so many indicators every single day about if the way we are treating ourselves is caring enough (such as your example of being rushed) – if we understand what you have written here in your blog then there is no wonder that lifestyle related illness and disease is on the rise due to people not taking the time to listen to their own ‘in-built detection devices’
Re-reading this blog I have realised that so often we see pain or symptoms as the enemy that must be quashed or eradicated at all costs and most of the medical industry is aimed at this. How often do we consider that when we get physical symptoms it may actually be good thing – a warning message from the body that something is not right? Recently I have been experiencing some lower back pain and I was intrigued by how my first reaction was that it was an inconvenience rather than stopping and looking at why I might have it in the first place. Slowly I am understanding that my body is telling me to slow down and be even more gentle and tender with myself and stop trying to control life. A great message which I would have lost had I just wanted to end the back pain at whatever cost.
I agree Sue, The body is truly remarkable if we listen and respond accordingly. So often there is a rush in the day, but by changing the quality we do things in and replacing the rush with gentleness, or tenderness we get our work done in an entirely different light. It’s interesting to observe that the work all gets done and the feeling your body is left with at the end of the day, is entirely different to when you have pushed. I am learning to make gentleness and the inner stillness I feel from this more consistent in my day and it’s having a profound effect on my wellbeing.
Yes Rachel I have to watch if I go into a rush to get things done, it does not feel great when I do. It feels much more lovely coming back to being gentle and present with myself as I complete each task. This then builds during the day, so I have a choice do I want to build an energy in push mode, or a more gentle supportive energy that feels lovely?
What you have shared with us here is a powerful tool that can be used to work with our bodies in order to stay healthy ā listen to our body and be aware of the choices that we make and any changes that happen from our choices. It sounds simple but I can definitely remember many times in my life when I would have a headache, tummy ache, period pain or feel sick and just want it to go away but not take responsibility in how I am living. But I am now starting to take responsibility for my choices more and more. Thank you for sharing.
So simple! All we have to do is listen. I know I can still go into overdrive so as not to listen, and then the hardness in my body makes it more difficult to hear and feel my body’s messages. I have found that the willingness to listen is so important.
So true Rebecca, if I go into more of a push mode then my body subtly hardens, and it ‘makes it more difficult to hear and feel my bodyās messages’.
Hi Sandra, Don’t you think the body is just the most amazing thing? It tells us over and over just where we are and all we have to do is listen and respond lovingly! Love the blog I can feel the appreciation you have for the signals you receive from your body.
Thanks Sandra I love the simplicity of what you have written here. This could be applied to almost any illness or pain or injury. Great to be reminded about how our little habits can hurt us if we let them.
Love the way you track back over your day to see just how you built the momentum, incrementally, towards that first sign of headache pain. That’s the start of true self care, when we can review the unloving choices we made in our day without blame or shame and accept the role they have played in any disharmony in the self or with others. So clearly and simply expressed here. Thanks, Sandra.
Hi Sandra, I woke up with my first migraine today and reading your article has really helped me to stop and consider all of my choices from yesterday and even the day before, and it has helped me to remember that there is someone here worth caring for – me. Thank you very much for sharing.
It is a great reminder that you are most definitely worth caring for Shami – its so simple isn’t yet it is so easy to get into the pattern of everything else is more important. Its great to catch this way of living when our bodies say whoa cowboy slow down pay attention to me!
Really concise and clear, just stay with yourself, listen to what your body has to tell you and honour it. Great reminder to stay present and give our bodies some love and attention.
Well said Samantha, I’m putting that on the fridge!!
I love the simplicity of your blog Sandra. The practical examples you gave about the telephone between shoulder and ears and ‘eating on the go’ feel really awful indeed. Just by reading your blog I could feel the tension these cause in our bodies. However, having said that, this awareness I only have now as like you, I am choosing to live with more awareness and honouring of myself. And it is amazing how the effect of these ‘slips’ can not be denied and are felt in the body.
Thank you Sandra, yes indeed. If we all made our body our best friend and listened to every little communication, there would be significantly less illness and disease in the world. People would be more connected to themselves and willing to look at what is really going on rather than overriding and pushing through. We really go against ourselves when we do this.
Thank you Sandra for sharing. It makes such a difference when I stay more aware of everything that I do in each moment. I can feel extremely tired every time if I don’t! Thanks to Serge Benhayon for helping me to get to this awareness!
Thank you Sandra for the reminder of how the little things that we let go at the beginning of the day have such a huge effect. I know I have done the walking past the food thing and taking bites as I go and I have found this really sets a momentum for the day that is not truly supportive. We know when we are getting out of sync with what our body is telling us and it is great to listen to the voice from the body and allow it to lead the way.
Most of my life I have looked at pain or any other symptom as “the problem” and getting rid of it as a “success”. More recently I have been developing a caring and honouring relationship with my body and I have started to listen out for what it is communicating. I have found that the pain and symptoms provide very accurate and wise insights into how I have been living and what needs attention. I have not always listened immediately, but my body is like a very faithful friend that does not give up, and keeps on communicating. I am very grateful that I have such a wise and communicative friend constantly with me.
Thanks for sharing Golnaz, I can relate to that. For me always wanting the fix when I would get sick or not feel great. Over the past few weeks letting myself feel more of what my body is telling me is very liberating.
Thank you Sandra for expressing something so profound – that listening to our own body is our best medicine – so simply and gracefully.
A great blog Sandra and a great reminder to listen to my body, especially the little twinges as they can let us know something is going on before we get the bigger pain like a headache. I know if I get a pain in my wrist if I don’t listen, the next pain will be in my back or shoulder. How amazing the body is that it can talk to us …all we have to do is listen.
Thank you Sandra for this simple and powerful blog. As I connect to and listen to my body more and more I feel the blessings in the signs and signals it offers me. A stop moment to feel where I’m at in my body and my day. Feeling the connection between how I am with myself eg rushing, distracted etc and the impact on my body is becoming more and more apparent. I totally agree “what I do for myself really matters”
Thank you for a really beautiful and simple blog. It is amazing how much we can ignore and override pain that is actually, as you have presented, our body’s alarm system sending you a message.
Bringing more awareness to the body gives us the opportunity to chose what we can do with the pain, ignore it and hope it goes away, medicate it away, or feel what it is telling us and what needs to change. Awesome Sandra!
Thank you Sandra for sharing the simplicity of pain arising from not listening to our bodies. I also love what Michelle shared about ‘making pain our friend’, not that we want to invite it over to play, but if it does come, to treat lovingly and look at what it is offering us, then choose painkillers to ease off the intensity. Really pain is just like the warning lights that come up in our cars, which we pay attention to and deal with accordingly.
I like the analogy with the car… particularly as often when the warning light comes on, I’ll ignore it for a time because I’m busy, doing something else, its not convenient etc etc. And if I’m not careful, I end up with a bigger repair that if I simply attend to it at the start.
Beautiful Sandra, a powerful lesson in how our bodies respond to everything we put them through, so when we don’t look after them, they hurt! Simple. Thank you for your beautifully simple post, very enlightening.
Brilliant Gill and Sandra, thank you for highlighting this “what I do for myself really matters”. This is the sentance that would do well to be heard in all hospitals, doctors’ surgeries and schools. Self responsibility is key in all healing.
So have I Fiona, really well put. Before I used to look at my body and any pain as a failure as something that is stopping me getting the next thing done. Whilst I’m still not keen on getting sick or having pain it’s an amazing reminder of what is really going on for me and with that an internal inspiration to look at why. When I follow what my body feels the whole day opens up and equally when I override it I get to feel it much quicker than before.
Beautiful, simple and elegant blog Sandra, as each of our bodies continue to remind us of how they are truly feeling, your blog gently reminds us to listen. Lovely.
It is amazing how clearly and how loudly our bodies speak to us. From the smallest little tingle or cramp to a huge medical crisis. They are all signs for us to listen to. Over the years I have learnt to be more aware of what my body is whispering to me – a little confirmation that I know something is out of sorts, normally that I’m pushing through and not resting when needed, putting everybody and everything first – but as usual if I don’t stop and listen then my body will grind to a halt and stop me in my tracks – meaning I’m even less use to anyone than I had been trying to be initially! Absolutely crazy, but absolutely true. Our bodies are indeed the markers of truth.
Sandra arenāt our bodies amazing! They just let us know loud and clear what we are doing that is supportive and loving or not. I have a left shoulder problem that has appeared in the last month and I have noticed it is when I am working with an intensity, a push of wanting to get something done, or do something well – which comes with a trying instead of the flow of when I am working with attention and clarity. My shoulder tells me by aching if I have gone into the drive – I can work 8 hours in the drive and it starts to ache or I can work 8 hours doing the same activity but without the push and I have no ache or soreness – Itās amazing how accurate it is.
Sandra what you have written is so profoundly simple it offers great opportunity for us to feel into how our own bodies talk to us. You have listened and stopped this is the magic in the medicine! This ingredient needs to be shown around the world, then by people stoping and truly listening to their bodies will we see a difference in our healthcare system. Brilliant blog, Thank you.
Gosh, Samantha, imagine if this simple ingredient was to be shown around the world, then by people stoping and truly listening to their bodies would we see a difference in our healthcare system?! What if we were shown this simple truth when young?
Thanks Sandra for your blog, I used to always badly twist my ankle at work when I wasn’t with myself or if I was working in a disregarding manor, now I generally get a slight twist as a reminder to let me know if I’m rushing a bit or something. Reading your blog was a good reminder that these things that happen, that can be quite painful are really for our own evolvement, if listened to.
Exactly Kevin they are warning signs and if we don’t stop they will stop us. It’s great how our body really gives us so many signals before hand, it’s just up to us to listen and not ignore them.
That is so true Kevin, our body communicates to us the whole time in a way that evolves us if we listen to it.
Pain is our chance to evolve!
Thank you Sandra, I’ve been finding recently whenever I push myself to do a bit more and try to get everything done at work rather than stopping and allowing time for lunch or a short break I’ve been ending up with headaches. I love the new relationship you’ve built with them and especially “The pain was just giving me the gentle reminder that I needed to stop, reflect and consider that what I do to myself matters.” seeing the true blessing our body provides us.
Thank you Sandra for sharing your experience and reminding me that “what I do to myself matters” and “Not to mention that how I then am in the world reflects to others ā no matter how subtle or seemingly invisible.” I am so much more gentle now than I used to be but can still get caught up in rushing to get something done and ignoring the messages my body is giving me, until they get insistent.
What an inspiring way to live, listening to the body and feeling for what causes us to have dis-ease. It would transform our healthcare system if everyone took your level of responsibility Sandra. Natalie, totally agree, the body really is incredible in showing us what is going on and being our guide if we let it.
A great article to show us that our body is constantly telling us how we are treating it. Fascinating that we so often ignore the clear messages and just pop a pill to make the problem go away instead of listening and making changes. How revealing it is when we do take the time to listen and make loving choices to change the way we live with our body.
I agree Fiona, I too have been inspired by the teachings of Universal Medicine.
Thanks for sharing Sandra, isn’t the body incredible how it is there to show us exactly what we need to know. Supporting us back to our harmonious way of being if we chose to listen to the alarm bells.
Good point – the body will bring pin-point accuracy to what is going on because its designed that way. We just need to stop and feel what is going on.
I can say yes to what you are saying – it is simple and so true!
Our body is designed that way!
What you All are responding with has enabled me to feel WE aren’t at all small are we? WE are more spacious and expanded inside than is obvoius (at first glance) from our external dimentions. It is the fact that we try and shrink our inner fullness to fit into what the world can and wants to see that brings on the tension, which brings on the body’s respnse.
Sandra I think you are spot on in saying “we try and shrink our inner fullness”. I used to think of myself as insignificant and suffered horrible migraines as a result. Letting go of hurt has lighten my life in so many ways. allowing me to be more adventurous, expansive and connected.
This is great Sandra. I love the way you are embracing your bodies’ signals, rather then beating yourself up about them. I will certainly take this into my day :0)
Thank you Sandra for beautiful writing clearly and simply about how we live can cause headaches and migraines, and our body is showing us this to help us. I too lived with constant headaches and migraines since a child when I started boarding school. I now know why and how I did things and what I felt and how this all frustrated me. Also when I went places and took on stuff that did not feel nice I would get quite ill with a migraine. Living now in a more connected way to myself and not pushing myself, having more presence and living more lovingly has meant I no longer get migraines and headaches. If I do start to get a headache I now stop and look at why and feel what is going on for me and by claiming this it is amazing how quickly they can go.
A beautifully simple blog Sandra that reminds us that even with the simplest of choices that are not in harmony with our body have a deep impact on our health and well-being. Thanks for sharing.
Gosh, thank you Sandra for pointing out just how specific and detailed our bodies are calling us to be when it comes to caring for ourselves, and how speedily and precisely they can specifically speak to us if we are willing to listen.
Thank for sharing Sandra – it is amazing how we can either choose to view the signals the body is giving us as gifts or as annoyances which we want to drive through so we do not have to feel let alone accept how we have been living. I too used to get really bad headaches (not full on migraines) but now very rarely do I get one, they are only subtle now, and they always come when I have been trying to get too much done and have lost myself by going into a rush. They are now great at saying hang on James, come back to yourself – nothing is worth losing who you are for.
Hi James – thank you – nothing is worth loosing who we are for.
Hi Sandra – its true – everything suffers when I lose myself, when I go into a rush and then the knock on effect is the quality of everything I did when I was in the rush is without the same care and attention I would normally give something. So then I have to re-visit it and it either has to be redone or re-worked on. Far simpler to give myself the space in the first instance and complete it. It also means frustration does not build up, because if something goes wrong its ok as I have not put myself under any pressure or timescale, when I don’t it is this that then leads to a headache.
I have not had headaches, but I have had back ache and general aches and pains in various parts of my body for most of my life. I never used to listen to my body, but through Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon I have been inspired to be more aware of what I am doing and how I am with myself. It is amazing how quickly the pain appears in certain areas like the wrist or elbow if I have been doing things too harshly or not taking care when I pick up something. Thank you for the reminder Sandra that being out of our rhythm is enough for the body to start sending out signals.
Thank you for this great blog Sandra. By just coming out of our rhythms slightly it’s amazing how quick our bodies will let us know. And thanks to Universal Medicine, Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine Practitioners our ‘in-built detection device’ can only get stronger.
Yes Tim the difference to the body and the day betwwen being in our rythms or overriding them can be sublte or magnified. Sometimes I find the sublty of how this plays out tricky and I really need to pay attention and stay with my self. There are blow out moments that can escape me as well becuase I’ve got caught up with what ever is going on, therefore loosing myslef. Why would I want to loose myself I ask? I don’t want to is the truth.
Sandra I’ve found the same, the headaches only appear when I’ve got caught up in things and I’ve found that the more I observe whats going on, the more space I have to respond appropriately without the headaches and frustration. I’ll often stop and re-connect and ask that same question – why would I want to not feel connected to me?
It is ridiculous – why would I not want to feel connected to myself?
Hi Sandra – I loved the simplicity of what you wrote here. I know for most of my life I have found my body’s signals extremely cumbersome and have ignored and cursed them, when they are simply a gift to help us back on track. And I have found my relationship with my body to be a vital vital part of learning about life and who I am, and often it is my greatest teacher.
This blog is awesome as it shows very clearly just how small things can build and later have a worse affect on us.
In the past I know I would of just taken painkillers or gone into MORE activity to avoid feeling what I was feeling. Today I too have found that stopping and listening to the body’s pains are a much wiser choice then ignoring them before it has the chance to get worse!
I did the same. Using pain killers to make the pain go away was just my way of being able to carry on and do more of what was causing the pain in the first place! But now knowing it’s amazing to see the pain as a marker and look at what it’s telling me.
I’ve never been a big fan of pain killers, but generally take the opportunity to try and figure out what is going on and in particular what will help (a rest or a bath are normally pretty helpful). It’s a good start, but still a bit too solutions based because there are always the deeper question of why, and of ‘listening to the body’s pain’. This is crucial because if we don’t get to that then we are simply fixing a problem that is probably going to occur again and again.
I’ve never had migraines. It’s been my stomach that has let me know my body wasn’t happy with what I was putting in it. I’ve changed what I eat over the years and found that dairy and gluten were the culprits. It feels great not to be held ransom by a runaway stomach, as I was back then. My knees and fingers now are the parts that let me know if all’s not well with what I’ve chosen to eat. My hands stiffen up and/or I start getting pains in my knees, so much so, that I feel like I’ve aged twenty years overnight and that’s sure not fun. Our bodies really are pretty awesome warning systems, aren’t they?
Judith – thanks for bringing this awareness up. I also have knees and fingers and general body stiffness that talk to me. I have only just realised after months of pondering and living with a sore shoulder that it isn’t a shoulder problem in the first instance. The shoulder is sore because I’m using it as a tool to compensate for the knee I haven’t been addressing. I have put a lot of work on my shoulder to pull myself up etc, to take pressure off the knee. I’m now appreciating how my shoulder and knee have been communicating to me and I’m prepared to listen and do what is needed to take care of both of them. Not one at the expense of the other.
Yes, Judith, I find my body is becoming more and more sensitive to what I subject it to in every respect, and gives me a message almost immediately. It is like a running commentary on all that I choose that is loving and beneficial, and all that I choose that is unloving and definitely harming. It is so easy to fall into a state of distraction, but now it is pulling me up short. THEN I have to take notice of it or suffer the rather uncomfortable and painful consequences of my own making.
Our bodies are super awesome Judy!
Our bodies are the most simple and clear warning systems ever and are communicating to us loud and clearly. It only asks a willingness to listen from us.
I agree Monica the body is always communicating to us, our unwillingness to listen to what it is saying is the reason why years later we get cancer or some other life threatening disease. If we had listened to all the other messages before it got to this we could have prevented it from getting this far.The beautiful thing is that since attending Universal Medicine presentations there are thousands of us who are now all ears when it comes to our bodies!!
Yes, this is the only recipe I would write to my clients – are you really willing to change your conditions, illness and diseases? And they would get homework to do; that is: listening to their bodies.
Such a different view of pain. We are taught as children to take something ‘to make the pain go away’ but it can so be our friend when we choose to feel what it is there to tell us.
I had a recent experience of extreme pain in my knee and felt it was from how I am living and have chosen to make changes and sought support, and in doing so it has opened me up to so much love, for myself and support from others.
Very true, Michelle, I know as I grew up I was never taught that having pain might be abnormal – it was just āsomething that happens, so deal with itā. It was not until I was supported in developing the awareness that perhaps pain wasnāt just something I was at the mercy of, but that it could be my bodyās way of telling me that something was not right with how I’ve been living. From this I have learnt that the more I look at the choices I make on a daily basis and take responsibility for changing them, the less pain I end up being in.
Love that image of the body not being able to leave notes Jane. My right shoulder leaves a note by hurting if I am taking too much on and getting caught up in what there is to do instead of allowing my day to unfold and knowing I can only get done what I can. The world doesn’t fall apart if xyz doesn’t get completed but my body actually will fall apart if I keep driving it!
That is such an important reminder for me, Vanessa, so often I have overridden the body in favour of getting things done. Nothing matters more than loving my body, for in respecting and nurturing it, and taking notice of it, I am then able to express love in all that I do, otherwise it is “yuk” energy, as Sandra says, and is loving for no-one.
Great point Vanessa – the world will not fall apart, there are usually less mistakes and our body thanks us for it when we stop the push and let it lead the way.
Thanks, Michelle. In the past I have reacted to physical pain and tried to avoid it at all costs. What you say here is a great point about – “We are taught as children to take something āto make the pain go awayā but it can so be our friend when we choose to feel what it is there to tell us.”
Yes – our pain is our friend and helper to see what we have created, the sooner we realise it, we can bring a change to the ill.
Great point Michelle, Most of us grow up without much understanding of our body or how it communicates…
I have learned with the help of thousands of examples as presented through Universal Medicine that MY BODY IS MY BEST FRIEND and that it knows me way better than my mind does! Our bodies don’t use words, a body communicates with feelings, symptoms and pain.
Living life with this understanding is the biggest turn around ever.
What a beautiful way of educating our children about pain and what we can learn from it, instead of putting a kiss on it to make the pain go away like it was our enemy.
Yes a lot of parents will give a kiss to make the pain go away or a candy. Or a saying like I thought you were a big boy and big boys do not cry. In that way children do not learn to trust their body and to feel what is going on instead they will not pay attention anymore because of the distraction and or harden their bodies to not feel anymore and to be the big boy. I love what you share Michelle when your children hurts themselves to have a chat afterwards about what and how they were doing it
Very inspiring sharing; here I am still only just waking up to the body really being the marker of truth, I have conveniently focused on bugs, virus’, food etc, rather than look at the deeper cause of the disease my body is sharing with me.
That is so true Michelle, pain is a way of our body communicating to us that there is something to look at in the way we live.
Exactly it tells us where we are not in harmony and by telling us and us paying attention, we have the opportunity to make a different choice next time.
Learning to listen to the signals from my body – such as pain – has been a true blessing, my life is so much richer and it is great to be aware of my responsibility, choice and power in the whole thing. What a gift to encourage this awareness right from young.
Yes I love that image of my body leaving a note for me – so helpful in me stopping to take note of what it’s saying. It’s funny because it usually leaves notes for me to find either before bed and in the morning when it knows I can’t distract myself from what it’s saying.
I used to get annoyed with my body for choosing these moments as my sleep did get affected. But hang on a minute – I’d left it little choice because I’d distracted myself all day with doing things and not paying attention!
Love your observation Karin, of course if you have an important message for a busy person you pick a time to contact them when you know they will have to listen!
This is great Michelle, a beautiful reminder of how taking responsibility for what our body is sharing can bring so much!
So true Monica, the ads for pain killers are all about taking the pill and ‘soldiering on’ or ‘defeating mother nature’ not ‘let’s stop and take it a bit easier on yourself’. This is a form of irresponsibility that the drug companies are perpetuating but we play along too..
It is far easier to reach for the tablets in the top drawer at any sign of discomfort rather than consider what belies that discomfortā¦ let alone reflect on how we may be living. There seems to be mentality of āmake the discomfort go away at any costā and repeatedly making choices that tell our body to shut up.
Our body is an awesome communicator – it lets us know when we are off. It is with this awareness that we start to enquire how did we step away from being with ourselves in the first place? When we ask these sorts of questions and arrive at honest answers – the wisdom of the body is revealed – as its constant communication is showing us what we need to learn in in life. This truth is totally profound and practical – our bodies are simply amazing!
I wholeheartedly agree Gemma – our body is the ultimate exchange – never ceasing communication both ono a cellular level and a physical, emotional and mental. We can tune in and listen or we can hang up or interrupt the signal.
Truly amazing, and there is no wrong diagnose – the illness and diseases are all our own creations.
Yes Michelle. I too have a chat with my children about taking responsibility for what happened when they hurt themselves but reading Michelle’s comment it has made me realise that my children and I can go further with this in the consistency of talking when there’s tears and deepening our conversations.
Monica I’ve also been tuning into the signs my body is presenting, actually it’s more than that it actually guides me … If I’m listening. Recently I felt a pain in my arms when I was in bed , I felt this is a result of business so I paid particular attention to every move and the pain left, but if I go into business it returns. I have found this really interesting as I have undertaken to paint for an exhibition and it’s like ‘this is how I want you to move when you paint’. So my “in built detection device” has given me a parameter to work within, if I go outside of using my arms tenderly I get given a painful reminder. Not only is this supportive of my body but how’s that for connecting my hands and arms to my tenderness when I’m painting a picture that will hang in someone’s home.
I love that too Doug. That the moment we do start to listen, our body shares so much with us – absolute Gold, right there in our very own body!
I know exactly how you feel Sandra! I love how my body reveals to me exactly how I’m living – if I choose to listen to it. I also used to have regular migraines, but haven’t had a single one since giving up dairy & alcohol five and a half years ago. š
Yes I agree the migraines disappeared with the alcohol – (when I realsed how big a player this was on my health). The other totally liberating bonus of not drinking was no more tension about getting into the car to drive! This has been a hidden bonus and a joy-full freedom.
For me it was not so much the alcohol – possibly because I preferred dry reds – but mostly it was frustration and every once in a while I got a headache from being a bit dehydrated.
Dealing with frustration meant I dealt with my headaches which means I went from headaches once a week to a headache twice a year. Nice.
Christoph that is a significant reduction – I have definitely underestimated the impact of emotions on my health and well being.
Especially emotions have a impact on our body. A family member gets regular headaches because of the anger and rage she carries with her. Headaches can have different emotional root causes and it is worth to observe for oneself and find out which one leads to headaches. And ponder on why they occur.
Emotions definitely have a huge impact on my health as does going to bed late!
It would be very useful to use the Our Cycles app to track patterns of emotions and any correlation between these emotions and the headaches. Often people I have known with migraines say they come out of nowhere. But tracking moods, behaviours and even foods could help to shed some light on contributing factors.
Yes me too Nicole, it is actually quiet incredible how every choice impact our lives and how we can make choices that supports us in truth and in disregard. I found it then so relatable that if our choices are out of sink- our health must be too.
True Katie, to know that the pain can be completely avoided yet we still get the pain leaves us with a choice to either clear or suffer the consequences.
Yes I am learning to tune in and listen to the early warning niggles/signs without letting it get too far gone. I don’t always heed them but I always hear them and then it is a result of my choices as to what happens after that.
Well expressed Katie. It is really important to catch the first signs of the body, then we can stop the wrong momentum and make a new decision to support our body.
I am in your group of people,Christoph, having headaches from being frustrated and dehydrated.
Since I started listening to my body more carefully, looking at my reactions and being more observant, my headaches have reduced. But at the same time, what I have noticed is that as my body becomes more sensitive and accurate, it indicates “wrongs” on the smaller scale. So I still have headaches regularly because of a tiny bit of bitterness or disappointment here and there, or even from moments of self-loathing.
Very true Katie! Our bodies are living barometers of our choices, and the closer we listen I’ve found that there is only a subtle variation allowing us to make different choices, however if we don’t listen, or avoid listening, it has to speak a lot louder and takes a much more significant variation for us to take notice.
What a great point Christoph in being aware exactly how much our emotions play a part in the health and symptoms we often experience in our bodies.
Christoph you have reminded me of the headaches I would get due to frustration and now if I react in frustration to a situation or a person I always get a headache the next day. Thankfully not as often, maybe two or three times a year, whereas in the past I had cluster headaches which would go on for weeks.
Our frustrations are the boulder that stands stubbornly in the river determined to upset the flow and create a diversion so that the path of the water becomes disturbed. Removing this boulder is all that is needed to restore the flow of life that ceaselessly circulates despite the objects we may hurl in its way.
This was the same for me Christoph, I used to get migraines all the time but dealing with my reactions and emotions of frustration and resentment I am migraine free. Life changing in not having the migraines but also in how I am in life now and how I deal with it.
Love this Anna: “my body reveals to me exactly how Iām living ā if I choose to listen to it”, couldn’t agree more
I totally agree Jessica. Our bodies certainly talk to us when we havenāt been listening, very loud and clear.
And how awesome is it we have that moment to stop and appreciate our bodies more by choosing another more loving way with ourselves. Very empowering and life changing.
so simple and so true Jessica.
Isn’t it such a great quote āmy body reveals to me exactly how Iām living ā if I choose to listen to itā. I know I don’t so much get headaches, but rashes yes! haha.. our bodies are nothing short of magnificent.
Absolutely true Jessica, the body is constantly revealing to us what is needed, but the choice is ours whether we listen or not.
Yes it is beautifully said isn’t it Jessica, and a great daily reminder for us all.
l agree Jessica, just recently l got a headache, when l stopped and took some gentle breaths it simply subsided again. l realised l just wasn’t in my body any longer, nor was l in the moment. l was worried and frustrated about the future which l can only positively effect by the quality of how l am now.
What you say Irena is so true. The quality we are in now is our future so that is our priority. It’s crazy how we can can worry about the future. It’s a very quick sign that we have lost connection with our body.
How amazing it is to have this understanding and awareness, the keys to our health is in our hands with our own connection and being in conscious presence with our bodies.
Can’t get any clearer than that!
So true, every day all of the time – grateful for my body talking to me!
That’s amazing Anna. It just confirms that there are things we can change in our lifestyle that can support is through having these symptoms.
Wow that’s great that there seems to be such a link between how you are and what you consume, eliminating such an awful symptom of dis-ease like a migraine.
I am a ‘headache person’ as well and have far fewer headaches than in the past. These days a headache means I am either frustrated or something is clearing. In either case it is good to be very gentle with myself.
I experience headaches very rarely and when I do its, a sign that I have been over doing it and that I need to slow down and re connect to myself and allow my body to rest. As soon as I honour this my headaches disappear.
Yes Amita I very rarely have headaches too, but when I do it is a lovely reminder to stop, rest and replenish. It will usually pass soon after. The body is amazing.
Either with be gentle – lovely Christoph. Each one deserves your love.
I’ve never suffered greatly with headaches and have never had a migraine, but my body has certainly spoken to me in many other ways. The more connected I am with my body, the more I am finding it doesn’t have to shout for me to listen! The body is indeed a great marker of our choices and how we are living.
My body is showing me lately the tiniest twists when I am out and going over my body, so to say.
I take it as a great way to reset and to undo bad habits of ignorance to my body.
That is great Anna, I find my body can tell me soo much. The more I listen to it the more responsive it is. I too used to get really bad migraines and do not get them anymore, I do get headaches and now look at ok how have I been living, what it is showing me rather than simply trying to get rid if it and continue on!