Your body can only respond to the signals you send it.

I heard this recently; 

"Your body can only respond to the signals you send it."

And I saw two contexts within it.

-There are some people whose health suffers because they overdo dieting and exercise, push past their body's signals and deplete.

-There are some people whose health suffers because they overlook the basics of good nutrition, sleep and recovery, healthy relationships, and the importance of creative play.

-Some people submit their body to constant testing, surveillance, always feeling they need to manage and control their body, lest it be fragile and rebel against them.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, we teeter in and out of a pleasant state.

The body desires an enjoyable homeostasis.

Always overdoing and overexerting signals to the body that we aren't enough, or we don't have enough.

In reality we just need a moment to nourish and care for ourselves gently. 

Ongoing disregard for the basic standards of care; adequate sleep, play, and suitable nutritional intake without all the excess alcohol and caffeine, will leave us overcooked, overwhelmed.

The reality is we need quiet, less pressure, more listening.

Constant management and surveillance tells our body that we are fragile, broken, rebellious, oppositional.

The reality is that we probably just need the passage of time, and the love of people around us.

As I pass through different stages of my life, I see more and more that some things can only be gained with time.

You can't achieve everything all at once.

The beauty of movement of time is the ability to constantly learn.

I can look back on times where I have done too much, too little, had too much force, done too much surveillance.

Truly, it's a constant balancing act.

Overstepping, readjusting.

Much of what I have realised is that we cannot do this life alone.

So often, the balance requires the love of other humans and their nervous systems to guide or redirect us.

Allowing another person to help signal to your body that it is safe, enough, has permission to listen, to pause, to wait, to play, to drive  is actually a key part of healing.

(What does healing even mean; is a question for another time)

Healing doesn't mean grief and pain doesn't exist.

It means "I can have grief, pain, uncomfortable sensations, and I can also move forward with more freedom".

The message I'm trying to communicate is that we need to constantly be adjusting and listening to our true needs, and that sometimes the signal of another has power to help guide us profoundly and unexpectedly.

When it comes to caring for your body and your mind, I hope you'd let me help guide you to a better sense of being.