The short answer is listen to your body in the present moment in time.

Is your body currently showing you signs that it is struggling in the environment you are asking it to thrive in?

Do you feel exhausted and un-rested in the morning? Or have re-occuring injuries, or constantly have pain in some form or another tic tacking around the body.

Are you exercising more then 3 times a week and yet still feel bloated, can´t shift the weight around your waist, or your legs are always heavy?

What is your preferred sport/exercise and how is that working for you right now?

I have always been involved in sport from a young child, be it in athletics, swimming, squash, lacrosse, skiing, K1, gym/crossfit, biking, triathlon…etc

I love sport and exercise, especially the faster more adrenaline based ones.  If I am honest I didn’t feel I was exercising if I wasn’t going all out… Does that sound like you?

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong or bad with doing any of these sports or exercises, If your body is responding in a way that tells you it is THRIVING.

So listening to your body, which by the way is an amazing bio-computer and 99% of the time does not get it wrong or go haywire, is super important!

The body is doing exactly what it was programmed to do. It is just that all too often we are looking for a different type of response.  We would like to be able to live one way and have the body respond as though we were living a different way.

In choosing what exercise is right for you, you need to look at the whole picture, is the exercise you are currently doing benefiting you or putting your body under more stress in this moment in time?

Remember we are not designed to be Stressed, Toxic, Inflamed, Infected, Malnourished and un rested… and yet still easily Thrive, Grow, Have Babies, Be Thin, Feel Well, Eat anything we want and have great sex…. This combination would Not be natural.

Maybe you have had children, created a whole new being from your own body, amazing..  but have you put all those nutrients back in to your body?… maybe work is particularly stressful or there is relationship stressors, maybe you have had a flu, or a virus the list can go on and on..

Exercise is so very important to the body on so many levels, it helps our lymph move through the lymphatic system,(a network of tissues and organs which rid the body of toxins, waste and other unwanted materials), exercise can help maintain full range of movement and can help us feel better amongst many other things, however only if the exercise is not putting more stress on to an already over stressed body.

My preference as I mentioned is the fast, adrenaline sports/exercise, however over the past couple of years I hadn’t been listening to all the signs my body was trying to give me to tell me it was struggling, not just a little bit but a lot…this has probably been the hardest thing for me to admit, as that ridiculous notion that as a health practitioner we can never be sick or if people knew they might think less of me as a health practitioner etc etc played over and over in my head… silly but true.  My nature is to make sure other people are ok, family first, friends and work and I forgot to fill my own cup up, big time…. which meant that my body became out of balance and a lowered immune response as I continued to push myself, because I loved what I was doing.

Over the last 6 months as I am filling up my cup on many levels, I have remembered my love for the outdoors and so found a few new exercises that while my body heals doesn’t create negative stress to my body, but still gives me all the benefits that is so important from moving our bodies daily.

I am mostly walk up in the hills behind our house, I do some light functional movement patterns and yoga style movements that feel good and create no stress on my body and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

It is so important if you feel your body is struggling to stop and listen to it, be kind to yourself and don’t berate your body for not being able to thrive in the environment you have been asking of it.

Like everything in life, exercise will ebb and flow, sometimes the hard, adrenaline sports will be great, other times you will need to adapt and listen to your body.

As always if you are not sure where to begin, or are struggling to pinpoint why you are not feeling your best, Get in Touch, soneill@shirley-oneill.com  for a Free Consultation

When was the last time you received the personal attention you deserve and talked to someone about your health?