Knowing when to slow down
There are some things that take me a long time to learn. Even when I know I should be doing them. Over the years I am learning to trust my body more and the signals it sends to me. So here is the story:
Over the last two weeks, I have felt a lot of stress. I had the feeling that everything was suddenly coming all together. Even though the more likely scenario was that I had been putting off things and procrastinating for a while, and then as the deadlines loom closer, I started feeling the pressure. So increased stress, increased work, and increased sports, was a recipe for disaster. I was getting all the signals, I was tired, super on edge, and snapping at all of my loved ones. But still, I didn't slow down, I didn't listen to my body, I kept trying to going, "doing everything" and creating a lot more stress for myself.
So this week my body hit its breaking point. And Iv'e got an acute lower back, with pain and stiffness and stuck in one position. Now, I have no choice, I'm forced to slow down. My body is making me slow down, I literally cannot move fast because of the pain! Is is just coincidence that this happened right after a major stress episode, could be, but I don't think so. Stress is a major reaction in the body, and needs to come out in some way. And in my experience, it comes out through the weakest point in the body at that moment. Which could be your immune system- getting a cold/ being sick, or musculoskeletal system- headaches, lower back pain, shoulder pain etc, cardiovascular system- heart problems, etc. There are many ways that it could manifest. I see this with my patients all the time, stress with the family, death or illness of a loved one, birth of a child, they will be back in the office directly after.
The lesson here for me is this. I am not immune to stress, and I too need to learn to listen to my body better. All of the signals were there, and I chose to ignore it. Now I am paying the price.
Cheers to good health.
Over the last two weeks, I have felt a lot of stress. I had the feeling that everything was suddenly coming all together. Even though the more likely scenario was that I had been putting off things and procrastinating for a while, and then as the deadlines loom closer, I started feeling the pressure. So increased stress, increased work, and increased sports, was a recipe for disaster. I was getting all the signals, I was tired, super on edge, and snapping at all of my loved ones. But still, I didn't slow down, I didn't listen to my body, I kept trying to going, "doing everything" and creating a lot more stress for myself.
So this week my body hit its breaking point. And Iv'e got an acute lower back, with pain and stiffness and stuck in one position. Now, I have no choice, I'm forced to slow down. My body is making me slow down, I literally cannot move fast because of the pain! Is is just coincidence that this happened right after a major stress episode, could be, but I don't think so. Stress is a major reaction in the body, and needs to come out in some way. And in my experience, it comes out through the weakest point in the body at that moment. Which could be your immune system- getting a cold/ being sick, or musculoskeletal system- headaches, lower back pain, shoulder pain etc, cardiovascular system- heart problems, etc. There are many ways that it could manifest. I see this with my patients all the time, stress with the family, death or illness of a loved one, birth of a child, they will be back in the office directly after.
The lesson here for me is this. I am not immune to stress, and I too need to learn to listen to my body better. All of the signals were there, and I chose to ignore it. Now I am paying the price.
Cheers to good health.
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