"Your Body is Wise, Listen" (The War Cry Edition)

I don’t make the same mistake twice; I make it five or six times, just to be sure. For anyone who has learned this the hard way again and again, I feel you! Knowing you’re the expert of your own body does not come easily. For years, we’ve been inundated with roid-driven ego drivel—ideas of “mind over matter” and “pain is just weakness leaving the body.” We’re expected to chest bump after our latest “work to failure,” as if our nervous system is just a suggestion and ignoring it is the highest form of fitness. Can you tell I think that’s absolute bullshit?

I believed all of it, as evidenced by the crushing shame that came over me when I did rest. We really are amazing, magical, capable creatures able to push beyond—but can we just save that for real emergencies? My hope for all of us is that we key in to what our bodies are telling us so that our trainers, teachers, and (stay with me here) even our doctors become partners to our experience. Not the expert. Guess who is the expert? That’s right, you!

As a human who was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after a year of telling my doctor something was really wrong, I can say all that messaging helped me to gaslight myself into being quiet and avoiding self-advocacy. Figuring this out in a year is actually a very short time, because most autoimmune sufferers take an average of five years to get diagnosed. The majority of these people are women, and as far as we have come, women are still frequently disregarded when it comes to the pain they report. Which is CRAZY because they are such badasses! They create life like a fucking GOD! They are the ones giving birth, the ones forced to tune into their bodies every month, and the ones that often carry most of the weight juggling and managing the emotional equilibrium of their families and themselves.

Okay, off my love letter war cry to women and back to my point... We still need doctors, medicines, and trainers—it just might take a little shuffling to find the ones that are right for you. The ones that listen rather than dismiss.

I’ll admit I get a little passionate about this topic because when I make the mistake of mistrusting myself, I pay for it. I make gains that last ONLY when I listen to my body and listen closely. Like laying down if I’m tired, or leaving it all on the mat if I’m agitated or feeling strong. I’m putting the hard work into being kind and patient if I’m injured or flared, letting the rollercoaster of this body be exactly as it is in every moment. Is this easy? Nope. 100% it is not. Sometimes I feel like it’s harder than the push because I’m faced with this cycle of acceptance and grief and those icky things we call feelings. It requires restraint and respect that I have had to learn and continue to practice.

It’s evident I’m not getting any younger and my body, which is a wonderland, has given me glimpses into what it might feel like when I’m 80. At this point, all those fitness goals have boiled down to this: I want more good days than bad, and the best way for me to reach that goal is to remember: “Your body is wise, listen.”