The Gift of Listening to Your Body
It’s funny, if we repeatedly run into a wall, eventually, after enough times banging our heads, we will (hopefully) look for other options to get over what’s blocking our way forward. At least that was my experience when trying to recover from a shoulder injury. Little did I know that this experience would lead me down a rabbit hole of self-discovery including a new path toward well-being.
As I previously shared, I did martial arts for many years as a means of keeping in shape, self-development, and managing stress. (Although, at the time I never considered it as a stress management tool.) That was my routine until I was sidelined with a shoulder injury that prevented me from training the way I was used to, which was basically to “leave everything on the floor.”
After training like this for several years, clearly ignoring my body talking to me, my shoulder finally gave out; it had enough. I spent two years in a cycle of rehabbing, strengthening and reinjury, going through the process again, and again, and again.
Photo credit: Schäferle
Are you overtraining? It’s not limited to athletes.
Although we think of overtraining in terms of athletes, it really occurs when anyone ignores the signs of overreaching and continues to train, work and practice, pushing to overcome weakness or poor performance. Signs of lifestyle- or work-related overtraining include:
Increase in tension, moodiness, depression, anger, or confusion
Difficulty or inability to relax
Poor sleep quality
Prolonged general fatigue
Lack of energy and decreased motivation
Not feeling joy from things that were previously enjoyable
My injury was a gift…actually many!
Although it was very frustrating at the time, I now view my shoulder injury as a tremendous gift giver.
Gift 1 – Personal Insight: Through this process I learned that I had a strong habit of overtraining, not resting my body properly, and using physical stress to offset the mental and emotional stresses I was going through at the time. In short, I was putting performance over the proper care of my body.
Gift 2 – Pausing and Listening: The way I was training was not sustainable and my body had finally pushed through my layers of stubbornness in a way I could finally hear its protest and listen.
Gift 3 – New Well-Being Practices: Another gift was introducing me to well-being practices in the form of Tai Chi and meditation. Without my injury, I would never have taken up these practices.
Gift 4 – Relaxing and Connecting: This gave me an opportunity to learn to relax, connect with nature, and reduce stress.
Gift 5 – Natural Improvement: I also learned through this experience that my performance naturally improved by just prioritizing my well-being.
Photo credit: Michael Schwarzenberger
These gifts have been invaluable, and I continually incorporate them into various aspects of my training, personal life and business. I have also consistently found these lessons to be universal and of tremendous benefit when applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Reach out and let’s discuss transforming your overtraining, obstacles, or long-standing habits that are no longer serving you into gifts!