As we hold a pose in a yoga class, we hear yoga teachers giving cues such as “listen to your body” or “be kind to your body”. These are cues now I use as a yoga teacher. I use them because I realized this skill of tuning in and listening to our bodies is extremely useful.

Listening to my body has become my new habit even when I’m off the mat.  My personal experiences have been teaching me that my cravings frequently arise when I’m experiencing emotions such as anger, frustration, fear, sadness, fatigue, boredom, loneliness (or a lack of connection) and these emotions are connected to parts of my body.

Mind-Body Connection

A team of scientists in Finland did a study known as the “Bodily Map of Emotions” which included over 700 participants from different cultures and languages. The purpose of this study was to map out where people felt different emotions on their bodies. Each participant reported different emotions sparking activity in different parts of their bodies, but the results were surprisingly consistent.

Several studies have also shown that when we are in an angry (or even frustrated) state of mind, one of the bodily responses is the release of certain chemicals. As long as these chemicals are in our bodies, we will continue to feel this emotion and vice-versa. There are times we feel helpless not being able to stop the situation or the person that we believe is causing our frustration and we start to look for other options in the hope of releasing these emotions trapped in our bodies.

Practice

Next time you have a craving, try the following:

• Pause for a moment.
• Start focusing on your breath.
• Check in and pay attention to what your body is telling you. (I recommend keeping your eyes closed for this).

As you listen, you may find some helpful answers, but do not try to analyze them. The important thing is to slow down, quiet the mind and check in. The answers are simply there to remind us that what we are craving for is not a sugary treat. Our bodies might be asking us to find positive ways to release a trapped emotion.

Once we connect with our bodies, we become more aware of its true needs. As humans, there will still be moments where we choose that sugary treat, however, it will be less frequent if we continue this powerful practice.  Our bodies speak to us all the time. All it takes to listen is a quiet mind.

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