Episode 17 Just Listen To Your Body (Part 3 of 4)
Welcome to episode 17 of Wellness Wednesday’s Audio Series.
I’m Nissrine, registered holistic nutritionist, mindful nutrition & wellness coach for female entrepreneurs who are looking to prioritize their health and wellbeing without fad diets and wellness trends.
I created this series to bring a fresh perspective to nutrition and wellness, one that is centered on and lead by you.
There’s a plethora of information out there and it can be really hard to know what to do and eat to feel good in your body.
It’s easy to get caught up in fad diets and wellness trends, often questioning, doubting and second guessing your decisions when it comes to the way you nourish and care for yourself.
I wholeheartedly believe that; reconnecting with your own innate wisdom to know what your body needs to thrive is the first step to a life-changing transformation and true lasting wellness; and that progress is made by taking small steps, mindfully, intentionally and consistently.
Today’s episode is part 3 or a 4 part series all about listening to your body. If you haven’t yet listened to the first two episodes, I encourage you do that first, and then come back to this one.
Last week’s episode was all about the hunger scale and how you can use it to reconnect with your hunger and satiety cues. It’s an excellent tool for anyone who feels like they’ve lost touch with their internal cues and wants to start tuning into themselves to rediscover what hunger and satiety feel like on a physical level.
In today’s episode, I’m sharing another important tool, the mind body scan.
The mind body scan is a great tool to use when you need to get in touch with your hunger and satiety signals. It’s especially helpful if you’re still having a hard time deciphering between physical hunger and psychological hunger and even more helpful if you’re the type of person who is either constantly snacking on auto-pilot or consistently skipping meals because you get so caught up in your daily activities that you forget to eat until you’re at the extreme end of the hunger scale.
Most of us spend our lives in auto-pilot mode. Acting and reacting without much thought. Life is made up of a string of habits with little time to pause and reflect in between. That is unless we take the time to pause and reflect.
Enter the mind body scan.
The body scan is an excellent way to strengthen your interoceptive awareness and help you connect with your mind, body and heart - so that you can both understand and respond to your true needs, whatever they may be.
It will help you improve your relationship with yourself and others, your relationship with food and your body and your overall mental, physical and emotional health and wellbeing.
When you do a mind body scan you’re essentially taking the time to pause and take some intentional breaths to calm your mind,body and soul and connect with yourself on a deeper level.
Alright? Let’s get to it. I’m going to take you through, how to do a mind body scan. Alright?
To do a mind body scan, find a quiet place to sit comfortably and without interruptions for 5 minutes.
Start by closing your eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm yourself and reconnect to your body, then begin scanning your body mentally, as if you were in an x-ray machine, from your head to your toes and begin to connect to yourself on 4 levels.
Your Physical Sensations
Your Energy Levels
Your Emotions & Thoughts
Your Mood
First, notice your physical sensations. As you scan your body up and down from head to toes, toes to head, notice how you feel physically in each area of your body.
Do you feel tingling toes, throbbing in your calves or tightening in your legs, how does your stomach feel?
If you’re having a hard time connecting to a body part, place your hands on it. Place your hands on your stomach to connect with it physically if you have to. Is it achy? Empty? Neutral? If you just ate, does it feel full.
Place your hands in your lap, can you feel your pulse vibrating in your finger tips?
Move your attention upwards. Are your shoulders tense, how is your posture, are you clenching your jaw, do you have a headache or tension in your neck?
Notice your breath, is it deep or shallow. Are you holding your breath?
Many of us don’t realize that we hold our breath when we’re stressed.
Don’t judge, criticize or correct your body as you’re doing this stand. Be the observer. Just observe these physical sensations and get familiar with them.
Write them down in your reflection journal, using as many descriptive words as possible and adjectives if you can.
Hone in on what these physical sensations are and how they feel in your body.
Once you’ve connected to your physical sensations, move on to your energy levels.
Next, notice your energy levels
Are you tired? Energized? Lethargic?
Then move on to your emotions and thoughts
Are you feeling frustrated? Stressed? Emotional? Or do you feel indifferent emotionally? Are you happy? Sad? Confused? Annoyed? Overwhelmed? Anxious?
Again, don’t judge, criticize or correct. Observe and make note.
Get familiar with these emotions and thoughts and how they actually feel in your body.
Finally, take one final deep breath and ask yourself how you’re feeling holistically….
…what am I feeling, physically?
…how are my energy levels?
…what am I feeling, emotionally?
…what am I thinking?
Then ask yourself what do my mind, body and heart need in this very moment?
Right? What do I need most?
This is a really good exercise because it will help you identify your needs more clearly.
So whether it be a need for nourishment or self-care or connection, or isolation even, maybe you need some time alone. This exercise will help you identify your needs on a whole other levels.
Now, when it comes to your hunger cues and listening to your body and understanding your hunger levels, this mindy body scan can be really helpful to that end as well.
So, for example, if you’re the kind of person who tends to snack often throughout the day, maybe you snack on autopilot, out of habit or mindlessly so in between meals, and you’re constantly in search of something to eat, this can be normal or it can be problematic.
So It can be normal during some periods of your life, and some days when we’re just hungrier than others and that’s ok, but if it’s something that happens to you constantly and you’re a pathological snacker, there could be other issues at play.
For one, maybe you’re not balancing your meals and eating enough at meal times and it’s leaving you feeling nutritionally depleted and your body is asking for more food.
It could be that your energy levels are low and your body needs a boost.
But it could also be a psychological trigger of hunger, such as stress, boredom, lethargy, or even habitual eating because you’re used to snacking at certain times of the day regardless of your hunger levels.
Of course, this happens to all of us from time to time, and it’s normal to a certain extent, but if you find yourself struggling with this regularly, constantly reaching for snacks between meals, when you feel like you have an insatiable appetite for snacks - this mind body scan maybe very useful to you in these times to better understand if you’re truly physically hungry or if you’re being triggered to eat by a psychological trigger of hunger.
You’ll want to ask yourself, do I need to answer the call of physical hunger right now, or am I in need of a self-care break?
If you don’t know the answer to that, scan again with this question in mind.
It might not feel intuitive or comfortable and may actually feel awkward the first few times you do it, but rest assured that it will get more natural in time.
The more you practice doing a mind body scan deliberately and intentionally, the more you’ll find yourself naturally gravitating to this practice as a tool to reconnect with and respond to your needs regularly.
So go head and try it out! Don’t give up if it feels hard.
On that note, I'd like to thank you for tuning in and remind you that if you’re looking for support with your nutrition and self-care and making it a priority, you can book a complimentary wellness consultation with me, to chat about your goals and how to get you there. At the very least, we’ll have a nice chat and you’ll get some clarity about the wellness journey ahead of you.
Book a Complimentary no Obligation Wellness Consultation
To chat about your goals and learn more about my coaching programs and packages and how I can support you in reaching your wellness goals with ease and simplicity as you build the business and life of your dreams.
Last but not least, if you’d like to be a part of my pilot program, entitled (re) Awaken Your Innate Food Wisdom, a self-paced mindful nutrition program with 4 weeks of group support to help you prioritize your nutrition & wellness without fad diets and trends, get on my mailing list to get an exclusive invitation once I’m ready to launch it.
To get on my mailing list, subscribe to this audio series or download my simple 5 step framework to nourishing meals in minutes and you’ll be the first to know when the pilot program is ready for testing.
It will be a journey to learning more about your body and what it needs to thrive; A mindful approach to nutrition that will improve your relationship with food; and a wellness education program that will guide you for life so your nutrition and self-care will always be a priority.
A Simple 5 Step Framework To Nourishing Meals in Minutes
You’ve got your hands full and more than enough on your plate. Take the guess work out of what and how to eat and make meal preparation a breeze, even when you’re short on time.
On that note, thank you for tuning in.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe and share with a friend and be sure to tune in next week for another episode of Wellness Wednesday Audio Series, where I a share a short audio clip each week to inspire you to reconnect with yourself on a deeper level so you can start nourishing and caring for yourself, more mindfully and intentionally.
Until next week,
Stay healthy, happy and safe,