Notice Yourself

Dearest Yogis,

"How Are You?"

We hear this question many times on any given day, and, more often than not, we reflexively answer with an "I'm good" or "Fine" without pausing and checking in with what is actually happening inside us.

Interoception is the sensitivity to stimuli originating from within the body.

We all have senses that detect the conditions inside us. Fortunately, one of the benefits of a steady and regular yoga practice is developing and strengthening interoception.

In his lectures, Rudolf Steiner speaks about the 12 senses instead of the apparent 5. The second sense is referred to as The Sense of Life or The Sense of Well-Being. It has to do with interoception and being able to sense and interpret messages from your body, such as knowing when you are hungry, thirsty, tired, and feeling unwell.

On a personal note, this week has been immensely challenging concerning my health and wellness.

A week ago Saturday, I was in a car accident and suffered injuries to my hand and neck, not to mention my nervous system.

Last Tuesday, I woke up with a sore throat and knew that I had COVID.

I took an at-home test, but it came back negative.

I started taking some of my ayurvedic herbal formulas regardless of the test status.

As the day progressed, I could feel the illness going deeper. My sense of well-being told me that the at-home test could not yet detect what I knew to be true in my body. Though the cold symptoms were more annoying than severe, I had pain in my bones, lower back, and thighs. My muscles felt weak as I was performing mundane barn chores.

Wednesday morning, I took another at-home test, and it was, again, negative. BUT I KNOW MY BODY. So I booked a PCR test for that morning.

Several hours later, I got a call from the Health Department that I was positive. And while I was not happy to have COVID, I felt validated.

All too often in life, we've had our feelings invalidated so much that we stopped trusting our inner knowing.

The practices of yoga, meditation, and breath awareness wake up and revitalize our inner listening, seeing, and knowing.

When we pay attention to ourselves when we are well, we notice how we feel, move, relate to others, and acknowledge our own needs and rhythms. This attention builds interoception and helps us overcome our physical, energetic, mental, and emotional blind spots.

Then, you can quickly notice the next time when you are starting to go out of balance and or become unwell and take appropriate measures even before any diagnostic test would pick up on the illness.

For now, rest is the medicine my body needs on many levels (more on that next week!)

Here is to you and your sense of well-being. Notice Yourself so you can Trust Yourself.

With so much love,

Kari