I messed up... (listening to the body's signals)

I messed up.

I fell while skiing, twisted my knee, and felt a pop.

Having had multiple knee surgeries years ago, that scenario brought up (and still brings up)  a lot of fear and anxiety. Luckily, aside from the soreness and a little swelling, I’m fine. It was a strain but not a severe injury.

I know what to do - go back to the fundamentals and focus on developing the balance of both mobility and stability in the joint. And lots of walking.

The fall isn’t where I messed up. Accidents happen. Life happens.

I messed up because I ignored my body’s signals.

Right before the fall, I had a moment - where a small voice seemed to say “go right”.

Instead I went left.

My mind had a convincing reason - going left seemed more adventurous, challenging, fun. And going right seemed like… well, there wasn’t much there.

In my gut, going left made me a little nervous. Going right … there wasn’t much emotion about it.

That was where I messed up.

There was a slight internal tug to go right. A small voice. Going right had less “charge” to it. It seemed quiet, peaceful, easy.

And instead of following that way, my mind took over- “Let’s go the way that’s giving you more anxiety!” Of course, it didn’t literally say that, and the decision happened in a just a split second….

What this incident revealed to me is my tendency to choose anxiety and stress over peaceful and relaxed.

Why would I choose that? It shows something about internal programming, culture, experience, and I’ll go into that another time…

But let’s simply think of this:

What we practice and focus on is what we get more of in life. - Do I really want more anxiety and stress?

Intuition is often communicated in the body. It’s not always a literal voice telling you to do this or that. It’s a subtle feeling, a gentle tug, a fleeting thought.

And it’s not just woo-woo metaphysical. There’s a real grounded-ness to it. Our physical bodies are sensing and interpreting way more information than our conscious minds are aware of.

Our nervous systems are wired for survival and activate with fight or flight responses to get us away from danger and toward safety. But there’s so much in our culture that teaches us to override that basic principle.

This incident reminded me that unraveling from culture toward living by our true natures is a continual process. And as much as I think I’ve learned, there’s more layers to go.

Anxiety can sometimes be mistaken for excitement. Excitement can sometimes coincide with peace.

I’m learning to trust that I can still have exciting adventures AND stay with being in peace. I can trust that my body knows which way to go. I just have to tune in and trust.

P.S.: I was able to get back up on the mountain the following day, listening better, and having a blast!

P.P.S.: One significant part of my coaching container addresses tuning into our body so that we have a calibrated compass for better guidance in our physical training and better navigation for where we wish to go in this life.

If you’re yearning for that sort of calibration book a Free Consultation to Move Freely and Live Fully.

Here’s to peaceful, exciting adventures!

Patrick