Heeding Signals

Take a drive, virtually anyplace, and you'll observe drivers either acting in accordance with or in defiance of traffic signals.  Traffic signals - from "yield" and "stop" to posted speed limits - are intended to promote safety and to expedite flow of all vehicle operators and pedestrians on the roadway.  In order to obtain a license to drive, one must become acquainted with the signs and the procedures they signify.  It's hard to believe, sometimes, when I watch the actions of other drivers, that we all were taught the same meanings ascribed to the symbols and colors, even the words and pictures meant to govern safe travel.  

Image credit:  https://fairwheels.com/understanding-the-concept-of-traffic-signals-traffic-signals-save-lives

Everywhere you go, people are human; 

and that means we act in ways contrary to training or conscience, 

presuming (at least occasionally) that we are exceptional to the standards.

What of the signals offered by our bodies, though?  Often, our societal training overrides the signals provided in the intricate and amazing creation of our bodies and minds.  Messages regarding "wastefulness," expectations from loved ones and other authority figures to conform to their norms around food, advertisements for processed food, and so many influences make the road signs of our intuition difficult to see - like a fog of information clouding the innate judgment of the brain.  

Consider it:

• How often have you felt sated, yet you were compelled to "finish your plate?"
• Were you chided for eating too slowly or methodically, or for your aversion to a food?
• Have you ended an eating experience, only to wonder where the food went?

The natural eating style of these masterfully-designed human bodies gets confused as we attempt to please others (or avoid their displeasure with us).  As a military Veteran, I can attest that it's not just our families of origin contributing to the mixed messages.  In Basic Military Training, one must devour food and drink any way possible as quickly as possible without choking to death...and that programming is difficult to fight once the career in uniform ends.  In school, as children, this is often an issue as well, either stemming internally from our desire to exit the dining facility to join others at recess or from the external pressures of those facilitating the flow of children on a strict time frame.  Those are just a couple of examples, and the family of origin examples are too many to compile in this simple blog post - and family members have their own set of beliefs and practices passed down to them, their own reasons for teaching children (or pressuring adults) to eat in certain ways.  Mostly, the motives of parents passing along these methods of eating are not malicious but pure.  Finally, the food industry in general manufactures additives which confound sensory inputs in an effort to increase consumption and sale of their edible products.

We are (except those few with particularly rare medical issues) equipped from the womb with internal mechanisms of nourishment.  As newborns, we sense hunger, satiety, the need to eliminate waste, the need for sleep, the need for touch, and many other things that keep us healthy and functioning well.  By the time we are old enough to articulate those needs using language, many of the messages the body sends are met with the resistance of external influence.  

Just as we have unlearned the meaning of our intuition's gentle nudges, however, 

we possess the ability to relearn them 

and to reject the notions we picked up on the way to this point in life.   

The fact is, Scribes, the pen rests in your hand.  As adults, you are sovereign over your selections, powerful enough to determine whether or not it is appropriate to feed yourself or pass on the opportunity, knowing that food is readily available (at least to anyone reading this blog) and will be available when the actual requirement for sustenance is signaled by the body/brain.  How then shall we proceed?

Jotting with Johnna:

• When was the last time you waited to feel "hungry" before partaking in "breakfast?"
• Do you still hold to the notion that "breakfast" must be had before a specific time of day?
• Have you taken a moment to question your beliefs around nourishment?
• Why might you be resistant to revere your body's innate direction regarding when to begin and cease an eating experience?
• How might you intentionally attune to the body's natural stop-slow-go, yield, and speed signals? 

Remember:

You inhabit a body that is bio-individual, unique in its needs and preferences.  You alone master the utensils you hold.  You alone know the cultural conditioning and other manipulations which steer you from the path of intuitively nourishing yourself; and you alone can refute them in your behavior.  You are so very worthy of the time and attention it will take to explore and live out the nuances of your Wellness Script when it comes to following the director within you.

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.