Downward-Facing Dog (#atozchallenge)

Do you listen to your body?

No, don't answer so quickly. When you get a headache, do you pop an aspirin or do you drink four glasses of water? How often do you go to the doctor? How often do you get sick?

How often do you sleep a full eight hours? And talking about sleep, how well do you sleep? Are you a toss-and-turner? Do you wake up tired? Do you wake up stressed? How often do you stretch?

How often do you have a craving for, say, broccoli? Brussel sprouts? Spinach? Do you eat because you're hungry, or because--dang, it's noon, gotta eat? Do you keep on eating because this fried chicken is sooo good, oh yum, finger lick?

I ask again. Do you listen to your body?

Dogs do. In fact, I'm willing to bet humans are the only animals that have so radically lost touch with our physical selves.

It's kind of like the common ground thing from yesterday. Like dogs, our bodies are constantly communicating with us; we've just stopped listening.

So listen. Stretch regularly. Eat when you're hungry. Don't overeat. Go to bed earlier. And don't stress.

Stress is a physiological response to fear, to lack of control--yep, learned that from "dog" training, too--so figure out what's making you fearful. Most things aren't within our sphere of influence, but there's a lot we can do to make situations more manageable.

For me, it has to do with organization. For dogs, it's having a strong pack leader they can trust. We humans have to be our own pack leaders. What do you need to do in order to trust yourself to solve / handle the situation? It's probably something that'll take you out of your comfort zone--these things usually do.

But it's worth it.

Go on. Give it a try. And give yourself a treat when you accomplish it.