What invitation is your body sending you, right now?

 If your first response is, "NO IDEA" - you're not alone. So many of us have no idea WHAT our bodies are inviting us to do! We haven't created a habit of listening to our bodies. Why is that? 

Perhaps because we don't see them as invitations at all. Somewhere along the line - in our culture, our family, our busy lives - we've learned to think of communications from our body as pesky😦, inconvenient 😖, even coercive 😠.

What if we shifted our perspective for just one day? What if we allowed ourselves to see our bodies as wise - with our best interest at heart? What if we viewed the messages our bodies were sending us as beautiful invitations? 

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What was the best invitation you've ever received?

A good friend's original artwork - perhaps a banner or homemade card?

A song composed just for you?

A special meal that showed you are seen and loved and appreciated?

An irresistible request to join a treasure hunt or game or take a surprise trip?

A conversation that radiated curiosity and interest in you and what you were thinking and feeling?

A job or an adventure or friendship that challenged you?

A look - a big smile and outstretched hand?

On the other hand - what invitations are easy to ignore? 

Invitations that are really demands. Communications that are shoulds. Requests for things we don't want. Invitations from people we don't like. Would you agree that the way we think about a communication makes us welcome it, ignore it, or run from it? 

Challenge: I'm challenging myself, and you, to completely re-imagine the why and the how and the meaning of our bodies' attempts to communicate with US.

What if, instead of brushing aside our body's attempts to get our attention, we asked ourselves, "How can I listen so that I can inhabit my body magnificently today"?

Even a small shift - just a few crumbs of your attention - can provide BIG physical payoffs. A minute of stretching for a tight muscle. A song that lifts your mood. A moment spent talking and smiling with another. A glass of water to sip, perhaps with that slice of lemon or cucumber that says, 'you matter'. Choosing to look away from the phone or computer screen to the horizon as your eyes get a restful break from focusing close-up and your mind gets to relax and take in something bigger. A bowl of homemade soup prepared and appreciatively eaten instead of yet another salty, high-fat take-away. A few minutes learning about a better, kinder way to energize or sit or eat.

So for one day, let's experiment. Let's try following the breadcrumbs - the invitations -  our bodies are delivering, instead of keeping to an inflexibly mapped routine our minds planned out long ago. Let's try something new and really listen with an open, welcoming heart for the invitations it sends. The invitation to treat ourselves like a beloved friend. The invitation to be here, in our body, curious about what we need to feel good. The invitation to meet our aches and pains and feelings and hopes with kindness and attention. And to wonder ~ if we listen to and honor the invitations our body is sending us, what OTHER of life's invitations might we begin to hear, and how might we answer when we've learned to inhabit our body magnificently?

 P.S. The idea of listening for life's invitations comes from an ongoing online poetry series by David Whyte. Click HERE To find out more about David Whyte and his offerings.