05/02/2026
Recently, I’ve been floored with a virus.
To try and get well again, I’ve had some weekend days in bed, some time off work, working very small days, carrying our bare minimum tasks, and I’ve been in bed by 8pm every night.
But it didn’t have to be like this at all.
In the weeks leading up to getting ill, I knew I was doing too much. I even named it out loud to people. I’d shared on my stories that I had to have a few productive weekends at home because of a big project and that I was trying to carve out time for myself alongside it. I was aware of the load - and I was doing my best to hold it.
But knowing isn’t always enough.
This is the quiet tension we live inside of.
We notice the signs, we try to compensate, we squeeze in rest around the edges, and sometimes we still let it go on too long.
From a somatic perspective, the body is constantly communicating long before it forces a pause. Through tightness, poor sleep, irritability, frequent colds, headaches, gut issues, low mood, brain fog, emotional reactivity. These aren’t random. They’re signals.
When those signals can’t be listened to because life, work, pressure, responsibility don’t allow space - the body eventually makes the decision for us.
Often at the most inconvenient times…..
Like when you finally get time off - When a long-awaited plan arrives - When your diary is full but your reserves are empty.
Rush culture teaches us to override, minimise, push through. Somatic work teaches us something different: the body knows the cost of doing that long before the mind does.
Resisting this culture isn’t about doing less perfectly. It’s about listening earlier. Adapting sooner. Allowing the body to guide the pace instead of waiting until it collapses.
And learning to hear that information - with less judgement and more honesty - is part of the work.
This is your sign that…
‘knowing’ isn’t enough.
‘Acknowledging’ isn’t enough.
‘Understanding’ isn’t enough.
‘Underpromising’ isn’t enough.
When you see the signs, what do you usually do??
