07/02/2026
This week’s focus: listening to the body 👂🏼👤
Some weeks I can do endurance cycling. Other weeks I need gentle movement like floor-based yoga.
It’s healthy to move between doing a little and doing a lot. It’s normal to take breaks from exercise. Especially if you menstruate – different phases of the menstrual cycle come with varying energy levels 📈📉
A few weeks back, I was pushing my shoulder too hard. It was painful, but I kept pushing through in my dance class and with yoga at home. I noticed how much frustration I had about being slightly injured. I was also aware of feeling embarrassed about not joining in with certain moves in class. So I kept pushing and did them anyway… while my shoulder was basically yelling “no!” 🤦🏻♀️
In more recent weeks, since recovering, I’ve noticed others adapting or softening their movements in class. Self-consciousness really blinds us 🙈 I pushed through unnecessarily. No one actually cares if you adapt moves, if you struggle, if you’re red in the face, or if you’re breathing heavily.
My shoulder is fine now. But it felt like a useful example of how I tuned out from my body and let self-consciousness and social anxiety delay my healing. Each week, my body tells me something different.
Good mental health is so often about listening to the body 💆🏽♀️
What’s one small way your body has been trying to get your attention lately?
☯️
