Your body is pretty smart. It’s full of information. It can tell you a lot about your health and fitness. Tune in to it. Listen to what it tells you.
For example, you can hear and feel your heart beat: “thump, thump, thump”, smoothly and efficiently for all your life. If it goes: “thump, thumpity, thump-thumpity-thump, it’s usually a sign of a problem. An irregular heart beat needs attention. Your body will tell you. Pay attention.
Your breathing can tell you things about your heart, too. If your heart has a problem, you may become short of breath or dizzy. Unusual breathing patterns can signify things wrong with your heart as well as your lungs.
Your breathing can be an indicator of good or ill health. Not only can it be an indicator, good breathing patterns can be a major factor in determining your health. Strong, abdominal breathing is an indicator of good health. Shallow, chest breathing can be an indicator of weak lungs or simply poor breathing habits. Painful and/or noisy breathing could be a sign of a serious internal problem that needs attention from a medical professional.
Hyperventilation is the current big breathing fad. Breathe fast, deep and hard. While it can be a good thing in the short term, hyperventilation can deplete your stores of carbon dioxide. This can take away the inherent warning that the natural build-up of CO2 gives you when your body needs oxygen. That can be fatal if you decide to go diving, or even just swimming, after performing deliberate hyperventilation.
Oxygen is a key element that affects every system and part of your body. Very important is the effect of oxygen on the production of ATP, and the health of your “body’s furnace”, your Mitochondria — a topic for another article. That can affect the quality of your aging.
Once again, your body will tell you if your breathing patterns are creating a problem.
And how about your stomach and digestive system. Most everyone knows what a stomach ache feels like. And if you are nauseous, along with diarrhea, you know you probably have eaten some tainted food, or have or are developing the flu, or some other illness — sometimes quite serious. Your stomach can give you advance warning when something is wrong — sometimes painfully.
Sometimes others hear your stomach too. Next time you are in a quiet room with others, you can often embarrassingly hear the sounds of your most recent meal as it rumbles and grumbles through your digestive system. That’s normal. If there are a lot of people in that quiet room, you might even produce a symphony. If you’ve ever been in a roomful of meditating people, you know exactly what I mean.
Your muscles and joints will warn you about problems too. Sore muscles will tell you if they are overworked. Pay attention. The same with your joints. Overworked, injured or “rusty” joints can be painful. They may be telling you to stop and get them some help. Go get them some help. Chiropractors need your business.
Pain is an indicator of a problem. It’s your body telling you something is wrong. Pain doesn’t mean a doctor is necessary. It could mean just a good rest is needed. Persistent or severe pain probably needs outside help. I suggest that you get it.
The message is simple. Your body has a lot to tell you. It’s loaded with information and is worth listening to. You need to pay attention and be aware of what it is trying to tell you. When it tells you to stop, stop. When it tells you it needs help, get the help.
Thank you for reading.