I’m writing this using voice dictation while lying in bed on a Wednesday afternoon because it’s too painful to sit up and type. After three weeks of riding a momentum wave and pushing my body, my back finally gave out. So now I’m here to remind you to slow down.

I know full well that the body is our most important messenger, and if we don’t pay attention to the messages it’s sending us, it will scream louder until we have no choice but to listen. However, it’s tempting to ignore these signals when other things feel more important or urgent.

I’ve been waking up consistently at 5:45 AM, completing morning pages and workouts, getting ready for the day, heading to work, coming home, painting in the evenings, then repeating it all the next day. Weekends have been filled with more painting and projects like the gardening work I was determined to complete on Sunday.

Yet Sunday morning when I woke up, my body was achy—not the satisfying soreness after a good workout but an aching that signaled something wasn’t right. I recognized this feeling from past experiences and knew I should do yoga therapy to warm up before tackling the garden. Instead, I ignored the warning and convinced myself I needed to finish the gardening project immediately, after which my body would be fine.

I did get through the gardening project and was still fairly functional by the end of it. But two days later, as part of my morning routine, I spontaneously decided a run was in order, something I hadn’t done in months. I usually opt for low-impact activity and weightlifting to avoid irritating my back injury, yet I still chose to run without doing my necessary stretches or adequately warming up. Again, I was in a rush.

I felt euphoric after completing the run, ready to conquer the world. But while getting ready for work and bending to put on my shoe, I heard and felt the dreaded pop in my lower back—my time was up. I stood frozen, trying to catch my breath and assess the damage. It was serious: I couldn’t move.

Since then, I’ve accomplished little beyond binge-watching Love on the Spectrum, taking Epsom salt baths, doing gentle SI joint exercises, and sleeping on a heating pad. My momentum screeched to a halt. Hindsight is always 20/20 and looking back, I can clearly trace the warning signs my body was sending that I needed to slow down.

There were several mornings last week where I had that same achy feeling, and I convinced myself to stick with my weight training routine, because women of my age need to lift weights! But my body needed something else in that moment, and I chose not to listen because I was in a hurry —30 minutes lifting weights seemed more efficient than 30 minutes of back care exercises.

I’ve had a tricky back ever since a car accident a couple years ago. But it started many years before that after overdoing it with yoga. A coach I’m working with preaches the virtues of slowing down. That slowing down actually speeds up the results we’re after. It seems contradictory, but it is true.

To slow down means being present, tuning in, and paying attention to what we need in the moment—and what we need is usually what our body is telling us. Basic things like  “I’m thirsty, I’m hungry, I’m sleepy and I need to go to bed.” And in my case, “I need to take care of my back.”

None of the goals I’m working toward are possible without my physical health and strength, so there’s no point ignoring warning signs, pushing past limits, or pretending I don’t have unique needs that require attention. My hope in sharing this is that it will find its way to those that need to hear the message to slow down, tune into your body, and give it what it needs—so you have the strength and energy for what matters to you most. 

Featured image by Lucas van Oort on Unsplash