Listen gently to your body

​There’s an old story about a healer who lived at the edge of a quiet valley.

People visited them from every direction..some exhausted, some anxious, some carrying burdens no one else could see.

One morning, a traveller arrived bent forward as if carrying something heavy across their shoulders.

“I don’t understand", the traveller said. “My body aches, but nothing is wrong with me. I eat well, I sleep enough. Why does it feel like I’m falling apart?”

The healer handed them two bowls:
one filled with clear, fresh water...
the other with water that had been left standing for weeks.

“Your spirit", the healer said, “is the clear bowl when you live in alignment with what is true for you.. words that honour you, relationships that nourish you, choices that respect your soul. Your body drinks from that clarity".

They pointed to the second bowl.
“But when you force yourself into places that shrink you.. ignore your needs.. silence your truth.. you ask your body to drink from water that was never meant to sustain you".

The healer placed both bowls into the traveller’s hands.
“Your body is always listening", they said softly.
“It strengthens when your spirit is nourished.
And it weakens when your spirit is depleted".
​
The traveller stared at the bowls, suddenly realising:
Nothing in nature thrives where it is not nourished.
And neither do we.