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I Trust My Body & Follow Its Lead

At seven months pregnant, I have witnessed my body move through many stages of change that are happening without any thought involved. Some good, some not so good.

A few nights ago, I was on the couch talking to my partner about some of the intrusive anxious thoughts I was having about the anticipation of having this baby. I told him, “How do I even know I’ll be able to breastfeed?” In response, he looked me dead in the eye and said, “Your body has done so much for you and the baby so far, why do you still not trust that it will be able to do this for you as well?” In the moment, I must say I felt very schooled being that I am the therapist in this relationship—and he was right. 

This conversation made me reflect on an affirmation that had recently been shared with me: 

I trust my body and follow its lead.

I realized that I hadn’t been trusting my body or following its lead when it came to my pregnancy. In fact, if you asked the majority of people how to do this, many answers would come up blank. Whether we like it or not, our relationship with our body is beyond logic and rationalization. Our body is not meant to be reasonable, it is meant to be experienced through senses and intuition. It is when we try to place our cerebral experience onto our body that we end up lost. Here I was, with anticipatory fear for a potential experience, questioning my body’s abilities. 

How is it possible for us time and time again to have evidence that things could easily work out, but still continue to hyperfixate on the possibility that it won’t? Unfortunately, our brains are designed that way. There’s a reason anxiety has evolved so strongly in the human race; it happens to be very protective of us. Anxiety will help you prepare for a job interview or a very important exam, but when you’ve prepared all your resumes and studied every free hour of your day, at what point does your brain no longer serve you in trying to “out-think” the anticipation? There comes a time when you have to close the book, go to sleep and trust that what is meant to happen, will happen. 

I would be lying if I said that I haven’t been trying to logic my way through the anticipatory delivery process as I’m sure many others can relate. It’s valuable to do, but of course, that preparation will only get me so far. It’s time to start building back that trust within myself to know that when the day comes, my body was designed to do this. Whether it’s pregnancy, recovery from an eating disorder, healing from a physical illness or disorder, your body was made to survive and thrive despite all odds. 

We can build this trust back up by engaging in somatic experiences with our body while quieting our minds. You might be able to explore this through yoga, meditation, tai-chi, stretching, singing, dancing, and more. Furthermore, when you notice those intrusive thoughts coming up, move your attention into your body and identify what signals are coming up. Do you notice tension, discomfort or warmth? What is it telling you? Take these moments to let go of the wheel in your mind and tune in with your internal compass. 

And if you need to give your brain something to do, tell yourself:

I am safe.

My body was made to do this. 

I trust my body and follow its lead.

Leah Hovel is a psychotherapist at Elle specializing in mood disorders, eating disorders, and body image issues. Learn more about her and all of our therapists if you or a loved one need help.