🏆CC🪷🔵 | Wellbeing | Five Things the Body Needs

I came across a list of five things the body needs. I read it twice. I put it aside. And then I kept thinking about it. So here it is.

The body moves.

I watched my hands this morning. Reaching for the mug. Turning the knob. Carrying the thing from the counter to the table. Small movements. Unremarkable. They do not look like “exercise” to anyone who is not watching. But the body was doing the work. And then it stopped. And the stopping was part of it. The body does not need a routine. It needs to move, and then it needs to stop, and both of those are the point.

The body eats.

Here is what I noticed when I read the section on nutrition. The article says “a well-balanced diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.” And I thought: that is a grocery list. That is not what the body is doing. What the body is doing is chewing. Swallowing. Feeling the food in the stomach. Knowing, sometimes, when it is done. And sometimes not knowing. And the not-knowing is not a failure. It is the body still learning the size of itself.

The body sleeps.

This one I read and set the page down for a minute. When the body is asleep, it repairs the cells. It clears the waste. It consolidates the day. It does all of that while you are not watching. And it does not need a “conducive sleep environment.” It needs the dark. It needs the quiet. It needs the “I do not have to be on for the next eight hours.” And when it does not get that, the next morning shows it in the jaw. In the shoulders. In the 3 a.m. waking that does not need a reason.

The body is still.

This one is the hardest to explain because it is the opposite of everything the body is built for. The body is built for the doing. The reaching. The carrying. And the stillness is just: sitting down. Not doing the thing. For ten minutes. And when the body is still, the jaw unclenches. The shoulders drop. The hands stop gripping the edge of the chair. That is not a technique. That is the body getting the one thing it does not get during the day.

The body is held.

I did not expect this one to be on the list. I am not sure it technically is. But I am putting it here because the article talks about “healthy habits” and “regular check-ups” and “proper hygiene,” and I kept thinking about the thing that is actually underneath all of that. The “you are still here.” The “I do not have to fix you.” The person who puts the food on the table and sits down and does not check the phone. The body needs that. Not as a habit. As a fact. You are here. I am here. We are in the kitchen. That is the whole thing.

I do not know what I am going to do with this list yet. I am not going to “optimize my sleep” or “implement a balanced nutrition plan” or “incorporate stress-reducing activities into my routine.” I am going to keep it in my pocket for a while. And when the body needs one of the five, I will know which one. And I will do that one. And that will be enough.

🎧 If you would rather listen to this one, the audio is here. Take it if it is for you. 

This is part of Coach Clear. The slow, honest work of finding your way. coachclear.net