This morning, while making tea, I noticed my shoulders were up near my ears. Without realising it. Without being stressed about anything in particular. The body had been talking to me for a while and I had not listened.
The body never shouts suddenly. First it whispers. A small tension here, a held-back yawn there, a slight tightness in the chest that we justify with hurry or coffee. But if we do not attend to the whisper, the whisper becomes a word. And the word, a shout.
I have been spending time learning to distinguish the signals. The tightness in the jaw that appears when I am about to do something I do not want to do. The weight on the shoulders when I carry responsibilities that are not mine. The breath that becomes shallow when there is something I am not saying.
Today, every time I remember, I am going to ask myself: what is my body saying right now? Without judging. Just listening.
Sometimes all the body needs is one minute of true attention.