Have you ever had a moment when your body refused to yield?

You wanted to. Desperately. Your mind said, “do it, you won’t regret it. It’s what you always wanted!” And yet, you couldn’t take the next step forward. More than a deer-in-the-headlights freeze, it felt like an impasse. As thought you were standing in front of a thick invisible brick wall.

Lean in as you might, there was simply nowhere to go – no way to go – forward.

What I’ve come to understand in the last 36 years is that the body doesn’t lie. I get excited. I fantasize. I imagine the next step. I see the future 10 years in advance. I create. I manifest. Things move. People come in. People go. Opportunities present beyond my wildest dreams. My mind gets blown and I long surrender. But when it comes right down to the moment of stepping forward, if my body says no, it’s no.

There is no way to override the system that has you come out alive and well on the other side.

There are, of course, times when I don’t notice my no and say yes anyhow. From that point on what ensues is typically an unfortunate series of unskillful, choppy, ungraceful moves that at best lack flow. At worst, they end in some form of disaster.

Have you noticed?

The longer we try to override our system, the more dramatic and painful the road home.

Yet we all do it.

Day in, day out. We accept abuse. We over extend our kindness. We demand that our bodies execute highly energy-intensive performance far longer than our internal energy battery can actually sustain. We surpass our no and keep right on walking. Until we crash.

And most of us… hold still just long enough to pull ourselves back together before going back at it one more time.

This week I invite you to consider the ways you fail to listen… and try on another move. What would it look like for you to trust your body’s internal no?

What would it take to accept what is, pause, and play from your deepest inner truth? And if you did… what parts of you might – just might – feel safe enough to come back to life?

In your movement practice,

Go slowly today. Even if you are moving fast, slow down on the inside and really listen. What feels good – feels right? And what doesn’t. Listen intently for your body’s no’s and, just for the sake of your own personal research, try obeying them. If your body is against something, try being boldly on its side for once.

If the answer is no, insist on finding another way that leads to yes… and see what happens.

In life,

Take a moment to feel into your day. Today. Starting right now. What yes’s have you already said that your body, heart and soul are dreading? Maybe bracing against? Ask yourself: if there one thing I could change about TODAY, to be more true to my self and my real desires, what would it be?

Do it.

So often we find ourselves making excuses about why we are choosing to do the very thing we know is killing us. We forget that it’s STILL a choice. We fail to trust that in our left back pocket, we STILL hold the keys.

We hesitate.

We concede.

We worry that a no that we “should” say yes to will be the reason we fail to reach our dreams. We fear that desire that makes no sense will somehow lead us astray. Yet in my experience, quiet the opposite is – and has always been – true.

What if you trusted that your body was a perfect compass for the mission-blueprint of your soul’s purpose? How, then, would you choose to move?

With delight and full bodied approval,

LeeAnn