Finding Clarity in the Chaos: Listening to the Body’s Wisdom

Before I discovered yoga, there was so much going on in my life. I was in school, working two jobs to pay for tuition. I had an active social life—going out with friends, traveling, exercising. I was rarely ever home. I had way too much on my plate, leaving little room for rest or reflection.

Though my life felt fulfilling and I was happy on the surface, I was sleep-deprived and running in overdrive. My schedule was packed, my thoughts were racing, and underneath it all, I felt trapped. I didn’t know how to escape the constant noise in my mind.

I didn’t realize I was completely out of alignment. I was going through life with no awareness of my inner being. I had no mental clarity and no structure. It felt like I was in a dense fog, unable to see the path ahead. I was going in circles with no aim—doing without thinking, just moving for the sake of motion. What I really needed was a clear goal and a plan to guide me forward.

My life lacked balance. My energy was inconsistent, swinging like a pendulum between highs and lows. When the momentum was high, I felt driven. But when it dropped, I crashed. I was exhausted. I felt sluggish—too drained to get off the couch, with no motivation to even go to the gym.

I felt consumed because I was doing too much and never gave myself time to recover. I wasn’t mindful of what I ate. I skipped meals and said yes to things I didn’t want to do—completely unaware of how it was affecting me. My body reacted with migraines, aches, fatigue, restless sleep, and an overall sense of lethargy. It was trying to release all the tension I hadn’t realized I was carrying.

I didn’t see the toll it was taking. But that was my body speaking to me—sounding the alarm, signaling that I was off course. My subconscious knew something was wrong long before I did. It was urging me to shift my energy and realign. But I wasn’t listening.

Instead, I kept pushing—fighting against the natural flow of life. And the more I resisted, the more life pushed back. That resistance drained me, leaving me completely depleted.

These were all signs of misalignment—stress, anxiety, burnout, insomnia. I lacked awareness of my body’s feedback system. I wasn’t tuned in to my inner voice, ignoring the signs telling me to slow down and recharge. I pushed myself to exhaustion, needed days to recover, and then repeated the same cycle. My mind and body weren’t in sync, each moving at a different rhythm.

Recurring migraines pushed me to research potential triggers, which led me to give up chocolate and coffee for 40 days during Lent. By the end of that period, my cravings had significantly diminished—and so had the migraines. That small change showed me that I had the power to take control of my well-being.

Conclusion

Looking back, I now see that my body was always guiding me—I just wasn’t listening. My healing journey began when I started paying attention, making small but meaningful changes to bring myself back into balance.

Awareness was the first step.

Learning to slow down, realign, and care for both my body and my mind took time—but it gave me back my clarity. It helped me restore my energy and move forward with intention.

True well-being isn’t about doing more. It’s about finding balance, listening to yourself, and honoring what you truly need.

with love,

Maria xo