5 Uncomfortable Signs Your Body Doesn't Trust You Anymore, According To A Holistic Body Coach
“That’s the game; rest is always delayed. Satisfaction is a never-ending moving target.”
Payless Images | Shutterstock If you’re struggling through daily life with chronic pain, poor self-esteem, or a lack of confidence, chances are you’re not in alignment with your physical body. Whether it’s rooted in trauma or simply in bad habits, this body-mind disconnect could be a sign that your physical body doesn’t trust you anymore.
According to holistic body coach Jonathan Mead on Instagram, feeling safe and comfortable with yourself starts with your physical body. You need to make it feel secure and looked after, even if you’ve ignored the signals and messages telling you your body doesn't trust you anymore.
Here are 5 uncomfortable signs your body doesn’t trust you, according to a holistic body coach:
1. You struggle to vocalize what your body feels or needs
Whether you’re at the doctor's or simply trying to figure out why you’re having an “off day,” a sense of distrust from your body could be sabotaging your ability to verbalize exactly what’s wrong.
For some, it’s simple — they recognize that their stomachs are upset from eating fast food and can acknowledge that lack of sleep gives them a headache.
For others, it feels impossible to pinpoint cause and effect or, more importantly, what they need to feel better. Their entire day, week, and month is sabotaged by a feeling of unease or anxiety, all because they can’t seem to foster healthy communication between their bodies and minds.
“I was ignoring over a decade of signals from my body,” Mead confessed, “begging me to slow down, to listen and give it what it needed to heal.”
“I thought my body was the problem, but turns out it was me that wasn’t paying attention.”
2. You are fearful of daily movement or exercise
For some, the thought of adopting a workout routine or simply a commitment to movement can result in paralysis by fear. Simply put, unrealistic expectations, combined with a lack of knowledge (that feeling when you walk into the gym for the first time and have no idea how to even get on a treadmill) and a failure mindset, work together to instill fear in even attempting a habit of movement.
Sometimes, this anxiety manifests in surface-level ways — a nervous tick or feeling overstimulated while working out — while other times it’s more intense, like a feeling of panic that triggers a “fight or flight” response. This inner turmoil reinforces the negativity of bodily movement — whether conscious or not — making it harder and harder to adopt the practice over time.
3. It’s uncomfortable to be physically present in your body
Practices like meditation or yoga can be incredibly helpful for people looking to relax in their bodies; however, for people struggling with bodily mistrust, these techniques are incredibly uncomfortable.
“I played the game,” Mead wrote, arguing that capitalism and anxiety sheltered them from truly connecting with their body. “I ignored my body's pleas for rest until I couldn’t do it anymore. My body broke down and forced me to rest.”
For people who aren’t able to physically stay present in their bodies — instead live caught up in ideas and principles about body confidence and their lifestyle — overcompensation is necessary to avoid it, from overworking themselves to indulging in vices that provide some escapism from reality.
4. You have a ‘mind-dominant’ approach, telling your body how it ‘should’ feel
Are you a chronic overthinker? Constantly battling how your body feels, what it needs, and what you’ve been conditioned to feed it — whether it’s restrictive diets, punishment-driven workout regimes, or even isolation from new connections? People living in “mind-dominant” lifestyles are constantly thinking — never present in their physical state.
“My nervous system became highly sensitized to pushing, and even the slightest expenditure of effort felt like the threat of a lion looming in the tall grasses at my side.” Addressing true bodily needs felt impossible for Mead and it became harder and harder to adopt the practices the longer they went unacknowledged.
5. Chronic aches and pains don’t go away with traditional therapy and treatment
For people struggling with chronic pain, the presence of bodily mistrust is likely deep-rooted, making it difficult to treat or manage pain with traditional practices and exercises.
People Images Yuri A / Shutterstock.com
Whether it’s stress, anxiety, or decades of ignoring signals in your body, the strength of your mind-body connection has intense implications for the physical wellness of your body down the road. When we ignore feelings of unease for days, months, even years, the problems only compound
Yet, your body continues to learn and remember when you fail to properly address its qualms. “You tell yourself that you shouldn’t be feeling the way you feel,” Mead wrote. “Your core belief is that your body is an inconvenience and a burden.”
With regular, intentional movement and a mindset shift, it’s possible to rebuild trust and confidence in your body.
Despite how far along in life you are or how unmanageable your well-being has become, it’s never too late to address your body’s mistrust of you. “You might think that this is ‘the way things are now,’ but in my experience, it’s possible to rebuild trust in your body.”
With mindset practices or somatic movement practices, reconnecting with your body can be increasingly more comfortable and habitual — not anxiety-inducing or stressful.
“Your relationship with your body is built on listening and gratitude,” so don’t try to overcomplicate things. Just adopt practices that help you to connect with your body without shame or embarrassment. Unlearning isn’t easy, but it’s worth it if it means growing your relationship with your body.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.