Untangling Draining Habits – Neglect of the Body

If you have been in my world for a while, you will know that I am passionate about habits and untangling draining habits to live a fulfilling and whole-hearted life as a well-being. So I am writing a series to shed some light on some draining habits that have come back in to my awareness recently.

Before I start sharing about draining habits, let’s have a look at what draining habits are.

What Are Draining Habits?

Basically – habits can be useful or not so useful, helpful or not so helpful, stress inducing or not. Sometimes we are conscious of our habit/s (i.e. often chosen and intentional) or the habit/s can sit within our blind spots or the unknown.

When I refer to draining habits, I am referring to habits that are impacting our overall life, business or well-being. They could be adding extra stress, suffering or draining life force energy in our lives. The draining habits could be showing up in one or a variety of areas within our lives (i.e. physical, emotional, mental, financial, environmental or social).

In order to start to untangle from draining habits, we need to develop self-awareness, so we can be more responsible and take ownership of our own life. Today I wanted to introduce neglect of the body.

Draining Habit: Neglecting Your Body

In this draining habit, I am going to divide up the words and will start with neglect. Maybe you have read about neglect as –

• “to give little attention or respect to.” – Merriam-Webster,
• “to not give enough care or attention to people or things that are your responsibility” ~ Cambridge Dictionary,
• “to be remiss in the care or treatment of” ~ Dictionary.com,
• “fail to attend to” ~ Vocabulary.com, and
• “to fail to give due care, attention, or time to” ~ The Free Dictionary.

And Body…

Some definitions of success –

• “The physical aspect of a person as opposed to the spirit; the flesh.” ~ The Free Dictionary,
• “the whole physical structure that forms a person or animal” ~ Cambridge Dictionary,
• “the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead.” ~ Dictionary.com

So if we combine neglect and body, maybe it is giving little attention or car to the body? or maybe – bodily neglect is what happens when we keep choosing ‘later’ over what our body is asking for right now – not once, but as a pattern.

How would you define neglect of the body? Feel free to share below.

Where Does Neglect of the Body Show Up?

Neglect of the body can show up in many places within our lives. For example –

• Skipping meals, or eating quickly at your desk without really tasting anything,
• Pushing through tiredness instead of resting, because there’s still more to do,
• Sitting with tension, pain, or discomfort and telling yourself it’s nothing,
• Ignoring thirst until it becomes a headache,
• Pushing sleep later and later, and calling it productivity, and
• Overriding a “no” your body gave you, because saying yes felt easier in the moment.

Don’t worry, I imagine most of us have experienced neglecting our bodies at some stage in our lives until we develop self-awareness, so BE self-compassionate 🙂

Over to You…

Now you have this awareness, what is your next step? Feel free to share any insights on neglect of the body or a reflection below. Sometimes change can take a while, so be patient and of course self-compassionate. Also – remember when neglect of the body is consciously understood it supports our adventure of wholeness and heartful living.

If you are ready to take yourself on the adventure of getting to know yourself (your true Self), why not join the Newsletter? A place where I share tools, inspiration and ideas to live a courageous and openhearted life.