Hi Friends,
Before you read another word, I'd like to invite you to do something simple.
Pause.
Take a slow breath.
Notice where you are.
Notice how you feel.
Notice what your body may be trying to tell you.
Then continue reading.
I like to call this a perfect place to pause.
Over the years, I've come to believe that awareness is one of the most overlooked components of wellness. In fact, I believe awareness is where wellness begins.
We live in a world that encourages us to keep moving. We rush from task to task, appointment to appointment, responsibility to responsibility. Many of us spend our days reacting rather than reflecting. We become so accustomed to being busy that we stop noticing ourselves.
We stop noticing our fatigue.
We stop noticing our stress.
We stop noticing our hunger.
We stop noticing our irritability.
We stop noticing when we have drifted out of rhythm.
Then one day, our body gets our attention.
Or someone else does.
Years ago, as a young sleep lab coordinator, I remember being short and abrupt during a conversation at work. Looking back, I was probably tired, hungry, and running low on energy. But at the time, I wasn't aware of it.
The scheduler listened for a moment and then calmly asked, "Have you eaten yet? Why don't you go eat, and then we can talk later."
She noticed something I couldn't see.
I was depleted.
What has stayed with me all these years is not the conversation itself. It was the realization that someone else recognized my condition before I did.
That moment taught me an important lesson.
Sometimes low energy doesn't show up as feeling sleepy.
Sometimes it shows up as impatience.
Sometimes it shows up as frustration.
Sometimes it shows up as brain fog, poor decisions, or emotional reactivity.
And sometimes we're the last person to notice.
Last month, in our Energy issue, we explored how sleep, nutrition, movement, and daily habits influence the energy available to us. This month, I want to focus on something that often comes before change:
Awareness.
Because before we can improve our sleep, we have to notice our sleep patterns.
Before we can improve our eating habits, we have to notice our eating habits.
Before we can move more, we have to notice how much we are sitting.
Before we can create better rhythms, we have to notice where our rhythms have been disrupted.
Awareness creates the opportunity for change.
Our bodies are constantly sending signals. Sleepiness, hunger, energy fluctuations, mood changes, cravings, and even digestion are all forms of biological communication.
As I've often said, your body is always keeping time.
Every yawn. Every craving. Every burst of energy. Every afternoon slump. Every moment of alertness or fatigue is information.
Awareness helps us notice what time it is.
The question is: are we paying attention?
In the S.E.E. Model™—Sleep, Eating, and Exercise—awareness touches all three levers.
Awareness helps us notice when we are accumulating sleep debt.
Awareness helps us recognize emotional eating, skipped meals, or eating on autopilot.
Awareness helps us see long periods of inactivity and reminds us that our bodies were designed to move.
The same is true for the 7-5-30 Method™.
Awareness helps us honestly assess whether we are consistently getting seven hours of sleep, eating five servings of vegetables, and moving for thirty minutes most days.
Without awareness, wellness becomes guesswork.
With awareness, wellness becomes intentional.
Awareness also influences digestion in ways many people never consider.
Have you ever eaten while answering emails, scrolling on your phone, watching television, or rushing between meetings?
Many of us do.
When we're distracted, stressed, or operating on autopilot, we often miss important signals from the body. We eat too quickly. We overlook fullness cues. We ignore hunger signals. We fail to notice how certain foods make us feel.
Awareness helps us slow down long enough to reconnect with the body's natural feedback systems.
Sometimes wellness begins with simply paying attention.
This is where mindfulness enters the conversation.
Not as a complicated practice.
Not as perfection.
Not as sitting cross-legged on a mountain.
But as the simple act of noticing.
Noticing your energy.
Noticing your breathing.
Noticing your thoughts.
Noticing your rhythms.
Noticing yourself.
Sometimes awareness begins in the first few moments of the day.
Before the emails.
Before the meetings.
Before the notifications.
Simply noticing the light, your hydration, your movement, your breathing, and your nourishment can reveal a great deal about your rhythm.
Perhaps that is why I return so often to the phrase:
A perfect place to pause.
Because awareness helps us recognize when it is time to pause.
And often, the pause itself creates even greater awareness.
A pause allows us to regroup.
To reconnect.
To recalibrate.
To respond with intention rather than reaction.
To remember that our bodies are always communicating with us.
The question is whether we are listening.
So this month, I invite you to pause.
Check in with yourself.
How are you sleeping?
How is your energy?
What patterns are you noticing?
What feels aligned?
What feels out of rhythm?
What is your body trying to tell you?
I'd love to hear from you.
What patterns are you noticing lately?
You don't need all the answers today.
Just begin with awareness.
Because awareness is where wellness begins.
Until next time,
Coach Lori
REMember to SLEEP.