I remember a distinct moment in 2020 when I realised how deeply our bodies adapt to the environments we live in. The ones we create to survive, to cope, to keep functioning.
The thing is, we cannot remain in survival and truly thrive at the same time.
Often, we only recognise the state we have been living in once we step into a different environment. Somewhere slower. Softer. More spacious. Sometimes it is only through contrast that we realise how much tension we have been carrying.
For me, that moment happened in Costa Rica.
I was staying on a beautiful finca surrounded by nature when, after about five weeks of being there, I realised how exhausted I really was.
Not just physically. Emotionally too.
My nervous system had quietly adapted to years of constant movement and performance without adequate rest. House moves. Study. Work. Pressure. Always trying to “do better” or “be better.”
From the outside, I was functioning. But internally, I had been living in a state of survival for far longer than I realised.
“We cannot remain in survival and truly thrive at the same time.”
What I have come to understand over the years is that reconnecting with ourselves often begins by slowing down enough to listen. Not to fix ourselves. Not to become a “better” version of ourselves overnight. But to gently notice what the body has been holding.
This takes courage. Space. And practice.
It is not only physical. It is emotional, social, energetic. The body absorbs far more than many of us were ever taught to recognise.
For some people, stress may show up as shallow breathing, jaw tension, fatigue, digestive changes, tighter muscles, difficulty resting, or constantly feeling “on.”
Sometimes the signs are quieter. Maybe someone commented that your posture had changed. Maybe you noticed heaviness in your body one morning. Maybe you have felt disconnected from yourself lately.
Over time, and often without spaces that teach us how to understand the body, emotions, and nervous system, many of us forget what truth and freedom actually feel like within ourselves.
Disconnection becomes normal. Until one day, the body begins asking for our attention more loudly.
I have a great deal of respect for our bodies. They are incredibly intelligent. They protect us. Compensate for us. Adapt in remarkable ways to keep us moving, functioning, surviving.
But adaptation is not always the same as wellbeing.
Sometimes reconnection begins with recognising what we have adapted to.
And sometimes, the most supportive thing we can do is create small moments where the body no longer feels like it has to brace. Scan. Achieve.
You do not need to change everything at once.
This week, simply notice where your body feels most like itself.
On a walk. In silence. Around certain people. In nature.
Let that noticing be enough for now.
— with warmth, Natasha Rondy
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