If you are troubled by something you’re about to begin or some stress waiting for you, STOP. Take a look at your behavior. Are you over-sleeping, over-eating, over-drinking, or…? If so, ask yourself why.

These behaviors are your body’s way of singing loudly. “Stop what you’re doing and listen to me!” It doesn’t start there. It tries to send gentle physical signals first.

If it is difficult for you to sit quietly to feel your way through stress, then allow yourself to listen for the loud behavior. We exist as a living system. As such, all the properties of Systems Theory work to keep us going. One property hangs out and waits for anything to upset the balance. Then, it starts sending physical signals to the brain that say, “Hey, excuse me, something is out of order and needs your immediate attention. Hello, are you listening?” If you do not listen to this gut feeling that something is wrong, the loud behavior kicks in. That’s when we start the over-sleeping or over-eating or whatever. These actions come from our system saying, “We aren’t going down without a fight.” Then it’s time to pay attention to the behavior that is singling loudly to gain your attention.

When you are troubled about a situation, sit back, and wait. First, “listen” for the feeling in your gut. If that doesn’t work for you, listen for the loud behavior singling. The solution is inside of you.