Cravings - or Intuition?

I recently sat down with a friend where we talked about nutrition and our relationship to food, the subject of cravings came up and it got me thinking. Craving. It’s a word with a real duality to it. A craving can be both physical, and psychological, painful and enjoyable.  Its been attributed to love, food, wanting, needing, just about anything can become a craving. I have always tried to trust my cravings. Whether physical or mental, it’s almost as if it is an extension of your own intuition. 

Often times while growing up I experienced cravings for certain foods and my mother would tell me to smell food before eating it, in order to “make sure” your body actually needs it. She was good at making sure I listened to my body and trusting that it would steer me in the right direction. As if to say trust what your body is telling you.  Makes me wonder if we have become removed from our connection to cravings and what they really mean. We’ve all heard of how pregnancy can create insatiable cravings for very unique food combinations and often times it is their bodies trying to get the right amount of certain nutrients that they may be lacking. I can only imagine that there is a bit of intuition involved. 

Craving something can be a great motivator in life. Whether it be your dream job, dream partner, or just your dream meal, there is much that can be achieved with that fire lit within you to obtain it. I’ve been trying to be more present and cultivate my inner cravings. They’re the things that keep up us alive and get us out of bed every morning. No longer am I just pursuing my dreams, I am going to listen to the inner cravings that help direct me to where I want to go, stopping to make sure that they are truly what I want of course, but going after them all the same.

What are some of your own cravings that maybe you haven’t always acted on, but when looking back, you might have enjoyed indulging for a change?