How to Reconnect with Your Own Signals 

Parenting Perspective 

Many parents learn, over time, to ignore their own needs in order to function. The cost of that self-silencing is subtle but heavy: a daily life that is reactive rather than responsive, and children who absorb the idea that their needs are either too much or not valid. Reconnecting with your own signals is not a self-indulgence; it is a critical part of modelling emotional integrity and embodied living. 

Tune into One Cue a Day 

Start by identifying one or two signals in your body that you typically dismiss. Is it thirst? Overwhelm? Needing a break but forcing yourself to keep going? Rather than trying to listen to everything at once, tune into one cue a day. Acknowledge it mentally, even if you cannot always act on it straight away. 

Name Your Needs Out Loud 

Next, name these needs out loud in front of your child, gently and without complaint. For example: ‘I need to drink some water before we continue,’ or ‘I feel tired, so I am going to pause for five minutes.’ These verbal cues teach children that tuning in is not a weakness; it is a form of wisdom. You are not only tending to your health but also giving your child permission to recognise and honour their own cues without guilt. 

Make Pausing a Conscious Ritual 

If pausing feels new, make it a conscious ritual. Sit before eating. Breathe before speaking. Stretch before moving to the next task. These tiny rituals act as anchors, training the body and mind to re-enter presence. 

Your child learns not from what you say about self-care, but from what you embody. When you respond to your signals with grace, you give your child the framework to do the same. 

Spiritual Insight 

Reconnecting with your inner signals is not only an emotional correction, it is a spiritual one. 

A Reminder That Your Nafs is a Trust 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Shams (91), verses 7–10: 

‘And by the soul and how it is designed (for infusion into the body); thus, We (Allah Almighty) have designed (the soul with discretion) for wickedness and without any doubt success is for the one who developed purity (of the self), and indeed, failure is for the one who embraces (the darkness of ignorance and immorality).’ 

This Verse reminds us that our Nafs (inner self) is a trust from Allah. To ignore its signals entirely is to neglect that trust. Recognising and responding to those cues is part of Tazkiyah, the sacred act of self-purification. 

The Prophetic Model: Your Body Has a Right Over You 

It is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘Your body has a right over you. ‘

[Sahih al-Bukhari, 67:133] 

This hadith affirms the spiritual responsibility of caring for our physical and emotional needs. Your child watches not only how you worship, but how you live. And part of living Islamically is treating your body and signals with the dignity they deserve. 

By responding to yourself with gentleness, you create a faith-centred pattern of care that your child can follow, one that says: your needs matter, and honouring them is an act of trust in Allah.