🌸Being “Low Maintenance” Can Cost You Everything

💕 By Katy Rivers

Listening to your body isn’t being needy — it’s how healing begins.

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that being easy was the same thing as being loved.

Low maintenance.
Not too emotional.
Not too needy.
Not asking for much.

We learned to swallow discomfort before it could inconvenience anyone else.

And at first, it looks like strength.

But over time, it quietly drains you.

Because your body was never meant to be ignored.

The Hidden Cost of Being “Easy”

Being low maintenance often means:

• You dismiss symptoms instead of listening to them

• You override exhaustion with willpower

• You rationalize anxiety as “just stress”

• You stay calm on the outside while your body stays activated inside

Your hormones don’t interpret this as maturity.

They interpret it as unsafety.

When you constantly push past your needs, your nervous system stays on high alert. Cortisol rises. Progesterone struggles to keep up. Estrogen becomes erratic. Sleep gets lighter. Cravings get louder. Cycles become unpredictable. Energy fades.

Not because you’re broken —
but because you’re brave in the wrong direction.

Your Body Keeps the Score (Even When You Don’t Complain)

You might pride yourself on being adaptable.

But your body notices everything you don’t say.

It notices when you skip meals to keep the peace.
When you say “I’m fine” while holding your breath.
When you stay quiet instead of asking for rest, support, or reassurance.

Over time, the body compensates the only way it knows how:

Tension.
Fatigue.
Hormonal imbalance.
Mood swings.
Burnout disguised as functionality.

Being low maintenance doesn’t make life smoother —
it just makes your suffering quieter.

Holistic Healing Starts With Permission

True healing doesn’t begin with supplements or routines.

It begins with permission.

Permission to be impacted.
Permission to rest before you collapse.
Permission to take up emotional and physical space.

When your body feels safe, hormones stabilize more easily. Digestion improves. Sleep deepens. Motivation returns without force.

Safety is medicine.

And safety starts when you stop minimizing yourself.

A Gentle Guided Reset (Try This Now)

If you’re reading this and feeling tight in your chest or heavy in your body, pause for a moment.

Place one hand on your lower belly.
One hand on your heart.

Inhale slowly through your nose for 4 counts.
Exhale through your mouth for 6.

Repeat three times.

Then quietly say to yourself:

“I am allowed to need.”
“I don’t have to earn rest.”
“Listening to my body is not selfish.”

This isn’t dramatic.
It’s reparative.

Small moments of regulation compound — just like stress does.

You Were Never Meant to Be Low Maintenance

You were meant to be well maintained.

Nourished.
Supported.
Regulated.
Listened to.

The goal isn’t to become demanding.
The goal is to become honest.

Because when you keep choosing “easy” over authentic, your body eventually forces the conversation.

And it always costs more later.

Choosing yourself earlier is the most holistic healing there is 💗