Body Wisdom: 3 Simple Strategies for Understanding What Your Body is Telling You

In all my years working as a holistic healer and a counselor I’ve become so aware of how oblivious we continue to be of the wisdom of our bodies. Even though we have more evidence than ever of the body’s consciousness, it doesn’t occur to us to trust that our body is exhibiting certain ailments or symptoms on purpose. I just cringe when I hear of people treating the body as a non-intelligent entity, going through test after test, medication after medication to fix it, and still not getting results, when so many symptoms would release instantly if we listened to the body’s message.
The body is wise. It always has a reason for doing what it does. If you’d like to better understand your body’s wisdom, its reasons for expressing certain symptoms, try one of these
3 Simple Strategies for Understanding What Your Body Is Telling You:

• Look at whatever is happening as a metaphor and explore the symbolism of the symptom. For example, Neck pain: what is this pain in the neck? Knee problem: what is it I can’t stand? Sore throat: what hurts to express? Lump in the throat: what is it I can’t swallow? Indigestion: what am I having difficulty digesting? Back pain: How am I not supporting myself? Rash: what’s rubbing me the wrong way? Eczema: why I am uncomfortable in my skin?
Then work on dealing with that underlying cause. Often, as soon as we get the message, the symptoms go away. The body is really just trying to communicate. If we suppress or ignore the symptoms, the body will just find another way to get its message across, usually in a way that’s harder to ignore, more painful or annoying.

• Check out your language and underlying beliefs to see if they might be causing the issue. If you’ve been saying for years that your boss is a pain in the butt, or that you just can’t stand such and such, eventually your body will start to take you for your word, and start giving you the results you’ve been declaring.

• Try holding a conversation with your body or a symptomatic body part. It might seem a bit weird to start talking to your aching head or your weak ankle, but it can be a lot of fun and quite effective. Gear yourself up for this by imagining the personality of the symptomatic part. Is it cranky, tired, irritated? Is it feeling big or small, puffing up, or shrinking back? Is it clenched or flaccid? Is it feeling abused or neglected? If it could talk, what would it say? Or what sounds would it make?

Sure you’ve got a body, but do you listen to it? Do you trust its wisdom? Or do you make it the enemy and try to shut it up when it’s just trying to communicate? Try these 3 Simple Strategies for Understanding What Your Body Is Telling You and you might just find it’s got a good reason for doing what it’s doing. It’s really on your side, just trying to let you know what’s not working. Are you listening?