Do you hear your body talking?

It took me many years to hear the voice of my body. As a small kid, I was told things like “don’t cry – this doesn’t hurt!” At school, I was forced to suppress my need to pee or to eat until the teachers or the bell gave me permission. The system I grew up in told me that discomfort, pain and dis-ease are disturbances of my productivity and basically one big nuisance that is best to get rid of as fast as possible. No wonder that I – just as probably so many of you – very much disconnected from my body and the messages it is constantly sending to me. 

It took me a lot of slowing down and a lot of stillness to hear it again. That small voice. Because I want to hear it when it is speaking to me calmly and gently.

I like to think of a child that gently taps on our arm, whispering “Mama!”. And most parents recognize these moments when we just shush them away “Not now! I’m busy. Wait a bit! I will come to you soon.” Then we get busy again with our own oh-so-important stuff, completely forgetting our child. After a minute or five or ten, our child comes back, this time getting louder and more impatient. But since we really want to finish our reading, listening, watching or writing or whatever it might be, we again tell the child to give us “just another minute”. And on it goes. Eventually, the child might end up crying and screaming, so that we WILL stop and drop everything immediately. Finally. Sometimes we realise what happened, other times we even get angry at our child. But really: it was never their intention to loose it. They meant to talk to us gently. They HAD a lot of patience. But we chose to ignore it, or gave other things priority. And eventually the child felt that they had no other choice than getting really, really loud, so that we finally would listen to them.

I feel that I have often done the same with my body. Our bodies talk to us all the time. And they are “on our side”! They WANT us to be healthy and well! 

I believe that every time we bump our head onto something, trip, cut ourselves while preparing dinner, a fever, breaking an arm, having a strong feeling in our stomach or getting a pimple: nothing is random but everything is a message. And usually, the messages start with a whisper. Once we get still and take note of this whispering and recognize it as a message, our body becomes an amazing guide! Because this guide knows us best of everyone. Since it lives within us. It IS us. 

The Western medicine and our system, however, leaves little room for this. The symptoms are considered to be “wrong” and “bad” and “dysfunctional”, and many times, the way out is to silence the symptom – instead of healing the cause of the symptom. So then the cause, the root, the origin is still there. And most times, it will try to bring its message across again. Because it wants to be noticed, seen, recognized – and healed. So sooner or later, something tends to come up again. Maybe in the same way or also differently, but most likely a little louder. Eventually maybe “shouting” in the form of a lot of pain or severe dis-ease.

Today, I have integrated much more stillness in my life. I prioritize moments of un-busy-ness to feel inwards. To connect with my inner compass. And I love reading, hearing and learning about the language of our bodies. What different symptoms can stand for. It is such a beautiful, eye-opening and healing journey! 

I invite you to close your eyes for a minute. To focus on your breathing. And to simply note: is there any tension in your body? Any pain? Any injuries or accidents that happened recently? Any imbalance? Just note. With compassion, gratitude and love. What does your body want to tell you? Does it hurt, want to drink, want to go to the bathroom, take a rest, sleep, run, dance, breathe fresh air, hug a friend, laugh,… Do you hear your body talking? 

PS: On this page I have listed some of my favourite resources to understand the language of my body better and better.