What is Your Body Saying?

The body is always speaking to us; its language is sensation.

A knot in the throat. Butterflies in the stomach. A tightness in the chest. Tingling in the hands. A sharpness up the leg. An ache in the low back. Tight shoulders. Ringing ears. Stiff neck. Itchy skin. Headaches. Eye strain. Sore throats. Cramps. Sore muscles.

When this sensation is unfamiliar or comes at a time or in a body part that is unexpected, we tend to call it “pain.”

Consider how you feel the day after a particularly intense workout. You might wake up and feel sensation and say

I’m so sore from that spin class.

Now imagine if you woke up feeling that way but you hadn’t been to spin class the day before: you might believe something is wrong. You might run to the doctor to find out why you’re in pain.

As much as we might talk about fueling our bodies for performance, our bodies are not machines.

The human body is a complex system of systems, and it communicates with our minds the only way it can: through sensation.

The sensations often interfere with things we are trying to do. It gets in the way of “getting things done.”

To stay focused and on task, we may try to override the disruption by numbing the sensation.

Take a pain reliever and get back to work.

This leads us to become disconnected from our bodies.

In numbing the sensation we miss the point that the sensation is designed to distract us from our task because the body has a message for us.

That message may be a signal of danger or a signal of safety. It may indicate a coming rain storm or a blessing on the horizon.

The body sends subtle signals at first; if we don’t pause to listen the body will send stronger messages until we pay attention.

The way out of pain is not to numb the sensation but to attune more deliberately and with intention.

Learning to cultivate a relationship with our bodies and listen to their messages can open us to the wisdom that lies within.