Learn to Listen When Your Body Speaks

Our current system of health is highly focused on disease. We visit a doctor, are labeled by whatever problem or ailment described through our symptoms and are prescribed a medication in an attempt to quiet the suffering.

What if I were to tell you that your cells, organs and systems in the body have a cryptic language in which they communicate needs? Symptoms are a way that your body seeks to tell you what is lacking and what is in excess. 

Homeostasis is a term used to describe a perfect balance in the body. Everyone’s homeostatic sweet spot is unique, but there are some things we all have in common. We all require specific nutrients which are termed “essential” meaning that the body cannot produce them, so they are needed through diet or supplementation. There are essential vitamins, minerals and fatty acids. There are also nutrients that the body makes such as coenzyme Q10, that as we age, the body has a more difficult time or completely stops producing them, and thus they become essential to supplement. 

Nutrients are the keys to unlocking the optimal genetic expression of our DNA. In order to identify our best selves in optimal health, nutrition is one of the most controllable aspects in which we can correct imbalances and bring back homeostasis and good health. When we seek medications as the first line of defense against disease, we are only shutting off the alarm calls from our body, leaving the problems to quietly exist, amplifying their negative effects on the body until our body finds another way to alert us of the problem. This is why long-term side effects are so commonly associated with medication use. 

So, is it bad to quiet symptoms and seek relief? Absolutely not! Sometimes symptoms make life intolerable and hinder progress in healing. What should happen is we seek medicine (natural or medication) as a temporary solution for symptom relief while also looking to correct the root of the problem. Do not just simply brush off what your body is trying to tell you. The truly beneficial part about using herbs as medicine is that paired with the specific compound that provides the relief, are other micronutrients that help nourish many areas of the body with health and healing. So, what you take to quiet a symptom, might also be working on root causation.

You may say, “Well I have spent too much time not listening to my body, the damage is already done.” That may be, however, there is not a single person on this planet that knows when the point of ‘too far gone’ is reached. The body is designed to heal. Given the correct nutrients, miraculous healing can take place. As long as you are still alive, there is still time to work on the reversal. Once we give up hope, and succumb to our illness, we are destined toward that planned end. Hope is scary to grasp onto. If we hope, and our hope is destroyed by a negative outcome, we will be devastated. But if we never hope, then there is no chance at all of a positive outcome. We play out the result of what we expect. Hope is critical in seeking out possible success. Hope is not a guarantee, but that is why it is called hope. 

There are so many variable factors in health. Nutrition is not the only aspect that needs to be evaluated, but it is the most tangible. The mental piece is more difficult. The interactions with people around us are not always able to be manipulated. The air we breathe might have toxins, but sometimes that is outside of our control too. Family stress, workplace stress, all variables that affect health. In order to achieve the best results, we work toward areas we can control, eliminating toxic encounters to give the body space to heal.

It might be a fascinating exercise to ask ourselves, I mean really seek to understand this question “What is health?” How do you describe health? Can the term truly be described? Is it the absence of pain? Without pain though, we would not be directed from right and wrong. If we didn’t feel the sting of a fire, we might just walk right into it, like a bug heading toward the zapper. Our body is working for us, not against us. We need to figure out a way to work harmoniously with our body, so we can both be happy and healthy. 

Our goal, as the true facilitator and taking control of our own personal health, is to listen to the symptoms, recognize that our body is speaking, and work with it. Make changes, pay attention to what helps and what doesn’t. Just because you cannot eat a certain food that your friend can eat in mass quantities without problem does not make you dysfunctional. We are all unique in our dietary needs. Your body is speaking to you. Listen to what it has to say. 

When my first child was young, he would ask me so many questions. Some of which I had already answered. I will give you an example “What is that?” my answer would be “it is a bird”.  When he would ask me again, I would get more specific or describe it in different ways “It is a falcon. It is a flying creature. It is a predator hunting mice. It is a winged beast.” There is never just one perfect answer to a question, and the more options we explore in the answers, the more well-rounded our solution will be. This game eased my stress, knowing he was learning from each response. It also worked on my cognitive skills and strengthened my response to adversity, answering the daunting questions in life. 

If we think of symptoms, in this way, like a nagging child asking questions, we can either tell the child to shut up, or we can explore different answers. The latter seems the healthier way of thinking. 

Finding the answers can be difficult, or you may feel alone in this struggle. Lindsay Gaffney CH., Managing Partner of the Organic Earthling is an herbalist certified in Plant Medicine through Cornell University and is currently studying for her doctorate in Naturopathy. We, at the Organic Earthling, are here to help. If you have any questions about natural health and healing, we will do our absolute best to assist you on your health journey.