Learning the language of the body

What if your symptoms weren’t problems to solve, but messages to receive?

In a world that moves fast, we’re taught to override discomfort, push through fatigue, ignore hunger cues, manage anxiety away and to treat symptoms as interruptions instead of information. This is somehow rewarded in hustle culture, and what get's overlooked is that your body is simply trying to communicate.

A headache may be asking for rest or hydration, digestive issues may be asking for rhythm or simplicity, anxiety may be asking for safety and blood sugar stability. Low energy and lack of resilience may be a clue for much needed support and nourishment on every level; body, mind and soul.

These symptoms are not failures, not signs we didn't grind hard enough. They are messages being communicated; the body has never stopped speaking. What we’ve lost is the ability to listen—and this is where breath becomes the bridge.

Your breath is the direct line between body and mind—the place where sensation, emotion, and awareness meet. When we slow the breath, we re-establish a long-lost communication pathway: information moving from the body up, rather than the mind trying to control the body down.

Breath helps us listen without judgment or urgency. When we pause to listen with the intention to understand not override, we unlock a new level of agency and intimacy with ourselves. This is embodiment, the practice of being in relationship with your body instead of standing over it with a checklist and silencing symptoms.

This week, I invite you to try a different approach:

When a symptom shows up, pause before fixing.
Place one hand on your body.
Take one slow breath in through your nose, and a longer breath out.

Then ask gently:
What are you asking for right now?

You don’t need the perfect answer, or to act immediately. The listening itself is the medicine.

Below, I’ve linked a short Physiological Sigh practice you can return to this week—a simple way to soften the nervous system and pause long enough to hear what your body has been trying to say.

Physiological Sigh Practice

Listening can feel frustrating when we don't know how to respond, so quieting the symptoms feels like the best option.

But, listening feels deeply relieving and empowering when you trust yourself to respond with confidence.

When your body asks for nourishment—and you don’t second-guess it.
When it asks for movement—and you know what kind actually supports you.
When it asks for rest, rhythm, or support—and you don’t have to search outside yourself for answers.

That confidence doesn’t come from willpower. It comes from spending time learning what you need.