Your Body Has a Voice

Take a moment before you continue reading to pay attention to what your body is saying. Yes, your body has a voice. Begin with scanning your body from one end to the other and notice if there are any areas of pain, tension or discomfort. Pick one of those areas, close your eyes, turn inward, and breathe into that area. Now decide, if it had a voice, what it would say. Take as long as you need. It takes time and practice to learn to listen to your body’s voice.

For instance, say you have scanned your body and noticed that you have a dull headache across your forehead. As you breathe into that area, you might begin to become aware of tension in your forehead. And as you focus on the tension and dull ache, you might find yourself becoming curious about this tension and dull ache. As you remain curious, you might become aware of a thought or feeling that has surfaced, such as “I’m furious that I was overlooked for that promotion! I feel so unappreciated!”

Or, as you focus in on tense shoulders, you might become aware of how they sit shrugged up to your ears. As you lower them with a deep, abdominal breath, you might find a releasing thought come to mind, such as “Wouldn’t it be nice if I didn’t have to do it all.”

Be open to this voice. It’s an opportunity to connect with a deeper understanding of yourself, your inner self. It informs you about what you need to address in your life. Follow it’s lead.

It’s a chance to witness the body-mind-emotion-spirit connection. The wisdom of your body, the rhetoric of your mind, your emotions held in muscular tension, and your spirit, are inextricably connected.

At this point, don’t jump to the erroneous, self-blame conclusion that if you have sore shoulders because you take on too much responsibility, therefore you are creating your physical problems. That is not the point at all. And that oversimplifies the picture. If it were that simple, everyone who takes on extra responsibility would have sore shoulders. And that’s just not the case.

Instead, understand that things such as trauma, depression, stress and unresolved emotion are stored in the body. Healing these results in physical healing. Chronic tension holds limiting beliefs, defenses and emotions that we can learn to let go of by releasing tension.

Healing is the process of becoming more whole. Whether the symptom is anxiety, neck tension, or the belief you’re not good enough, the solution involves moving towards the body-mind-emotion-spirit whole self.